In today’s realities, the issue of making a will and inheritance is highly relevant for both military personnel and civilians.

A will is a reliable tool. It guarantees that the property is distributed according to the owner’s wishes.

However, for many, this issue still remains difficult and unclear.

We will try to explain the main aspects of a will and inheritance under a will, as well as help you understand what legal nuances should be taken into account and how it can protect your interests and the interests of your loved ones.

Every person who has reached full legal capacity, i.e. 18 years of age, has the right to personally dispose of his property in the event of his death – to make a will. The testator has the right to appoint one or more individuals as their heirs, regardless of whether he has family, family relations, a legal entity (enterprise) or even the state with these persons, and can also deprive any person from among the heirs of the right to inheritance without specifying the reasons by law.

Heirs under the will, as well as under the law, can be natural persons who are alive at the time of the opening of the inheritance, as well as persons who were conceived during the life of the testator and born alive after the opening of the inheritance.

The inheritance includes all the rights and obligations that belonged to the testator at the time the inheritance was opened and did not cease as a result of his death, except for the rights that are inextricably linked to the person of the testator (personal non-property rights; the right to participate in societies, associations citizens; the right to compensation for damage caused by disability or other health damage; the right to alimony, pension, or other payments established by law; the rights and obligations of a person as a creditor or debtor, if they are inextricably linked to the testator).

The testator has the right to include in the will the rights and obligations that belong to him at the time of making the will, as well as those rights and obligations that may belong to him in the future, and to make a will regarding all or part of the inheritance.

If the testator distributed only his rights among the heirs in the will, then the part of the testator’s responsibilities that is proportional to the rights received by them is transferred to the heirs he appointed, in case they accept the inheritance.

The testator can appoint another heir (subappointment of the heir), in case the heir specified in the will dies before the opening of the inheritance (death of the testator or declaration of his death), does not accept it or refuses to accept it or is removed from the right to inherit, and also in the absence of conditions in the will (conditional will).

Also, in the will, the testator has the right to establish an easement over land, other natural resources or other immovable property indefinitely or for a certain period of time to meet the needs of other persons, i.e. the testator can establish in the will the right to use a land plot, natural resources or other immovable property by other persons ( granting the right of passage, passage through a land plot, laying and operation of gas or electricity networks, water supply, sewerage, etc.). In such a case, the heir who accepted the inheritance is not deprived of the right to own, use and dispose of such property, but is obliged to grant the persons specified in the will the right to use the inherited property specified in the easement. In addition, in case of subsequent transfer of ownership of inherited property with established easement, the easement remains valid for the new owner as well.

In addition, the law provides for the drawing up of a joint will, it can be drawn up by spouses regarding the property that belongs to them under the right of joint co-ownership. In case of drawing up a joint will, the share in the right of common co-ownership after the death of one of the spouses passes to the second spouse, who survived him. In the event of the latter’s death, the persons designated by the spouses in the will have the right to inherit. However, during the lifetime of the wife and husband, each of them has the right to withdraw from the joint will. Such refusal is subject to notarization.

The Civil Code of Ukraine defines mandatory requirements for the form of a will.

Yes, the will is drawn up in writing (by hand or using generally accepted technical means, by a notary from the testator’s words), with an indication of the place and time of its making, personally signed by the testator, certified by a notary or an authorized official of the local self-government body (in case of absence in the settlement notary), or other officials or officials*.
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* The will of a person who is being treated in a hospital, hospital, other inpatient health care facility, as well as a person who lives in a home for the elderly and people with disabilities may be certified by the chief physician, his deputy from the medical department or the doctor on duty of this hospital, hospital, other inpatient health care facility, as well as the head of the hospital, director or chief physician of a home for the elderly and persons with disabilities.
The will of a person who is on board a sea or river vessel flying the flag of Ukraine may be certified by the captain of this vessel.
The will of a person who is on a search or other expedition can be certified by the head of this expedition.
The will of a serviceman, and in the deployment points of military units, units, institutions, military educational institutions, where there is no notary or body performing notarial acts, also the will of an employee, a member of his family, and a member of the family of a serviceman can be certified. the commander (chief) of this unit, unit, institution or establishment.
The will of a person who is kept in a penal institution can be certified by the head of such an institution.
The will of a person held in a pre-trial detention center may be certified by the head of the pre-trial detention center.
Such wills are certified by witnesses and are subject to state registration in the Inheritance Register in accordance with the procedure approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
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If the testator cannot read the will himself due to physical disabilities, the will must be authenticated in the presence of witnesses who read it aloud and put their signatures on it, and the identity of the witnesses is entered in the text of the will.

If the testator is unable to sign the will due to illness or physical disability, it is signed by a person authorized by him in his presence. The signature of another person on the text of the will is certified by a notary public or an official who has the right to certify the will, indicating the reasons why the text of the will cannot be signed personally by the testator.

In case of non-compliance with the above requirements regarding the form and certification of the will, such a will is null and void and does not create legal consequences, that is, it does not “generate” civil rights and obligations for the heirs.

The testator also has the right to make a secret will, which he submits to the notary in a sealed envelope with his own signature on it, and which is certified by the notary without familiarizing himself with its contents, placed in another envelope and sealed.

The announcement of a secret will by a notary takes place after receiving information about the opening of the inheritance by appointing the day of announcement of the content of the will and notifying the testator’s family members and relatives whose place of residence is known to him, or placing an announcement in the print media about the day of the announcement of the will. The opening of the envelope with the will and the announcement of the content of the will by the notary takes place in the presence of interested persons and two witnesses, after which a protocol is drawn up indicating the entire content of the will, which is signed by the notary and witnesses.

However, there are pitfalls that most testators and heirs are unaware of.

Even in the presence of a will, persons entitled to a compulsory share in the estate will inherit such a share in the estate, so the testamentary heir’s share in the estate will be reduced by such compulsory share. Persons who have the right to a mandatory share include: minors, minors, adult disabled children of the testator (recognized as disabled in accordance with the procedure established by law, regardless of the disability group), disabled widow (widower) and disabled parents – regardless of the content of the will, they inherit half of the share that would belong to each of them in case of inheritance by law (mandatory share).

The testator cannot in his will deprive the right to inheritance of persons who have the right to a mandatory share in the inheritance.

Also, testators in most cases do not know that in the event of the death of a person who was deprived of the right to inherit, before the death of the testator himself, the deprivation of his right to inherit becomes invalid, therefore the children (grandchildren) of this person have the right to inherit on general grounds.

In this regard, it is necessary to update the will from time to time so that the actual inheritance corresponds to the valid will of the testator.

In addition, the testator can make a testamentary refusal in the will, that is, instruct one or more heirs to perform certain actions for the benefit of a third party at the expense of the inherited property.

Persons in whose favor a testamentary refusal is made in the will (beneficiaries) can be persons who are included, as well as those who are not included among the heirs by law.

The subject of a testamentary refusal may be the transfer of a property right or thing that is or is not part of the inheritance to
the recipient of the refusal in ownership or by other real right.

The testator may place in the will the obligation on the heir, to whom a residential building, apartment or other movable or immovable property is transferred, to grant a third party the right to use them. The heir, who is entrusted with the testamentary refusal, is obliged to fulfill it only within the limits of the real value of the property that passed to him, with the deduction of the share of the testator’s debts attributable to this property.

This right to use a residential building, apartment or other movable or immovable property remains valid in the event of a subsequent change of their owner.

However, the right of the decedent to use a residential building, apartment or other movable or immovable property, obtained by testamentary refusal, is such that it is not alienated, is not transferred and does not pass to the heirs of the decedent and is not a reason for his family members to live there, unless otherwise specified in the will.

After the death of the disclaimer, which occurred before the opening of the inheritance under the will, the testamentary disclaimer becomes invalid.

In his will, the testator can also oblige the heir to perform certain actions of a non-property nature, in particular regarding the disposal of personal papers, determining the place and form of the burial ritual, or to perform certain actions aimed at achieving a socially useful goal.

The testator can condition the emergence of the right to inheritance in the person named in the will to the presence of a certain condition, both related and unrelated to his behavior (presence of other heirs, residence in a certain place, birth of a child, education, etc.) . The condition specified in the will must exist at the time of the opening of the inheritance.

In such a case, the person named in the will has the right to inherit only after the fulfillment of the condition specified in the will, and the person named in the will does not have the right to demand that such a condition be invalidated on the grounds that he did not know about it, or if the occurrence of the condition did not depend on it.

It is also worth noting that the part of the inheritance that is not covered by the will is inherited by the heirs according to the law on general grounds in the order of succession.

It should not be forgotten that the testator has the right to cancel his will at any time, to make a new will (such a will cancels the previous will in full or in the part in which it contradicts it), to make changes to the will.

In the conditions of war, the will acquires special importance. The unpredictability of events and the growth of risks make a will a necessary document that ensures the distribution of property in accordance with the will of the testator and reduces the worries of relatives in the event of the loss of a loved one.