What is the order of inheritance during the war?

The period for accepting inheritance or refusing to accept it is suspended for the duration of martial law, but for no more than 4 months. That is, 4 more months are added to the total 6 months for accepting the inheritance, a total of 10 months (but in the event of the termination or cancellation of martial law, the term for accepting (renouncing) the inheritance may be less than 10 months.

The certificate of the right to inheritance is issued to the heirs after the expiration of the term for accepting the inheritance. Currently, the certificate of the right to inheritance is issued only to those heirs in whom this period ended by 03.06.2022, which is connected with the legislation adopted under martial law. If the deadline for issuing the certificate of the right to inheritance falls on the dates after 06.03.2022, then the document is drawn up 10 months after the date of the person's death. The term may be reduced in case of termination of martial law.

As a general rule, the place of inheritance opening is the place of last residence of the deceased. An alternative option may be the location of the deceased's immovable property or movable property (if there is no real estate).

During the martial law, the legislator made it possible to apply to any notary on the territory of Ukraine for the initiation of an inheritance case, without territorial attachment to the last place of residence of the deceased.

In the event that an inheritance has been opened on the territory of Ukraine, to which a person who has moved abroad has the right, such a person can apply to the embassy/consulate of Ukraine in the state of his stay and certify his signature on the application for acceptance of the inheritance.

Also, it is possible to certify the application for acceptance of inheritance at a foreign notary with the subsequent affixing of an apostille (or consular legalization) on such a document.

Such an application can be sent by mail to a notary on the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which the inheritance case will be opened in the general manner.

In addition, it is worth noting that a person who is abroad can issue a power of attorney and authorize a lawyer (lawyer) to carry out all the necessary actions for managing the inheritance case in the interests of the heir.