Claiming an Inheritance in Russia: A Complete Guide

One of the most common inquiries we receive at Our New York office, – is about inheriting assets abroad. This issue is especially relevant for many of our clients from Russia and Ukraine who are unable or unwilling to return to their homeland due to the current political situation. However, inheriting property can be accomplished without returning to your home country. This article will provide you with an overview of what to expect when claiming and opening an inheritance case, and address frequently asked questions about this important process.

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Timeframe For Claiming an Inheritance

The period for entering into inheritance in most post-Soviet countries is six months. The rules are very similar, but let’s look at the details using the example of Russia.

According to Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, to claim an inheritance, one must submit a declaration to the notary at the place where the inheritance was opened. If the inheritor’s declaration is submitted to the notary by another person or sent by mail, the inheritor’s signature on the declaration must be notarized. Accepting an inheritance through a representative is possible if the power of attorney explicitly grants this authority.

A legal representative accepting an inheritance does not need a power of attorney. This means that parents can act on behalf of their minor children without requiring any special authorization.

There are three ways to submit the declaration of claiming an inheritance to a notary:

1. In-person;
2. Through a representative;
3. By mail.

Submitting the inheritance declaration in person or by mail does not exclude or prohibit the subsequent involvement of a representative in the inheritance case.

If you, say, are in Moscow, and your inheritance opened in Vladivostok, then you can easily fill out the corresponding application from any notary, since the rules for preparing such applications are the same throughout the country. By the way, all notaries in Russia are professional lawyers.

However, what about those who reside in another country? In the United States, the majority of notaries are not professional lawyers and are not authorized to handle documents of this nature. You could attempt to schedule an appointment with the consulate, but that can be a challenging process. Furthermore, a trip to Russia is not a viable option when you have to take care of a home, job, children, and other responsibilities.

And here the Hague Convention (1961) comes to the rescue, abolishing the requirement for legalization of foreign official documents. The purpose of the Convention is to abolish the traditional legalization requirement and replace the lengthy and expensive legalization process with the issuance of a single Apostille certificate by the competent authority in the place of origin of the document. The Electronic Apostille Program (e-APP) was launched in 2006 to support the electronic issuance and verification of apostilles worldwide.

The Convention encompasses more than 125 countries, including the United States of America, Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet countries, except for Turkmenistan. This means that competent authorities in signatory countries cannot require your physical presence to claim an inheritance in a country where it has become available. All the necessary documents can be processed without the need for travel.

I often come across stories on Facebook where a document with an apostille was seemingly rejected and a consulate document was requested instead. This request often arises because the document does not comply with the law, and in such cases, an apostille unfortunately won’t help. Officials may find it easier to refer you to the consulate than to explain what documents they require. Therefore, if a document has been hastily put together using an internet template, it’s naive to expect it to be accepted, even if it has an apostille.

On the other hand, if a document is properly notarized and includes an apostille, and its form and content comply with the legal standards of the receiving party, it will undoubtedly be accepted.

How to claim inheritance from abroad

To claim inheritance from abroad, you need to complete: two documents:

1. Declaration for claiming inheritance or opening an inheritance case;
2. Power of attorney for managing the inheritance case.

The declaration to claim inheritance can be submitted either by mail on behalf of the inheritor or through a power of attorney. The first option is more reliable.

A personal declaration from an inheritor cannot be refused by a notary. There is no legal basis to reject a properly completed document. A Russian notary cannot reject a declaration without significant grounds, regardless of whether the inheritance declaration is of foreign origin. In addition to the declaration, I usually include copies of available documents, such as the decedent’s death certificate and documents confirming kinship, and specify that the originals will be provided at a personal appointment with the notary. When a Russian notary receives your statement by certified mail, they will almost certainly open an inheritance case.

It’s a different matter when the inheritor's representative comes to the notary’s office with just the power of attorney. Even if your power of attorney is properly completed, the notary won’t simply open an inheritance case on that basis. At best, they will request that you fulfill a number of requirements. For example, they may ask for a statement confirming your deregistration in Russia, the original will with a stamp confirming its validity, or documents confirming your kinship.

The best-case scenario for receiving an inheritance is if you were born and married in Russia and have a decedent who also passed away there. It’s even more favorable if you have about four months to resolve the matter. However, in my experience, clients who were born, married, or divorced in various cities and countries are still able to obtain inheritance. Their decedent may not necessarily have passed away at a time when it’s convenient for their heirs to obtain the death certificate. Many decedents die in the US, which means you must first request the death certificate, then have it apostilled, send it to Russia, and obtain a notarized translation into Russian. Be warned, this process can take a rather long time.

When clients visit Our New York office with a desire to open an inheritance case in Russia, I begin the process by completing the personal declaration of an inheritor rather than using a power of attorney.

Once an inheritance case is opened, you can find a record of it on the Federal Notary Chamber website There is a post about this. The resource is publicly available - even before submitting your application to the notary, you can check whether the inheritance case is open after the death of the testator. Because not only you, but also other heirs could open it.

Where to Open an Inheritance Case

As a rule, an inheritance case is opened in the jurisdiction where the decedent had their last place of residence. This means that if they were registered in Moscow but had property in Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok, the inheritance case should be initiated at a notary’s office in Moscow within the district where the decedent was registered at the time of their death. The heir who is the first to request the notary to open the case has the authority to choose a notary within the notarial district where the decedent lives. Other heirs who apply later will need to accept the choice of the initial heir.

After an inheritance case is opened, your representative with the power of attorney may take over the further proceedings.

On the subject: How to transport the ashes of a deceased relative from the homeland to the US

After the inheritance case is initiated, you can begin the process of gathering documents. There are no time restrictions during this stage and you can collect the required documents for as long as needed. During this process, you must deregister the decedent from their previous residence, request duplicate certificates of civil status, and if lost, restore the title deeds for apartments, vacation homes, or land plots.

No sooner than six months from the opening of the inheritance case, and after all documents are collected, the notary will provide you with the certificate of inheritance rights.

What Should Be Included in the Power of Attorney?

The power of attorney should clearly and explicitly outline the authority granted to the representative. For instance, you can entrust the representative with handling only document formalities. In that case, they won’t have any means to access inheritance assets, including money.

If you grant the representative the right to receive money, it must be detailed extensively in the power of attorney. The standard phrasing ‘authorized to receive money’ may not allow, for instance, Sberbank to release the monetary funds held in the decedent’s account. In such cases, I typically use the authority language approved by Sberbank's legal team: “Entitled to receive inheritance assets, including cash deposits with interest and reimbursement in any bank, as well as in the subsidiaries and branches of Sberbank”.

If there is more than one heir, the power of attorney must include the authority to enter into agreements regulating the distribution of inheritance assets or the determination of shares.

Every word, every letter, and every comma in the power of attorney holds significance and has far-reaching consequences. Therefore, a power of attorney must be professionally drafted by an expert; a document created in an amateurish manner based on the drafter’s understanding alone will likely hold less weight.

Moreover, each power of attorney should include legal powers in case of complications.

What is an Elective Share? Who is Entitled?

Parents, minor or incapacitated children of the decedent, disabled spouses, and disabled dependents inherit no less than half of the share they would be entitled under the law, regardless of the will’s content.

This means that the decedent's will is not unconditional. For instance, say there is a mother who decided to leave her assets to her adult children and exclude her spouse from inheritance. Her marriage with him was not her first, and her children meant more to her than her husband and their relationship. In cases like that, I would recommend getting a divorce, since keeping a marriage when life together becomes untenable can have legally significant consequences. Inheritance is one of them. In some jurisdictions, age is not a determining factor for spouses, and it’s sufficient to be married for legal entitlement. In Russia, the right to claim an elective share directly depends on age: for women, it’s 55 years old, and for men, it’s 60 years old. If your husband is over 60, or your wife is over 55, they can claim their share. They will receive at least half of their legal entitlement, regardless of your wishes.

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Acceptance of the Inheritance

An heir is considered to have accepted the inheritance when they have taken actions indicating their acceptance of the inheritance. These actions may include taking possession or control of the inherited asset, implementing measures to preserve the inherited assets and protect them from third-party claims, covering expenses related to the maintenance of the inherited assets, paying off the decedent’s debts, or receiving monetary funds that were owed to the decedent from the third parties.

An heir who was cohabitating with the decedent at the time of their death is considered to have accepted the inheritance. In this scenario, the heir continues to reside in the decedent’s apartment, makes use of the assets in the apartment, utilizes the belongings of the deceased, and so forth.

For the notary handling the inheritance case, it’s typically sufficient if the decedent and the heir are registered at the same address. However, in international cases, it can happen that the heir was residing with the decedent at the same address abroad but wasn’t registered at the same address in Russia, or wasn’t registered in Russia at all. I’ve encountered many such cases in my practice. When a case involves spouses, providing evidence of them living together, even if they reside abroad, is not too difficult. Lease agreements for an apartment or a house are usually signed in both names. A notarized copy of this agreement with an apostille (as always) can be provided as evidence to the Russian notary. Additionally, notarized copies of driver’s licenses or other personal identification documents that include addresses can be submitted as evidence. A joint bank account, bills for electricity and water with the same address, and other documents will be accepted by the notary as confirmation that the heir and the decedent resided together.

If there’s sufficient evidence, the notary will independently confirm this fact and issue the heir the certificate of inheritance rights. If there’s insufficient evidence, you may miss the deadline for accepting the inheritance or establishing the fact of cohabitation with the decedent at the time of their death. This will need to be further remedied through court.

Our office specializes in handling inheritance cases and can assist anyone residing in the United States in establishing inheritance rights abroad.

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