A man, from whom she was forced to part five decades ago due to parental insistence, bequeathed her substantial assets: an apartment, a plot of land, a garden house, and money. Due to the expiration of the deadline for accepting the inheritance, the case was referred to the Supreme Court. The woman successfully argued that her lack of knowledge about the will was due to circumstances beyond her control, and the court accepted her arguments.
Russia`s highest judicial authority has ruled in favor of a romantic connection. A woman from Novosibirsk, half a century after their youthful resort romance, discovered that her former beloved had left her an inheritance but faced difficulties in claiming it.
They met in their youth, but the man`s mother intervened, forbidding the couple from seeing each other. Over the past fifty years, the woman had married, given birth, and raised children. In 2020, the man passed away, and unexpectedly for the Siberian woman, it came to light that he had drawn up a will in her favor back in 2013. According to the document, she was to inherit an apartment, a plot of land, a garden house, and funds in bank accounts. However, claiming this inheritance proved difficult, as she learned about the will significantly after the legally prescribed deadlines.
Faced with this situation, the woman initiated legal proceedings in the Supreme Court. She presented compelling arguments, explaining that the delayed notification about the will was caused by circumstances beyond her control. The dispute concerned property that the Moscow authorities claimed in the absence of other heirs.
The Supreme Court ultimately supported the woman`s position, and she will now be able to claim the inheritance, as confirmed by Konstantin Trapaidze, chairman of the “Your Legal Representative” bar association:
“In our legal system, inheritance is governed both by law, when there are legal heirs, and by will. As I understand it, in this case, there were no legal heirs. Otherwise, there might have been a mandatory share of 50% of what a legal heir would have inherited without a will, meaning half the property. But when there are no legal heirs, everything stipulated in the will is transferred according to its provisions. I am almost 100% confident that the deadlines will be reinstated, and the property will not become escheat, meaning it won`t pass to the state, but will be transferred to the heiress as per the will. Especially since her awareness of the will was likely not due to any negligence on her part as a potential heir, but because she simply wasn`t sought out. After all, when notary publics open a will after the testator`s death, their duties also include searching for heirs. If the man had the woman`s passport details, her maiden name, finding her would not have been a great difficulty. As you can see, the process dragged on for several years, but the Supreme Court intervened on her behalf. There is a procedure known as `reinstatement of deadlines.` Courts often grant this — you see how this woman captured the testator`s heart, that he remembered her after 50 years and bequeathed his property to her. I suppose he might not have had other heirs, but he still chose her specifically. Such feelings are irrational and defy logical calculation.”
Konstantin Trapaidze
Chairman of “Your Legal Representative” bar association
The lawyer also noted that such romantic stories, reaching court proceedings, are extremely rare in legal practice.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth