ON THE PROPER WAYS TO PROTECT A VIOLATED RIGHT IN CASE OF MISSING THE DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTING INHERITANCE: ANALYSIS OF RECENT TRENDS IN JUDICIAL PRACTICE

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of appropriate and effective means of judicial protection of violated rights in case of missing the deadline for accepting inheritance in the context of the transformation of modern judicial practice. The study was conducted through the prism of the relationship between the general methods of protection of civil rights provided for in Article 16 of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the special provisions of inheritance law, in particular Articles 1268, 1270, and 1272 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, as well as taking into account the principle of legal certainty and the doctrine of effective means of protection. The current trends in law enforcement in 2024–2025 have been analyzed, which indicate stricter requirements for proving valid reasons for missing the six-month deadline for accepting inheritance and an increase in the number of refusals to satisfy claims for determining an additional deadline. The approaches of courts to assessing reasons such as living abroad, legal ignorance, changes in legislation, or ignorance of the death of the testator are summarized. Particular attention is paid to an alternative method of protection — establishing the fact that the heir lived with the testator at the time of the opening of the inheritance as the basis for recognizing the actual acceptance of the inheritance in accordance with Part 3 of Article 1268 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. Based on an analysis of the latest rulings of the Supreme Court, the independence and relevance of this method of protection in the absence of valid reasons for missing the deadline, but in the presence of actual acceptance of the inheritance, is justified. A conclusion has been formulated regarding the need for careful drafting of claims, taking into account the nature of the violation, the factual circumstances of the case, and current trends in judicial practice. It has been proven that the wrong choice of defense may result in the dismissal of the claim regardless of the substantive legal validity of the claims, which highlights the importance of the doctrine of effective defense in inheritance legal relations. In addition, the expediency of a differentiated approach to choosing a method of protection depending on the existence of a dispute over rights and the nature of the evidence base, which ensures a balance between the stability of civil turnover and guarantees for the realization of inheritance rights, is substantiated.