An IDP woman formalized the right of inheritance from her mother, who died in the occupation

Publication date: October 2, 2023

A successful case from the practice of the NGO “Public Legal Aid Service” is a relevant step-by-step algorithm for IDPs who want to formalize their inheritance rights but do not have a death certificate of the testator.

Lidiia*, an IDP from Donetsk oblast, remotely contacted the NGO “Public Legal Aid Service” with a question about formalizing her mother’s inheritance, who died three months ago in the temporarily occupied territory.

The organization’s lawyer, Oleksii Kormiletskyi, advised the woman and explained that if a person died in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, and therefore, the state civil registration authority did not register the death and did not issue a death certificate, it is necessary to apply to the court to establish the fact of death of a person in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, defined as such by the law.

The lawyer helped Lidiia write such an application, and within a few weeks, she received an official Ukrainian death certificate. And accordingly, she was able to formalize her inheritance rights.

Algorithm from a lawyer: how to apply for establishing the fact of death

• An application may be filed by family members of the deceased, their representatives, or other interested persons (if the establishment of the fact of death affects their rights, obligations, or legitimate interests).
• The application may be filed with any local court of Ukraine administering justice, regardless of the applicant’s place of residence (stay). Court decisions in such cases are subject to immediate enforcement.
• The court shall issue a copy of the court decision to the parties to the case immediately after its adoption or directly send it to the civil registry office at the place of adoption of the decision for state registration of the person’s death.

Suppose the court sends a decision to establish the fact of the death of a person in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine to the civil registry office at the place of the decision. In that case, the state registration of death is carried out on the day of receipt of a copy of such decision without any application from any person.

Based on the court’s decision, the state registration of death is carried out, and the death certificate is issued and issued to the applicant when they apply to the state civil registration authority. The death certificate is submitted to a notary to confirm the fact of the testator’s death.

* Name has been changed for ethical reasons.

The material was created with the support of the international charity platform GlobalGiving and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The publication’s content is solely the responsibility of the Legal Development Network.

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