The Essence of Inheritance Law
Inheritance is the transfer of the property rights and obligations of a deceased natural person, as well as certain personal non-property rights, to heirs under the law or (and) to heirs under a will. Inheritance includes both tangible and intangible items, the property claims of the deceased, his property obligations, and property rights and duties established by law (in the Republic of Lithuania). Personal non-property and property rights inseparably connected with the person of the deceased (such as the right to dignity, the right to an author’s name), the right to maintenance payments and benefits granted to the deceased for support, and the right to a pension – except for statutory exceptions – are not inheritable.
Subject of inheritance – the estate, i.e. the property of the deceased, which passes to the heirs by way of succession. The inheritable property is that which belonged to the deceased by ownership at the time of death.
Testator (decedent) – the person after whose death the estate arises. Only a natural person can be a testator. If the person has made a will, he is also called a testator (only a person with full legal capacity may do so).
Heir – a person who inherits the property of the deceased (under the law or under a will).
Object of inheritance law is the social relations regulated by inheritance law, that is, social relations arising from succession.
Opening of inheritance – the emergence of inheritance legal relations. The estate is opened upon the death of a natural person – the testator. The moment of opening is the exact moment of death of the testator, determined by the day, hour, and minute. An exception applies when a person has disappeared without a trace: in such a case, the date of death is the date specified in a court decision (in Lithuania). The place of opening of the estate is considered to be the last residence of the deceased (to determine which country’s laws apply to the inheritance).
Grounds of inheritance:
- Inheritance by law and by will,
- By law, inheritance occurs insofar as it is not altered by a will,
- If there are no heirs, or none of them accepts the estate, or heirs are deprived of the right to inherit – the property of the deceased passes to the state (in the Republic of Lithuania).
Inheritance by Law (Intestate Succession)
Inheritance by law occurs when the decedent did not make a will or the will has been declared invalid; when testamentary heirs did not accept the inheritance, renounced it, or cannot inherit under the circumstances provided for in Article 5.6 of the Civil Code (in the Republic of Lithuania); when a testamentary heir died before the opening of the inheritance and no substitute heir was appointed. The heirs by law are specified in the Civil Code. These provisions are mandatory (they are not and cannot be established in another law).
Order of heirs by law: children and adopted children, parents, adoptive parents, grandchildren, the decedent’s grandparents and great-grandchildren, brothers and sisters, children of brothers and sisters, as well as the father’s and mother’s brothers and sisters and their children.
Adopted children and their descendants who inherit after the death of the adoptive parent or his relatives are treated as the adoptive parent’s children and their descendants. They do not inherit by law after their biological parents or other relatives by blood.
Grandchildren may inherit together with first-order heirs by the right of representation if their parents are deceased, as may great-grandchildren of the decedent. Inheritance by right of representation is possible only in the case of inheritance by law. Persons who have renounced the inheritance cannot be represented.
Inheritance by Will (Testamentary Succession)
Inheritance by will. A will may be made only by the testator personally, provided he or she is a legally capable person and executes the will of his or her own free will. The testator may bequeath all or part of his property to any persons and may deprive heirs of their right to inherit. Wills may be: private (handwritten by the testator), official (drawn up in two copies and certified by a notary).
Acceptance of inheritance. In order to acquire an inheritance, the heir must accept it. An inheritance cannot be accepted partially or conditionally. An heir is deemed to have accepted the inheritance if he or she has begun to use the inherited property, applied to the local district court for an inventory of the estate, or submitted a declaration of acceptance of inheritance to the local notary. These actions must be taken within three months from the date of the opening of the inheritance. The notary or court must notify the Central Mortgage Office (in Lithuania) within three working days of the acceptance of inheritance. The heir, by law or by will, has the right to renounce the inheritance within three months from the date of its opening. Renunciation with conditions, reservations, or of only part of the estate is not permitted.
Renunciation of inheritance. An heir by law or by will may renounce the inheritance within three months from the date of its opening by submitting a declaration to the notary at the place of the opening of the inheritance. Renunciation is not permitted if the heir has already submitted a declaration of acceptance, requested the issue of a certificate of inheritance, or applied to the local district court for an inventory of the estate.
Liability of heirs for the debts of the decedent. An heir who has accepted the inheritance by taking possession of the property or by submitting a declaration to a notary is liable for the decedent’s debts with all his or her property.