Receiving inheritance is possible in two ways: by law and by will. The Civil Code defines the circle of persons who have the right to inherit property in the order of priority. But which persons are not eligible to claim inheritance?
Those persons who are deprived of the right of inheritance are called unscrupulous or unworthy heirs. This category includes citizens who deliberately deprived the life of the testator or one of the possible heirs, as well as those who attempted their life. These unlawful actions must have a judicial confirmation.
The inheritance cannot be claimed by citizens who deliberately created obstacles when the testator drew up a will, when making certain changes to it, as well as when canceling an already fully prepared will for their own mercenary purposes, in order to obtain the right to inherit for themselves, other persons or inherit a large share (clause 1 of article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
The following persons lose the right to inherit by law, and not the ability to inherit property by will:
1. Parents deprived of parental rights, which were not restored at the time the inheritance entered into force (clause 1 of article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Parents (or adoptive parents) and adult children (or adult adopted children), as well as other persons who did not fulfill their legal obligations to support the testator. This circumstance must be established by the court (clause 2 of article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
3. One of the former spouses, whose marriage is considered invalid at the time of opening the inheritance. The court may remove a person from the right of inheritance, upon establishing the circumstance that the heir did not provide any assistance to the testator, who is in old age or in a serious state of health.
A person who has lost the right to inherit has the opportunity to receive a share of the property, if the testator, after the person has lost such a right, indicated it in his will.
Citizens who have a guaranteed right to a compulsory share in the inheritance (minor children, spouse, parents, dependents), regardless of whether they are indicated in the will or all property bequeathed to other persons, may also be deprived of such a right if they are recognized by the court as " unscrupulous heirs "(clause 4 of article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
If a person has already received an inheritance, but later is recognized as an unworthy heir, then he is obliged to return the received property. When it is not possible to return the property in its original form, then the unscrupulous heir must return its value (clause 3 of article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
