A prenuptial agreement is a universal tool that allows spouses and persons who are just about to get married to determine the fate of jointly acquired property in the event of a divorce, establish the procedure for the participation of each parent in the upbringing of children, fix an increased amount of alimony, etc. The presence of such a document most often excludes the occurrence of disputes between spouses, especially in cases where the family has broken up. At the same time, there are cases in legal practice when, despite the fact that the spouses signed and certified the marriage contract with a notary, the legal consequences for the jointly acquired property, however, did not occur for the parties to the contract. The reason for this is that one of the spouses ignores the importance of the subsequent certification of the marriage contract in the agency for state registration of real estate. This subsequently gives rise to litigation between the heirs of the deceased spouse.
Inheritance after the death of one spouse who was a party to the marriage contractIn our practice, there was a case when the spouses entered into a marriage contract and changed the regime of common joint ownership of immovable property acquired during marriage. Under the terms of the marriage contract, the spouse acquired the ownership of an apartment located in the city of Minsk, as well as a land plot in the Minsk region; the spouse left a private house and a land plot in the Mogilev region. The marriage contract was certified by a notary and registered with the Minsk Regional Agency for State Registration and Land Cadastre. After that, each of the spouses was obliged to register the transfer of ownership of real estate in accordance with the terms of the marriage contract. The wife complied with these requirements and became the owner of the apartment and land. The spouse did not register the transfer of ownership of the house and land in the BTI. A few years later, the husband dies and a hereditary case is opened.Inheritance by law in BelarusDue to the fact that the deceased spouse did not leave a will, the property was subject to division among the heirs according to the law. There were two heirs in the inheritance case: the wife of the deceased and his daughter from his first marriage. According to the daughter, the property specified in the marriage contract should be divided between her and the father’s wife in equal shares. However, the notary refused to issue title documents, because, from the point of view of the law, the absence of the fact of registering a transaction under a marriage contract at the BTI did not change the status of joint property. To put it simply, the house and land in the Mogilev region remained the common property of the spouses and, after the conclusion of the marriage contract, belonged to the husband and wife in equal shares. Consequently, after the death of a spouse, not all the property of the deceased is distributed among the heirs, but only half of it, since the second half belongs to his wife.Taking into account these circumstances, the notary planned to issue title documents to each of the heirs for a 1/4 share in the ownership of the house and land.The daughter of the deceased did not agree with such a position of the notary and was forced to apply to the court for the protection of her interests.Recognition of the right of ownership to hereditary propertyThe basis for the suspension of the issuance of title documents is the commencement of legal proceedings, in which the issue of changing the ratio of shares in the ownership of inherited property is being considered. For this reason, the daughter of the deceased turned to a probate lawyer for legal assistance. As part of the implementation of the lawyer’s assignment, a package of documents was promptly prepared, including a statement of claim for recognition of the right of ownership of property in the order of inheritance. The specified package of documents is currently under consideration by the court, and the issuance of title documents is not carried out until the dispute is resolved.We will report on the results of the proceedings in our next publications.Our lawyers have extensive experience in representing the interests of our clients in inheritance cases. Our lawyers are ready to provide you with the following legal assistance in resolving inheritance disputes:- oral and written consultations on inheritance;- representation and protection of interests in courts on inheritance issues;- representation and protection of interests of heirs at notaries.If you have questions related to the marriage contract under the law of Belarus, as well as the acceptance of an inheritance, and you need help or advice from a lawyer, please contact our lawyers by e-mail: info@familylawyer.by or by phone: +375293570355.
