Notarized will

The notary certifies the will drawn up by him according to the will of the testator or presented to him for certification by the testator. The testator signs the will in the presence of a notary.

The testator can make a will in another way – he personally hands his last will in a sealed envelope to the notary for deposit and confirms to the notary that this is his will. The notary draws the notarial act on the will transfer for deposit, which is signed both by the testator and the notary.

The testator may revoke the will deposited at the notary’s at any time. In this case, the notary draws the notarial act on revocation of the will, which is signed by the testator and the notary.

Testament

A testament is an unilateral deal by which the legator (hereinafter the testator) gives instructions regarding the inheritance in case of his death. The will is made personally by the testator.

Wills may be notarial or domestic. A notarial will may be a notarised will or a will deposited at the notary’s. A domestic will may be signed in the presence of witnesses or written personally by the testator

When the spouse has no inheritance rights

The surviving spouse does not have the right to inherit and the right to a preliminary share, if the testator before his death
filed a claim for divorce or gave written consent to the dissolution of the marriage, as well as if the testator at the time of his death was entitled to demand recognition of the marriage as invalid and filed an appropriate claim to the court.

Spouse as the heir-at-law

Together with the relatives of the testator, the surviving spouse inherits by law, along with the heirs of the first order, in equal shares with the children of the testator, but not less than one fourth of the inheritance. Along with the heirs of the second order, half of the inheritance. If there are no relatives of either the first or the second order, the spouse of the testator inherits the entire inheritance.

The spouse of the testator may, in addition to his/her inheritance share, demand the establishment of the proprietary interest, under article 227 of the Proprietary Interests Law, to the real estate asset that was the common house of the spouses, provided that the financial position of the testator’s spouse may deteriorate as a result of the inheritance.

If the surviving spouse inherits together with the heirs of the second order, he/she receives, in addition to the hereditary share, in the form of a preliminary share, also the furnishing and the household items from the common house of the spouses, if the latter do not belong to the accessories of the immovable thing.

Heirs of the third order according to the law

The heirs of the third order, in accordance with the law, are the grandparents of the testator and their descending relatives.

If all grandfathers and grandmothers are alive by the time of the opening of the inheritance, they will inherit all the inheritance in equal shares.

If by the time of opening of inheritance the grandfather or the grandmother on the father’s, or on the mother’s side of family is not alive, his/her the descending relatives take his/her place. If he/she does not have any relatives, his/her share is inherited by the grandfather or grandmother on the same side, respectively.

If the second grandfather or grandmother is not alive, his/her descending relatives inherit. If at the time of the opening of the inheritance there is no alive grandfather and grandmother on the father’s, or on the mother’s side of family and there are no descending relatives, then the grandfather and grandmother on the other side of family or their descending relatives inherit.

If the descending relatives take the place of their parents, the provisions relating to the heirs of the first order shall apply.

Heirs of the second order according to the law

Heirs of the second order, in accordance with the law, are the parents of the testator and their descending relatives.

If at the time of the opening of the inheritance both parents of the testator are alive, they will inherit the entire inheritance in equal shares.

If at the time of the opening of the inheritance the father or mother of the testator is not alive, the place of the deceased parent shall be taken by his descending relatives in accordance with the provisions related to the heirs of the first order.

If the deceased parent has no descending relatives, the entire inheritance is inherited by the other parent of the testator. If the other parent dies, his/her descending relatives will inherit according to the provisions related to the heirs of the first order