Legal Nature of Actual Acceptance of Inheritance: Analysis of Gaps in Legislation and Judicial Practice

The phenomenon of actual entry into inheritance rights has long occupied a stable position in the system of inheritance regulation of the Russian Federation. In the presence of the statutory procedure based on the submission of the relevant will to the notary, in practice it is the informalized entry into inheritance that retains its leading role. The problems of this study are caused by the lack of unambiguous criteria that allow the law enforcer to accurately qualify the actions of the heir as evidence of his intention to accept the inheritance. The scattered judicial approaches, the uncertainty of categories, as well as the difficulty in collecting and evaluating evidence in these disputes indicate the need for a clearer theoretical and practical understanding of this institution. The object of consideration is the social relations formed in the process of transfer of inherited property. As a subject we have chosen the norms of civil law regulating the mechanisms of acceptance of inheritance, as well as judicial acts, which formulate legal positions on the issue of proving the actual acceptance. The study relies on a combination of legal-dogmatic, logical-analytical and comparative legal methods, supplemented by interpretation of court decisions and evaluation of legal positions. It also raises the issue of unification of judicial practice through the publication of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and updating of the Review of Judicial Practice. The study analyzes the proposals of leading scientists such as E.A. Sukhanov and M.Y. Barshchevsky, who emphasize the importance of legislative consolidation of the presumption of acceptance of inheritance and the development of a flexible model for the recognition of actual acceptance. An important element of the work is also the reliance on judicial acts of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which play a key role in ensuring legal certainty. In the study, the author substantiated the need for legislative enshrinement of the presumption of actual acceptance of inheritance, based on the behavior of the heir, indicating the intention to enter into inheritance legal relations (possession, disposal, incurring expenses, payment of taxes, etc.) in the absence of objections from other persons. A systematized list of legally significant actions that allow to establish the fact of acceptance of inheritance without going to a notary is proposed. The list has an open character and is oriented to the needs of law enforcement practice. The expediency of clarifying the legal positions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, aimed at a uniform assessment of the actual behavior of heirs in the absence of formal will. Based on the analysis of foreign experience (France, Germany, USA) the model of borrowing the presumption approach adapted to Russian realities with preservation of flexibility of legal assessment is proposed.

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