Formation and development of the doctrine of heirless (vacant) succession in Ukraine
Authors: Nelin Oleksandr 
Published: June 2021

The author studied the formation and development of the doctrine of heirless (vacant) succession in Ukraine. It has been determined that the probate law in Ukraine, as well as other legal phenomena, has followed its evolution, development and enrichment upon various historical stages of Ukrainian people and was closely tied with the existence or absence of Ukrainian statehood. The modern standards in this particular field of legal relations have been gradually established. The Kyiv State did not have the institution of heirless property because household assets of the ancient Ruthenian family were in collective property of the whole family and not in the property of an individual father-householder. That is why it was not succession but a mere redistribution of household assets remaining in joint possession within the family.
The term «heirless property» was first specified in Lithuanian-Ruthenian state in Lithuanian Statutes (1566): if there were no heirs-at-law and by will, the property was acknowledged as heirless and devolved upon the state.
For the legal system of Hetmanship era the primary source was the ancestral character of succession and devolution of the inheritable property to a public entity was an exception. Moreover, in Ukrainian legal tradition, the visible is the competition between acknowledging a vacant succession as an heirless property and extension of the institution of succession upon these relations.
In Ukrainian SSR heirless succession devolved upon state.
Modern civil law of Ukraine lacks the concept of heirless property (succession). The new Civil Code of Ukraine (2003) introduces the concept of «heirless succession» (Art. 1277). Ukrainian law applies European and international norms and standards. Along with this, the process must comply with the legal mentality of the Ukrainian people, with values and authenticity of its legal culture. Having adopted the Civil Code, Ukraine made and important step to the integration into the continental legal system, and the probate law acquired a new concept of heirless succession, when: firstly, available succession may be declared in judicial proceeding as heirless, and after that it devolves upon territorial community where it was commenced; secondly, the state is excluded both from the circle of heirs-at-law and from the circle of the entities-heirs of the succession acknowledged as heirless.
The author specifies that the Ukrainian legislators did not take into account the Euroean experience during codification of the civil legislation, hence there are a number of issues that must be dealt with, so that Ukrainian legal system could completely meet the international standards. In EU countries the holder of the right for the heirless property is the state, in Ukraine it is a territorial community which outweighs the efficiency of the function of non-subjectivity elimination what heirlessness is intended for. Since a territorial community does not and cannot own so much civil capacity as the state.
The author reveals some drawbacks in legal regulation of the issue and develops proposals to improve the probate law in Ukraine.
Key words: succession, heirlessness, heirless property, legator, legatee, territorial community.