Missed the Inheritance Deadline in Ukraine? How to Get an Additional Deadline

The six-month window to accept an inheritance in Ukraine passes faster than it seems, and the law makes no exceptions for those who "didn't know" or "didn't have time." But a missed deadline does not mean the inheritance is lost. There are two different paths: reach an agreement with the other heirs and go to a notary, or file a lawsuit asking a court to set an additional deadline. Which one applies to you depends not on how complicated your situation is, but on whether someone else has already accepted the inheritance and whether that person agrees. Below is how to choose the right path, which reasons courts accept as valid, and which ones they almost always reject.

In brief: 6 points

• The deadline to accept an inheritance is six months from the time it opens, that is, from the day the deceased (the person leaving the inheritance) died (Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).
• Not everyone needs to file an application. An heir who permanently lived with the deceased at the time the inheritance opened is deemed to have accepted it, unless they renounced it.
• The first path — without court: written consent from heirs who have already accepted the inheritance allows an application to be filed with a notary even after the deadline has passed.
• The second path — court: a lawsuit to set an additional deadline, if the reason for missing it is valid (Article 1272 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).
• The court sets an additional deadline, not ownership. After the ruling, you still need to file an application with a notary — that is exactly why it is called an "additional" deadline.
• Simply living abroad is not on its own considered a valid reason: the application can be filed by mail or through a representative.

Where the six months start counting from

An inheritance opens on the day the person dies. Starting the very next day, the six-month period begins to run, during which the heir must file an application to accept the inheritance with a notary at the place where the inheritance opened.

The date of death is taken from the death certificate. If a person is declared dead by a court ruling, the time the inheritance opens is determined under the rules established for such cases, and this requires a separate check — the entire subsequent calculation depends on that date.

A practical detail on which people lose months: the deadline is not counted from the day of the funeral, not from the day the death certificate was obtained, and not from the day you learned about the inheritance. It is counted from the day of death.

Who does not need to file an application at all

This is the first thing worth checking before worrying about a missed deadline. The law provides for cases where an inheritance is deemed accepted automatically:

• an heir who permanently lived with the deceased at the time the inheritance opened is deemed to have accepted the inheritance, unless they filed an application of renunciation within the deadline;
• a minor, a person with no or limited civil capacity is deemed to have accepted the inheritance under the procedure set by law.

In other words, if you lived with the deceased in the same home on the day of their death, your situation may not be a "missed deadline" case at all, but something entirely different: you need to prove the fact of permanent cohabitation, not ask for an additional deadline. There is a separate article on this: establishing the fact of permanent cohabitation with the deceased.

Two paths after missing the deadline

The law provides two different mechanisms, and they should not be confused — the choice determines whether proceedings will even be opened.

The logic is simple: if no one objects, the state sees no point in burdening the court. That is why the first question I ask a client is not "why did you miss the deadline," but "who has already accepted the inheritance, and what is your relationship with that person." Sometimes the matter is resolved with one conversation and one signature at the notary's office.

What exactly to ask the court for

The wording of the claim is where cases that could have been won get lost. The court sets an additional deadline sufficient for filing an application to accept the inheritance. The court does not "reinstate" the deadline, does not declare that you have accepted the inheritance, and does not recognize your ownership of the property in place of the notary.

Once the ruling enters into legal force, you go to the notary and, within the additional deadline set by the court, file the application. Only after that is the certificate of the right to inheritance issued.

If the claim asks directly for recognition of ownership of an apartment, skipping the stage of the additional deadline and the notary, there is a risk of being denied because of an incorrectly chosen method of protection — even where the reason for missing the deadline is genuinely valid.

Which reasons courts recognize as valid

The law does not set an exhaustive list: validity is assessed in each case individually. Based on case practice, the reasons most often recognized as valid are circumstances that objectively prevented a timely application:

• a prolonged serious illness of the heir, confirmed by medical documents;
• being held in places of deprivation of liberty (imprisonment);
• not knowing about the existence of a will in the heir's favor;
• not knowing about the death of the deceased, where there are objective reasons rather than mere indifference;
• a health condition that deprived the person of the ability to understand their actions;
• circumstances related to hostilities and occupation that genuinely made it impossible to apply.

Which reasons are almost always rejected

This section matters more than the previous one, because this is exactly where people lose money on lawsuits that had no chance from the start.

• Simply living abroad. This is the key point: courts hold that long-term residence outside Ukraine is not an insurmountable obstacle, since the application can be sent by mail or filed through a representative under a power of attorney.
• Not knowing the law and not knowing about the six-month deadline.
• Not knowing what the inheritance estate consists of — a person accepts the inheritance, not a specific apartment.
• A long distance between the person's place of residence and the place the inheritance opened, on its own.
• Being busy, work, or difficult life circumstances without documentary proof that they were insurmountable.
• A conflict with relatives and waiting for them to "sort everything out themselves."

For those who left Ukraine after 2022, this is the most important paragraph in the article. The mere fact of being abroad is not recognized by the court as a valid reason on its own. But a combination of circumstances may be recognized as valid: occupation of the place where the inheritance opened, destruction of documents, inability to obtain consular services, illness. What must be proven is the insurmountability of the obstacle, not the fact of having left.

Who will be the defendant in the case

This is a question that can decide the fate of the claim before it is even heard on the merits. The defendants are the other heirs who accepted the inheritance — it is their rights that your claim affects.

If there are no such heirs and the property may pass to the state or a local community as escheated (ownerless) inheritance, the defendant is the relevant local self-government body. A notary who refused to accept the application is not a defendant in such a dispute — the notary acted in accordance with the law.

An error in identifying the defendants means, at best, delaying the case, and at worst, having the claim dismissed.

Documents: what to get, where, and why

If some documents have been lost, you will first need to restore them — there is a separate article on obtaining duplicate documents and extracts from the civil registry office (DRACS).

Action plan

1. Establish the exact date of death and calculate exactly when the deadline expired.
2. Check whether you already accepted the inheritance automatically — that is, whether you lived with the deceased on the day they died.
3. Order an extract from the Inheritance Register: see whether an inheritance case has been opened and who has already filed an application.
4. Apply to a notary with your application and obtain a written ruling of refusal.
5. Assess the out-of-court path: if there are heirs who accepted the inheritance and they agree, arrange their written consent.
6. If there is no consent, prepare a lawsuit to set an additional deadline, gathering evidence that your reason is valid.
7. After the court ruling, return to the notary within the additional deadline that was set.

Mistakes that cost people their inheritance

• Waiting for "things to sort themselves out." The deadline does not stop or extend automatically.
• Not obtaining a written refusal from the notary. An oral answer means nothing to a court.
• Asking the court to recognize ownership instead of setting an additional deadline. The wrong method of protection.
• Basing the claim on the fact of living abroad. This is the most common reason for refusal.
• Getting the defendants wrong. The notary is not a defendant; the other heirs are.
• Obtaining a court ruling and not going to the notary. The additional deadline also expires.

Frequently asked questions

I missed the six months. Is the inheritance already lost?

No, missing the deadline does not automatically mean the inheritance is lost. The law provides two paths. The first is out of court: if there are other heirs who accepted the inheritance and all of them give written consent, the notary will accept your application even after the deadline has passed. The second is through court: a lawsuit is filed to set an additional deadline sufficient for filing the application, and the court grants it if it finds the reason for missing the deadline to be valid. Before choosing a path, it is worth checking one more circumstance: if you permanently lived with the deceased on the day they died, you may already be deemed to have accepted the inheritance, and no additional deadline needs to be requested at all. So the starting point should not be a lawsuit, but an extract from the Inheritance Register and a visit to a notary: these two documents show the real picture — whether an inheritance case has been opened, who has already filed applications, and what you can realistically expect.

Does living abroad count as a valid reason?

On its own — no, and this is the most common reason for refusals in such cases. Courts hold that long-term residence outside Ukraine does not create an insurmountable obstacle, since an application to accept an inheritance can be sent by mail or filed through a representative under a power of attorney. This also applies to those who left after 2022. At the same time, a combination of circumstances that genuinely made it impossible to apply may be recognized as valid: occupation or hostilities in the place where the inheritance opened, loss of documents, inability to obtain consular services, a serious illness. In other words, what must be proven is not the fact of having left, but specific obstacles confirmed by documents. A claim built only on the phrase "I was abroad" is, in the vast majority of cases, doomed to fail. So even before filing documents, it is worth honestly assessing whether you have evidence of actual obstacles, rather than just the fact of being outside the country.

Who should be named as the defendant in a claim for an additional deadline?

The defendants are the other heirs who accepted the inheritance, since it is their property interests that your claim affects. If there are no heirs who accepted the inheritance and the property may pass to the community as escheated (ownerless) property, the relevant local self-government body is named as the defendant. The notary who refused to accept your application because the deadline had passed is not a defendant in such a case: the notary acted within the law, and there are no grounds to challenge those actions. Getting the defendants wrong is one of the most common procedural mistakes in this category of cases: at best, it leads to a delay in the proceedings, and at worst, to the claim being dismissed. So the list of participants should be determined after obtaining an extract from the Inheritance Register: it shows exactly who filed applications to accept the inheritance and provides grounds to correctly form the list of defendants before the lawsuit is even filed.

What does the court rule on: does it recognize my right to the apartment?

No. In this category of cases, the court sets an additional deadline sufficient for filing an application to accept the inheritance — and that is all. It does not declare that you have accepted the inheritance, does not issue a certificate of the right to inheritance, and, as a rule, does not recognize ownership of specific property in place of the notary. Once the ruling enters into legal force, you apply to the notary and file the application within the deadline that was set; it is the notary who issues the certificate of the right to inheritance. If the claim directly asks for recognition of ownership of an apartment or house, skipping the stage of the additional deadline, there is a real risk of refusal because of an incorrectly chosen method of protection — even when the reason for missing the deadline truly is valid. This is exactly the kind of case where the wording of the claim matters as much as the evidence, so the relief sought should be worked out before the documents are even filed with the court.

How much time does the court give, and what should I do after the ruling?

The court sets a deadline sufficient for filing the application, and it starts running once the ruling enters into legal force. The main mistake at this stage is obtaining the ruling and then relaxing. The additional deadline also expires, and if you fail to file the application with the notary in time, you will have to start over — but this time without any real prospects, because you cannot ask for another additional deadline on the same grounds a second time. So as soon as the ruling enters into legal force, take a court-certified copy of it and go to the notary at the place the inheritance opened, along with your other documents: the death certificate, documents proving family ties, and, if there is one, the will. After that, the inheritance case proceeds in the usual manner: the notary adds your application to the inheritance case file, and once the procedures set by law have run their course, issues the certificate of the right to inheritance. I would advise not putting off this visit even by a few weeks.

Can the matter be resolved without going to court?

Yes, and that is exactly where to start checking. If the inheritance has already been accepted by other heirs and they do not object to your participation, their written consent, filed with the notary at the place the inheritance opened, is enough. This is faster by several months and cheaper, since neither a court fee nor legal representation in court is needed. So the first conversation should not be a consultation about a lawsuit, but finding out two things: who has already accepted the inheritance, and what your relationship with that person is. In practice, some cases are resolved with one agreement and one visit to the notary. If there is no consent, or there are no heirs who accepted the inheritance at all, the court path remains. It is longer and more expensive, but entirely workable, provided the reason for missing the deadline is genuinely valid and confirmed by documents rather than by explanations alone.

Missed the deadline to accept an inheritance? Send me the death certificate, documents proving family ties, and an extract from the Inheritance Register, if you already have one. That is enough for me to tell you whether you can avoid going to court, what evidence you will need for a claim, and what your realistic prospects are. Consultations are held in Ukrainian or Russian; written communication in English is available. You can message me or call — contact details are in the site header.