The procedure for accession to the heirship in Ukraine: how can a foreigner receive an inheritance?

There are many citizens of foreign countries among our Clients. Some of them face the necessity to go through the required formalities in order to claim the right to inheritance in Ukraine that results in a great number of questions.

Whether it’s questions about inheritance of real estate or about how much it costs to formalize an inheritance, it is very difficult to find the answers to them on your own, without proper experience and specialized knowledge.

Today we will talk about the most common questions and problems that may arise in the process:

• How does the procedure for accession to the heirship in Ukraine for a foreigner take place?
• Is it possible to formalize an inheritance via a power of attorney?
• What inheritance tax in Ukraine is set for non-residents?

In this material we will answer these and other questions, as well as share our input on the process itself.

Related article: We helped woman, citizen of Ukraine, residing in Holland, to claim an inheritance in Ukraine 

How is the process of inheritance of property located in Ukraine regulated?

Based on Art. 71 of the Law of Ukraine "On Private International Law", the right to inheritance property located in Ukraine is regulated by the local laws. And this means that you will need to go through the procedure, which is provided for by the law on inheritance in Ukraine. And in this case there is no difference where the will was territorially drawn up or where the testator lived and died.

In total, there are no major differences between inheritance by citizens of Ukraine, citizens of other countries or non-residents. The difference in this case is only in tax, which must be paid for inherited property. That is why, both for citizens of Ukraine and for foreigners, the law provides for a period during which it is necessary to enter into the inheritance - 6 months.

This term applies solely to the submission of an application for acceptance of the inheritance. This period begins with the death of the testator. The very right of ownership will be made after the application is submitted, and for this procedure we will indicate the term below.

How does the registration of the inheritance takes place?

The inheritance procedure, in a nutshell, consists of the following steps:

1. Acceptance of inheritance itself. This phase has a time frame of 6 months.
2. The process of registration of ownership of property. This stage has no time limits.

It’s worth starting with choosing a state notary. The notary should be sought after at the place of actual location of the property or at the place of residence of the deceased recently. It can be either a private and a public notary.

Next, we will talk about how the process of entry into the inheritance occurs if you still decide to use the services of a representative in Ukraine.

Stage One - Preparation of documents.

1. Registration of a power of attorney for the Ukrainian representative.
2. Preparation of a statement by a notary. If the heir is outside Ukraine, this document must be certified by a foreign notary.

Preparation of all available documents. This list includes documents confirming kinship, as well as:

• Document confirming the identity of the heir (a passport);
• Individual Taxpayer Number (ITN) of the heir. In the case of a non-resident successor, the ITN will have to be received additionally;
• Testator’s death certificate;
• A will.

After we have collected all the documents we have, we provide them to the notary together with the existing power of attorney. Based on these documents, the notary opens an inheritance case and issues an extract on registration of such a case.

The second stage - we draw up ownership of the property.

At this stage, the notary checks the testator's right to property. We submit to the notary documents that confirm ownership of the property:

• Documents for all property (originals). For example, a certificate of ownership, a gift agreement, a contract of sale, an exchange agreement, etc. If such documents are missing, you need to search for or restore them. This procedure can be done by an authorized person.
• An expert assessment of the real estate.
• Tax payment statement.

We emphasize that in this case the size of the tax is affected by the status of the heir - non-resident. Find out what inheritance tax in Ukraine is available from our specialists.

Obtaining a certificate of inheritance (in paper form) is the final step in the inheritance procedure. A notary may independently register ownership in a special State Register. This will be the end of the inheritance procedure, you can become the full owner of the property.

What to do if it is not possible to be personally present during the process of entering into the inheritance in Ukraine?