In the event of the death of the testator, persons interested in receiving his property should contact a notary within the period established by law. However, it is not always clear where exactly to go and how to identify the specialist who is needed in a particular situation. A notary at the registration address for registering an inheritance can become the first link in the registration chain. But is it the only person who can contact him?

Who should I contact to register an inheritance after death?

In the event of the death of the testator, his intended heirs must submit an application to the notary within 6 months stating that they wish to enter into inheritance rights.

This is necessary so that the specialist gets a complete picture of the existing and prospective heirs, determines the shares if necessary and does all the work on registration. If the heir decides to actually take over, then no application is required.

However, it is within the established period that the obligation to actually accept the property is determined, which implies its use, repairs, payment of maintenance costs, etc. This method has its drawbacks. The main one is the impossibility of selling or donating an object without proper registration.

How to find a notary who works with a specific address

Often, heirs do not have information about which notary is handling the case they are interested in. To obtain this information, they should contact one of the following offices: Any notary of a locality or entity; City Notary Chamber. In any of these places, to obtain information, you must provide the name and address of the place of registration of the deceased testator.

The Chamber of Notaries stands above all practicing notaries in the locality. This organization will tell you where and to whom you need to contact regarding the inheritance matter of interest. Citizens can obtain information about the name and address of a notary in one of the two mentioned ways.

When applying for the specified data to any of the organizations, you should clearly indicate the surname and registration of the deceased relative.

Will any notary register an inheritance? Each plot in the city and the first letters of surnames are assigned a specific notary, whose responsibilities include conducting inheritance cases. In contrast, the “Inheritance without Borders” program has begun to operate in some large populated areas of the Russian Federation.

The experiment affected the Moscow and Leningrad regions with their centers and a number of other cities. The essence of the introduced program is that residents of populated areas have the right to contact any notary regarding inheritance. This operating principle is convenient, first of all, for citizens who are going to enter into an inheritance. But the program does not operate in all regions and, at the moment, there is no reason to expand its coverage area.

Therefore, citizens living in localities not affected by the “Inheritance Without Borders” will have to look for and contact a specific notary assigned to the area of ​​residence of the deceased relative.

Is it possible to open an inheritance case with any notary?

Heirs often have a question about which notary to contact to register an inheritance?

There is no definite answer, as it depends on several circumstances:

1. whether the inheritance case has been opened by other receivers or not yet;
2. Does the city operate the “Inheritance Without Borders” program?

If the case has already been opened, then it is impossible to change the specialist without serious reasons. If interested parties simply don’t like it, there’s definitely no talk of changing it.

However, if the case has not yet begun and the city is participating in a special program, then you are allowed to choose a specialist yourself.

Opening a business with any notary is sometimes possible. If in a particular case this cannot be done, then the notary to whom the heir applied must refer him to an authorized specialist.

At the place of residence

Citizens are often interested in the question of registering an inheritance in a place other than the place of registration of the owner.
Due to the large number of applications submitted to notaries for processing and the vastness of the country’s territories, not all citizens have the opportunity to process the required documents in a timely manner. To speed up and automate the work of departments, the government has developed a program called “Inheritance Without Borders.”
Unfortunately, the project was launched as an experiment and operates in cities of federal significance (Moscow and the region, St. Petersburg and the region) and some other large cities.

If a citizen wants to find out whether his city is registered in the program, he should contact the notary chamber in person or on the official website via the Internet. Information on citizens' requests is recorded and, ultimately, after processing the data, it will make it possible to determine its reliability and effectiveness.

Answering another question, about applying for registration of an inheritance from the notary closest to the heir, we can answer categorically - no.

How can I find out which specialist is assigned to an address?

Heirs often have a question about how to find a notary at their place of residence? Today this is quite easy to do, since the Internet contains information about specialists, addresses, telephone numbers, etc. In all the variety of information, another question arises - which notary the address belongs to.

There are several ways out of the situation:

• contact any conveniently located notary office, which will tell you which specialist is assigned to the address;
• choose a specialist yourself if your city of residence participates in the “Inheritance Without Borders” program;
• Contact the city notary chamber for more information.

All of the above methods will help clarify which specialist should be contacted, and the interested person should choose based on their own preferences.

How to find the right notary office at your place of residence?

In order to determine which notary offices are located at the place of residence of both the heir and the testator, it is worth visiting the official information portal of the Moscow City Notary Chamber.

While on the site, you can get all the necessary information about the location of notary offices. To do this you need:

• go to the main page of the site;
• select the “Moscow Notaries” tab;
• while on the page you can see a map on which the addresses of notary offices are marked;
• For a more precise search, you can enter an address or specify a metro station, as well as independently enlarge the required section of the map.

How to find the notary who registered the will?

If the receivers know that the testator has drawn up a will, then there is no need to look for the notary who executed it. A specialist who will handle the inheritance case is who is needed in this situation.

If the heirs do not know whether there is a will and what its purpose is, they should act as follows:

1. contact the city Notary Chamber in the special department for searching wills;
2. write a statement stating that it is necessary to find a document or determine its availability.

If a will was drawn up, it can be found in this way, as well as by the specialist who executed or certified it.

How to find a notary at your place of residence

• It is necessary to contact the city Notary Chamber, located in the city in which the deceased relative lived. If the last place of registration of the testator is unknown, you can contact any Notary Chamber. The organization’s employees will provide all the necessary information, including the address of the body authorized to register the applicant’s rights.
• If the testator’s city of residence is known, you can contact any notary. Based on the information at his disposal, he will be able to provide the address of the body authorized to register the applicant’s rights.

In large cities, additional detail may be introduced in the method of territorial distribution of notaries:

1. According to the site, urban area in which the relative lived , or where the registered property is located.
2. According to the first letter of the surname of a deceased relative on the site or in the area where the inheritance was opened or registered.

Step-by-step instruction

You can find out the address of a notary authorized to register the transfer of ownership of an inheritance in the following ways:

1. By applying in person to the Notary Chamber of the city/region in whose territory the testator or heir resides. Since the information is for reference, providing documents confirming the death of a relative or the right to inheritance is not required. You only need to have a document proving the identity of the applicant.
2. By contacting in person at any notary office in the city in whose territory the testator or heir resides. Since the information is for reference, providing documents confirming the death of a relative or the right to inheritance is not required. You only need to have a document proving the identity of the applicant.
3. By visiting the website of the Notary Chamber of the Russian Federation. In the “Search for a notary” tab, based on data about the subject of the federation in which the deceased relative lived, you can find a person authorized to carry out the registration of inheritance.

Is it possible to refuse and choose a better specialist?

If an inheritance case has already been opened, it is impossible to refuse a notary without significant grounds. If you don’t like a specialist or seem to be insufficiently competent, then it will not be easy to refuse him.

When such a decision is associated with real problems and mistakes on the part of a specialist, you should complain about it to the city notary chamber.

Expert opinion

Irina Vasilyeva

Civil law expert

If it is determined that the notary does not fulfill his duties in good faith, then a replacement is possible. Otherwise, you cannot change the specialist.

Registration of inheritance not at the place of residence

In some regions of Russia there is a program “Inheritance Without Borders”, according to which registration is possible at any notary both in the city of Moscow and in the regions where this program operates. Such a notary office may not be located at the place of residence of the deceased or the location of the property.

With the introduction of the Unified Notary Information System, it has become possible to contact any notary office within the notary district. The boundaries of notarial districts are established by the Notary Chamber of the Russian Federation, as well as by the Notarial Chambers of the constituent entities of the Federation and municipalities.

Good to know! According to Art. 1162 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, registration of rights is carried out at the place of opening of the inheritance. Since 2015, the need to register it at the place of residence has ceased to exist, since the UISN allowed any of the notaries, within the notarial district, to carry out actions on inheritance matters.

Actions of a notary related to registration of inheritance

The notary requests all the necessary papers and collects all the documents that come to him from the heirs into one file. When applying for an inheritance, the heirs draw up a corresponding statement, which is also attached to the file.

As a rule, after the first application for a certificate of inheritance is received, the notary finds out from the person who wrote it who else can claim to receive the property under the law. If a will has been drawn up, then the notary’s task is to determine the circle of persons to whom a mandatory share in the inheritance should be allocated.

Next, the notary notifies all interested parties that the inheritance has been opened.

If the heir cannot present any document to the notary, then he is explained the right to go to court to establish a fact of legal significance.

The notary must take all measures aimed at preserving the inherited property.

Another important detail: the testator’s spouse must be issued a certificate of ownership of the share in the common property.

After 6 months from the date of opening of the inheritance, the heirs receive a certificate of right to inheritance.

An inheritance certificate can be issued to one heir for the entire property or to each of the heirs for the parts due to them.

There is no need to register a certificate of inheritance anywhere! The heirs only sign in special notary journals about receipt of documents.