The Supreme Court explained when an heir can refuse inheritance after another's refusal

An heir whose right to inheritance arose as a result of another heir's refusal to accept the inheritance has the right to refuse acceptance of the inheritance within a special three-month period established by part two of Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which is calculated from the moment of such refusal, and not within the general six-month period from the opening of the inheritance. This conclusion was made by the Supreme Court in the composition of the panel of judges of the First Judicial Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court.

On May 20, the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court considered in simplified proceedings the cassation appeal of Person_1, acting in the interests of the minor Person_2, in the case filed by Person_1, acting in the interests of the minor Person_2, against the Primorsky State Notary Office in Odessa regarding the recognition as unlawful and cancellation of the decision to refuse to perform a notarial act.

In support of the claims, the plaintiff argued that after the death of the testator, the heirs by law were his father and minor son. The testator's father refused the inheritance in favor of the deceased's brother, but the latter later also submitted a statement of refusal of the inheritance. The notary refused to issue the minor heir a certificate of the right to inheritance for the entire share of the inherited property, considering that the testator's brother missed the six-month deadline for refusal of inheritance and therefore is considered to have accepted the inheritance.

The court of first instance, whose conclusions were agreed upon by the appellate court, denied the claim, agreeing with the notary's position regarding the missed deadline for refusal of inheritance and the application of the general six-month period established by part 1 of Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

The Supreme Court disagreed with the conclusions of the courts, annulled the court decisions, and adopted a new court decision to satisfy the claim based on the following.

According to Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the general period for acceptance of inheritance is six months. At the same time, part two of this article provides for a special three-month period that applies in case the right to inheritance arises due to non-acceptance or refusal of acceptance of inheritance by other heirs. This period is calculated from the moment of the respective refusal or non-acceptance of the inheritance.

Minors and underage persons (part 4 of Article 1268 of the Civil Code of Ukraine) are considered to have accepted the inheritance, however, the exercise of their rights is carried out taking into account special guarantees of inheritance law and protection of their interests.

In this case, it was established that the refusal of one of the heirs to the inheritance occurred before the expiration of the six-month period, therefore the special three-month period provided for by part two of Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine was applicable to the legal relations.

The courts of previous instances mistakenly applied only the general six-month period and did not take into account the special three-month period for acceptance of inheritance provided for by part two of Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

The Supreme Court emphasized that courts are obliged to consider both the general and special periods for acceptance of inheritance depending on the grounds for the emergence of the right to inheritance. Failure to consider the special period is an incorrect application of substantive law norms and leads to erroneous resolution of the issue, in particular regarding the legality of the notary's actions.

More details and the text of the Supreme Court ruling dated May 20, 2026, No. 522/6862/24 (proceeding No. 61-13587sv25) can be found at this link.

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