Legal Basis for Disposing of Property in the Event of Death

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the legal basis for the disposal of property in the event of death, first of all, a will, as well as the novelties of inheritance law – a joint will of spouses and an inheritance contract. The author studies the concept and legal nature of a will, considers issues related to various aspects of making, maintaining, and canceling joint wills of spouses, the concept and features of an inheritance contract that reflect its difference from classic civil law contracts, and pays attention to resolving issues about the nature of inheritance succession when concluding an inheritance contract, and the need for heirs to accept an inheritance in one of the ways provided for in the law. The research is based on modern methods of scientific knowledge, including the method of comparative analysis, methods of system and logical analysis, the method of dialectical analysis, etc. The methods used made it possible to formulate a number of conclusions. A will is a one-sided transaction that is strictly personal. The specifics of a will as a transaction always lie in the deferred legal effect – it comes into effect at the moment of opening the inheritance and only then creates rights and obligations for the heirs. Many General provisions on transactions do not apply to a will because of its specificity. The joint will of the spouses is a type of traditional will, and it can be characterized as a one-sided transaction «with a plurality of persons» on the side of the testator. Such a will implies a General expression of will, which determines some specifics of its composition, content, execution, cancellation, as well as restrictions on the principle of freedom of will: in particular, it is proposed to provide rules according to which a joint will can be canceled only during the life of both spouses and only on their mutual will; the principle of freedom of will should also be restricted after the death of the first spouse by prohibiting the disposal of inherited property covered in a joint will.