Obtaining Additional Time to Accept an Inheritance Due to War: Court Practice in Ukraine

Case Background

Missed Deadline for Accepting an Inheritance. A client contacted our law firm because she was unable to complete the inheritance procedure before a notary. The reason was that she had failed to apply for the opening of the inheritance case within the statutory time limit. Under Ukrainian law, the general deadline for filing an application with a notary to accept an inheritance is six calendar months from the date the inheritance is opened.

Our client was unable to meet this deadline due to the outbreak of the war and because she was forced to leave Ukraine and evacuate to a safer country. Active hostilities were taking place in the area where the inheritance was opened, making it extremely dangerous for her to remain there.

After receiving the notary's refusal to open the inheritance case, she turned to our inheritance lawyers for assistance. Having analyzed the available documents, legal grounds, and evidence, we proposed the following course of action: collect the necessary evidence and file a lawsuit requesting that the court grant an additional period for submitting an application to the notary following the death of her grandmother.

In this category of cases, it is essential to collect all evidence supporting the facts stated in the claim in a timely and comprehensive manner. It is not sufficient merely to argue that martial law remains in force in Ukraine and that this alone automatically justifies restoring the missed deadline for accepting an inheritance.

It should be noted that Ukrainian court practice regarding the restoration of inheritance deadlines is far from consistent. Judicial approaches to these cases have changed repeatedly over the years and continue to evolve. In practical terms, this means that in every individual case it is necessary to prove that there were valid reasons for missing the statutory deadline. Arguments such as not knowing about the inheritance, not being informed, or simply referring to the outbreak of the war are not always sufficient. Every situation must therefore be analyzed individually in order to determine which documents and evidence can effectively demonstrate the legitimacy of the reasons for missing the deadline. A well-supported legal position significantly increases the chances of obtaining a favorable court decision.

In this case, as in many similar matters, we collected evidence confirming that the area where the inheritance was opened was officially designated as an active combat zone. We also obtained information from the State Border Guard Service confirming that our client had crossed the Ukrainian border and left the country, since such circumstances must be supported by proper documentary evidence. In addition, we prepared documents confirming the family relationship, proving that our client was the deceased grandmother's granddaughter, as well as documents confirming the existence of the inherited property.

After reviewing the evidence, the court concluded that the place where the inheritance was opened was located within an active combat zone. The court also established that our client had been forced to evacuate to Ireland because of the war. The court recognized these circumstances as valid reasons for missing the statutory deadline for accepting the inheritance. As a result, the court granted our client an additional period of two months, beginning from the date the judgment became final, to submit her application for acceptance of the inheritance following her grandmother's death.

Once the judgment entered into legal force, we were able to apply to the notary and complete the inheritance procedure. We successfully finalized all inheritance formalities and obtained the inheritance documents confirming our client's ownership rights to the inherited property.

The case was handled by attorney Roman Chumak.

This article is based on the court judgment in case No. 636/5964/23 and is provided for informational purposes only. Every inheritance case is unique, and the outcome depends on its specific facts and evidence. To evaluate the prospects of your particular situation, we recommend consulting our inheritance lawyers.