Receiving inheritance in the jurisdiction of another country is a meticulous process. It requires a quality approach from the heir and the lawyers assisting them. This specialist must, if necessary, go to a specific country either independently or with the client, to personally participate in the court case and document processing. A lawyer for this category of cases must possess foreign languages and have a good understanding of the peculiarities of the legal systems of the European continent.
Peculiarities of National Regulations for Inheritance
European inheritance law differs significantly from the norms we are familiar with, although in some aspects it is similar. There are pan-European norms and requirements, but each country has unique rules that remain in force. Let us consider inheritance law using the example of the richest country in the EU - Germany.
The peculiarity of this federal country is that each of its states has its own inheritance legislation, which differs slightly in the explanation of specific actions. The country has a collection of norms familiar to Ukrainians - the Civil Code - which has state-wide significance. It outlines how documents are processed, what rights heirs have, and other peculiarities.
Unlike Ukraine, the husband or wife of the deceased do not enter a specific queue for inheritance. This is because Germans determine the degree of closeness to the property for spouses, depending on the existence of children in the family. If children exist, the spouse will manage a maximum of one-quarter of the property. If the parents are alive, the spouse receives only half of the property. If the recipient spouse is single, they can easily manage all the property.
In Germany, there is a six-month period for entering into inheritance rights. The six months are counted from the moment the specific citizen receives information about their inheritance rights. If there is a will, the count starts from the moment the last will of the deceased is announced. A special judicial body - the inheritance court in Germany - deals with cases related to finding heirs.
Processing Here and There
According to national legislation, inheritance is processed in two ways:
● if part of the property of a citizen of Ukraine (a citizen with relatives in Ukraine) is located abroad, inheritance is carried out according to the laws of the country where the property is located;
● if the testator's property is in Ukraine, all inheritance rules are followed according to the current Ukrainian legal norms.
It is important to establish not the citizenship of the person transferring the inheritance, but where this property is subject to registration. This nuance affects the final decision. For more details on how to process inheritance abroad, please read the link https://inheritance.com.ua/uslugi/nasledstvo-za-granicej/.