How to Inherit Property Without Ownership Documents: Two Successful Court Cases

When Missing Property Documents Are Not the End: How Our Team Secured an Apartment Through Two Court Cases

A notary's refusal, missing title documents, the heir living abroad, and a change of court jurisdiction due to the war—our legal team successfully overcame all of these challenges together with our client. We proved her inheritance rights through two consecutive court proceedings: first for the mother and later for the daughter.

The First Case: Inheriting from the Husband

In 2019, a Ukrainian citizen permanently residing in Germany contacted our law firm. Her husband had died in 2016, leaving behind a share of an apartment in Kharkiv. She was unable to complete the inheritance procedure on her own because she lived abroad and the property's ownership documents had been lost.

We prepared and filed a lawsuit with the Frunzenskyi District Court of Kharkiv seeking recognition of our client's ownership rights through inheritance under the law. During the proceedings, we had to:

obtain evidence confirming the marriage between our client and the deceased;
prove that the spouses had lived together in Germany at the time of the husband's death;
secure judicial recognition of our client's ownership of one-third of the apartment.

By its judgment of 17 March 2020, the court established both the family relationship and our client's inheritance rights, recognizing her ownership of a one-third share of the apartment.

The Second Case: Inheriting from the Mother

This successful judgment became the foundation for a second—and considerably more complex—case that arose after our client herself passed away in 2020. Her daughter, who was also permanently residing in Germany, then sought our legal assistance.

The case was complicated by several factors:

the mother had not managed to register her ownership rights based on the court judgment before her death;
the original ownership certificate was missing;
the daughter had lost both her birth certificate and marriage certificate, which were necessary to prove her family relationship with the deceased.

How We Handled the Case

Our legal team assumed full responsibility for the case—from building the evidentiary record to securing full legal recognition of our client's inheritance rights after the court's decision. Specifically, we:

prepared and filed a lawsuit seeking recognition of ownership rights through inheritance;
obtained evidence from state archives, civil status records, and the notarial archive to confirm the family relationship;
proved that the inheritance had been accepted within the statutory six-month period;
successfully rebutted the objections raised by the Kharkiv City Council;
represented our client before the Oktyabrskyi District Court of Poltava, to which the case had been transferred from Kharkiv due to the change of court jurisdiction caused by the war.

We submitted a complete package of evidence to the court, including a copy of the inheritance file and proof of our client's family relationship with the deceased, which was based on the earlier court judgment that our team had successfully obtained.

On 26 September 2024, the court granted our client's claim. The judgment recognized her ownership of:

a two-thirds share of the apartment through inheritance after her mother;
the remaining one-third share, which she already owned under her existing ownership certificate.

Following the judgment, we completed the state registration of her ownership rights. As a result, our client obtained full legal authority to dispose of the property, including selling or transferring her share.

Conclusion

This case demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive legal strategy when protecting inheritance rights. Success required much more than preparing documents—it required effective courtroom representation and a carefully planned legal approach.

Two successful court proceedings—first for the mother and then for the daughter.
Recovery of missing documentation and judicial confirmation of the heir's legal rights.
Successful enforcement of inheritance rights that had previously been blocked by procedural obstacles.

If a notary has refused to process your inheritance—or that of your family members—do not give up. Our inheritance lawyers can protect your rights in court.