Establishing the fact of a family relationship with a deceased person
Family relationships (affinities) are blood ties between people, with the presence of which the law associates the emergence, change or termination of rights and obligations. Both direct and indirect kinship have legal significance, when kinship ties arise through the presence of a common ancestor.
The relationship between the spouses is not related.
It often happens that after the death of a person, his children (grandchildren) or other relatives find out that in the documents of the deceased there are complete inaccuracies in the spelling of the last name or first name (translation problems, errors, typos). These errors do not allow an unambiguous legal determination of the relationship between these persons.
For example: The person’s name is Sergei Ivanovich Ilyashov, on his birth certificate his last name is written in Russian as “Ilyashov”. His parents are recorded as “Ilyashov Ivan Panteleevich” and “Ilyashova Sofia Nikolaevna”. After the death of the mother, it was established that in the passport of the deceased mother, her last name in Ukrainian was indicated as “Ilyashova”.
That is, an error in writing the surnames of two close and dear people will not allow S.I. Ilyashov to freely register an inheritance or receive a funeral benefit.
What to do in this case? The answer is clear: “apply to the court to establish the fact of a family relationship”!
The establishment of the fact of family relations is carried out by the court in a separate proceeding.
The court has the right to consider cases to establish family relationships when this fact directly gives rise to legal consequences for the applicant: the right to inheritance, the right to a pension due to the loss of a breadwinner, receiving compensation, etc.
According to Art. 318 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Ukraine, the application submitted to the court must indicate:
- what fact the applicant requests to establish and for what purpose;
- reasons for the impossibility of obtaining or restoring documents certifying this fact;
- evidence confirming the fact (documents, photographs, etc.).
The application must be accompanied by evidence confirming the circumstances stated in the application.
