The Tax Service considered the deceased's daughter not a close relative and demanded inheritance tax payment: what the court decided

A woman who was effectively raised by her father and lived with him as one family, but was not legally registered as his daughter, succeeded in court in establishing paternity after his death. This creates grounds for applying a zero tax rate to the inherited property as a first-degree family member. The court concluded that to establish the child's origin, a combination of proper and admissible evidence is sufficient, not only the results of forensic genetic examination.

The daughter was registered under the mother's surname because the parents were not married

The Hlybotsky District Court of Chernivtsi region considered a claim to establish paternity after the death of a man who had not legally recognized his paternity of the daughter during his lifetime.

The plaintiff explained that her parents lived as one family since 1995 without registering their marriage. When she was born, her father was working abroad, so a joint declaration recognizing paternity was not submitted to the civil registry office. Therefore, the father's record in the birth certificate was made according to part one of article 135 of the Family Code — based on the mother's indication. The child received the mother's surname, and information about the father was entered based on the mother's words.

According to the plaintiff, despite the lack of official paternity registration, her parents lived together, managed a household, and raised her. After finishing school, she enrolled in the Odessa Law Academy, so the family decided not to formalize paternity to avoid changing educational documents. Later, the man made a will in her favor.

After inheritance registration, a taxation problem arose

After the man's death, the plaintiff registered the inheritance according to the will and received a certificate of inheritance rights to a residential house. Later, she received a letter from the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Chernivtsi region stating the need to submit a declaration because the income was reported as inherited from a person who is not a first-degree family member.

It was after receiving this letter that the plaintiff applied to the court to recognize the deceased as her father. She noted that establishing the legal fact of paternity was necessary to confirm her status as a first-degree family member, which is important for taxing the inherited property.

The mother confirmed the claim, witnesses confirmed family relations

At the court hearing, the mother fully supported the claim and confirmed that she lived with the deceased as one family and that he was the biological father of the plaintiff. Similar testimonies were given by two neighbors who confirmed that the couple lived together for many years, managed a household, and raised the daughter together. The representative of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Chernivtsi region requested the case 715/1245/26 to be considered in his absence.

Besides the parties' explanations and witness testimonies, the court examined birth and death certificates, the certificate of inheritance rights, a village council certificate of joint residence of the parents, and the tax authority's letter regarding inheritance taxation.

What the court stated

The court reminded that in the absence of a joint declaration by the parents, the child's origin from the father can be established by court decision, including after the death of the man who was not married to the child's mother.

The court also noted that the basis for recognizing paternity is any proper and admissible evidence confirming the child's origin from a certain person. Referring to the Supreme Court's practice, the court indicated that the child's origin is established based on a combination of evidence. Forensic genetic examination can be used to clarify paternity, but the law does not require its mandatory conduct in every case.

Having evaluated all the evidence collectively, the court established that the deceased was effectively the plaintiff's father, lived together with the mother and daughter as one family, and raised the child. The absence of an official paternity record was due to the fact that at the time of the daughter's birth he was abroad, and the parents' marriage was not registered.

Court decision

The court fully satisfied the claim and recognized the deceased man as the plaintiff's father. Moreover, since the defendant acknowledged the claim before the substantive consideration of the case, the court applied the provisions of article 142 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine and ordered to refund 50% of the paid court fee to the plaintiff from the state budget. The other 50% of the court fee was recovered from the defendant in favor of the plaintiff.

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