You can claim inheritance if:
- you are mentioned in the will as an heir;
- heir under a contract;
- there is no will or inheritance contract, but you are a relative of the deceased;
- you are not mentioned in the will (or there is no will), you are not a party to the inheritance contract, but you are entitled to an obligatory share of the estate property;
- you are mentioned in the charter of the inheritance fund.
In the second – by inheritance contract, in the rest – by law. A will takes precedence over a contract, and a will takes precedence over inheritance under law. And with all these issues, law firms in Armenia will help you.
If you don’t know if your deceased relative left a will or an inheritance contract, you might ask a notary to receive the inheritance on your behalf. Following the commencement of the inheritance case, the notary will check whether the deceased left a will or an inheritance contract using the notary’s unified information system.
You can check whether the inheritance file is open and who owns it before going to a notary.
If there are no heirs, none of them entered into, or all of them renounced it, the inherited property is recognized as escheated and goes into state or city possession. here an inheritance tax is imposed, the rate is determined by the state, your relationship to the deceased, and the amount you inherited. All states have different rates, ranging from 0% to 18% of the amount of the inheritance.
Which relatives can claim the inheritance by law?
The property is distributed in equal shares among the heirs of the first stage in the case of inheritance by law (if the dead did not leave a will or inheritance contract). The second stage inherits if the first stage has no heirs or if they have not declared their rights to the inheritance (or have signed a waiver), and so on. There are eight succession lines in total:
- The heirs of the first stage – the testator’s children, spouse, and parents;
- Heirs of the second stage – the testator’s full and half brothers and sisters, his grandfather and grandmother on both the father’s and mother’s sides, children of the testator’s full and half brothers and sisters (nephews and nieces of the testator);
- heirs of the third stage – full and half brothers and sisters of the testator’s parents;
- The testator’s great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers are the heirs of the fourth stage.
- Heirs of the fifth stage – children of the testator’s nephews and nieces (cousins and granddaughters) and siblings of his grandparents (cousin grandparents);
- Heirs of the sixth line – children of cousins and granddaughters of the testator (cousin great-grandchildren and great-granddaughters), children of his cousins and sisters (cousins and nieces) and children of his cousins (cousins and aunts);
- Stepsons, stepdaughters, stepfather, and stepmother of the testator are the heirs of the seventh stage.
- If there are other legal heirs, they share in the inheritance with the heirs of the line called for inheritance. In the absence of other heirs, or when none of the previous stages’ heirs have the right to inherit (either because none of them accepted the inheritance or because they all denied it), such incapacitated dependents inherit as heirs of the eighth stage.
How Inheritance Works
An inheritance is typically a financial gift to children or grandchildren, although it can also include assets such as stocks and real estate.
Who will receive what is specified in the will? If specific objects are to be bequeathed to specific people, the will must state so.
The probate court examines the will, appoints an executor, and officially distributes assets to the named beneficiaries.
If the dead did not detail asset distribution before death, it becomes more problematic. In that circumstances, a probate court must do the best it can to discern the deceased’s desires. If the deceased listed beneficiaries on stocks, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, or retirement plans, the probate court will investigate. Property like as real estate, jewelry, heirlooms, and other valuables can be more difficult to divide.
Creditors may attempt to recover debts from the deceased’s family members, although they are not personally liable. Before dispersing the remainder of the estate, the executor or administrator pays any estate debts. As an heir, you aren’t personally liable for those debts, and creditors should be sent to the estate.
While the federal government does not levy an inheritance tax, six states do: Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A spouse is free from paying tax in all of these states. Except for Pennsylvania and Nebraska, all states exempt children and grandchildren from taxes. Exemptions for siblings, aunts, uncles, and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law differ by state.
It’s no secret that probate and the process are difficult. Always seek advice from these sources in order to complete the process as quickly as feasible and with as few problems as possible.