HOUSING RIGHTS OF HEIRS OF THE FOURTH LINE

Abstract

The article clarifies the specifics of the legal status of the testator's family members - the fourth line of heirs by law. The lack of a legal definition of the concept of "member of the testator's family" and different interpretations of this concept in family, housing, and labor law create difficulties for this category of persons when inheriting by law. The interested person must prove the actual composition in a court of law, the presence of which allows him to be considered a fourth-line heir by law. Unlike heirs, whose status is determined by birth or marriage certificates issued by state registration authorities and testifying to the existence of family or marital relations, the legal status of a person recognized as a family member in court is not final and may change. The court's decision to recognize a person as a member of the testator's family may be canceled by the court of appeal or cassation instance. The problems that arise when such a decision is annulled, if the quasi-heir has sold real estate to a third party, are clarified. It was noted that the absence of a legal definition of the term «member of the testator's family» necessitates the need for the interested person to prove in court the actual composition, the presence of which allows him to be considered a fourth-line heir by law. Unlike heirs, whose status is determined by birth or marriage certificates issued by state registration authorities and testifying to the existence of family or marital relations, the legal position of a person recognized as a family member in court may change if such a decision is overturned by a court of appeal or cassation instance. The need to impose a ban on the alienation of immovable property within a certain period of time, if this property has passed to the heir of the fourth line, is substantiated. Such an amendment will limit the owner's right to dispose of immovable property, but will contribute to the protection of both private and public interests after the opening of the inheritance. In particular, it will protect the property rights of fifth-line heirs or local self-government bodies when the inheritance is recognized as dead, as well as exclude unjustified enrichment of a person who did not have the right to alienate objects of inheritance.