Inheritance if you are temporarily abroad

Вступ у спадок, якщо ви тимчасово перебуваєте за кордоном

While abroad, you can legally register inheritance in Ukraine – the main task is to act on time and have documents correctly prepared.

⚖️ How to start?

According to the Civil Code of Ukraine, an heir who wishes to accept an inheritance must personally submit the corresponding application.

Option 1

Apply to a notary in the host country to certify the application.

This document must be notarized by the signature of a notary in the host country. Also, depending on the existence of international treaties between the host country and Ukraine, legalization (apostille or consular legalization) may be required. In addition, it is necessary to make a notarized translation of the application into Ukrainian.

Option II

You can also contact the Consular Offices or Diplomatic Missions of Ukraine in the country of residence.

The heir submits an application for acceptance of the inheritance to the consular office – in person or by letter. Employees of diplomatic/consular institutions may perform notarial acts (in accordance with Article 38 of the Law of Ukraine “On Notaries”), in particular, issue certificates of inheritance, certify the accuracy of copies of documents and extracts from them, the authenticity of a signature, and the translation of documents from one language into another.

What documents are needed

  1. Passport and identification code of the heir.
  2. Death certificate of the testator.
  3. Documents confirming family ties (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.).
  4. Title documents for property.
  5. Power of attorney, if there is a representative in Ukraine.

How will the Translation Agency “50 Mov” help?

We help clients who are abroad to quickly and correctly prepare documents for inheritance in Ukraine:

✅ we translate powers of attorney, certificates, wills, extracts;

✅ we perform notarization of translations;

✅ we issue an apostille or legalization of documents;

✅ we advise on which documents need to be prepared in order not to miss the deadlines for entering into an inheritance.

⏳ Don’t delay 

The term for accepting inheritance is 6 months from the date of the testator’s death.

Under martial law in Ukraine, the rule of 10 (ten) months applies for accepting or waiving an inheritance.

If you do not submit an application on time, the issue will have to be resolved through the court.