Inheritance and Your Rights – What Are You Entitled to by Law?

The right to inheritance is established by the Constitution of Georgia as a fundamental right, while its specific mechanisms are regulated by the Civil Code. It should be noted from the outset that all heirs possess identical rights; thus, the law does not recognize gender distinctions. Furthermore, any such differentiation is considered a violation of the heir's rights. Inheritance law recognizes five classes of heirs, the most significant being the first-class heirs, which include: the children of the deceased, a child of the deceased born after their death, the spouse, and the parents (adoptive parents);

To explain in simple terms, if a person passes away leaving behind two children, a spouse, and both parents, all of them are considered first-class heirs. This implies that if the deceased owned real estate, these five individuals have an equal right to claim the inheritance, and should they choose to exercise this right, each will receive a 1/5 share of the property;

The law dictates that the existence of even a single first-class heir completely excludes the right of succession for second-class heirs, which include siblings, etc.

In order to properly exercise the right to inheritance, it is essential to know when the estate is formally opened. The estate opens on the day of the testator's death, and the heir must accept the inheritance within a strict 6-month period. During this 6-month timeframe, an heir can accept the inheritance in two ways:
By applying to a notary within 6 months with a formal request to accept the inheritance;
By taking actual possession and management of the estate within 6 months;

Of these two methods, it is highly preferable for the heir to apply to a notary within the six-month period to avoid subsequent legal complications. In my legal practice, there are numerous cases where an heir attempts to claim an inheritance years later. When applying to a notary for a delayed inheritance, if the official registered addresses of the deceased and the heir do not match, the notary is legally obliged to issue a resolution refusing the certificate of inheritance. Consequently, an appeal must be filed with the court. This litigation can drag on for years, requiring the presentation of witnesses and evidence that may be highly problematic to verify due to the passage of time. Only after obtaining a favorable court decision can one return to the notary to finalize the process;

Therefore, when dealing with inheritance, it is always advisable to apply to a notary within 6 months of the testator's death. It is noteworthy that initially, you only need the following:
The death certificate;
Your birth certificate;
An application for the acceptance of the inheritance.
At the stage of issuing the inheritance certificate, the notary will guide you regarding any additional documents required. During the initial stage, it will be necessary to request information from the Notary Chamber's Registry of Wills and Inheritances regarding the existence or absence of a will and the status of the inheritance proceedings. As for the documents typically required to issue the final certificate of inheritance, they include:

The testator's marriage certificate (if married);
Information cards for both the heir and the testator (indicating registered addresses);
A divorce certificate (if divorced);
The testator's birth certificate;
A certificate from the local municipality confirming your actual possession of the estate (most commonly applicable in towns and rural municipalities);

If a significant amount of time has elapsed since the death and you are only now attempting to accept the inheritance, the following documents may additionally serve as valuable evidence:

Vehicle registration certificate (if the testator owned a vehicle);
Firearms registration certificate (if the testator legally owned firearms);
Gas, electricity, water, or internet payment receipts (these are useful only if you paid for the services at least once within the 6 months following the testator's death, provided the utilities were registered in the deceased's name);
Bank loan payment receipts (if the testator had an active bank loan and you paid it on their behalf);
Savings bank book (useful only if the deceased had savings in the bank during the Soviet era);

In practice, there are instances where all these documents are available, yet the certificate of inheritance still cannot be issued. This occurs if there are discrepancies in dates of birth, names, surnames, or patronymics across the birth, marriage, and death certificates. Consequently, this necessitates bringing all records into legal compliance and amending them at the Public Service Development Agency;

We frequently encounter cases where individuals believe that by simply continuing to live in the deceased's apartment or by utilizing their property, they automatically become the legal owners. This is a dangerous misconception. In the future, when they need to sell, mortgage, or otherwise legally utilize the property, they face severe difficulties in registration because they must revert to the initial stage of accepting the inheritance, even if 20 or 30 years have passed since the death. (The rules for accepting the inheritance of traditional household/Komli property differ and will be addressed in a separate article);

If you are facing inheritance issues or a notary refuses to issue a certificate of inheritance, please contact me. In law, and particularly in civil law, absolutely nothing occurs automatically;