THEORETICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS OF DETERMINING THE VOLUME OF INHERITANCE PROPERTY OF SPOUSES AND PERSONS LEGALLY EQUALIZED TO SPOUSES

The academic paper provides a theoretical and legal analysis of the amount of inherited property of spouses and persons legally equated to spouses. The research is based on an analysis of the inheritance rights of subjects: persons who have registered a marriage in accordance with the procedure established by law and persons legally equated to spouses. It has been established that the determination of the volume of inherited property is the first and major stage in the process of opening an inheritance by a notary. It has been determined that the amount of inherited property of the spouses includes equal shares, however, the shares of each spouse may differ according to the circumstances as follows: the acquisition of property during the regime of separate residence of the spouses, conclusion of a marriage contract, a contract on the division of the spouses' property, an inheritance agreement. It has been proved that the regime of separate residence of spouses creates problems in determining the amount of inherited property of spouses in terms of establishing the moment of termination of such a regime and measuring the share of common property that they have acquired after its termination. The features of the marriage contract in terms of assigning the spouses' property rights have been established. It has been revealed that the disadvantage of a marriage contract is the absence of a requirement for its registration in the State Register of Rights to Immovable Property after notarization. It has been found that the agreement on the division of the spouses' property somewhat complicates the determination of the volume of the spouses' inherited property, forasmuch as after its conclusion, further acquisition of property into ownership is possible, which will not be defined in the contract; and, therefore, it may acquire a different legal regime than the property specified in the contract. It has been established that the conclusion of an inheritance agreement excludes the inclusion of the property determined by it in the hereditary estate, and the transfer of property under an inheritance agreement is not a type of inheritance. It has been proven that persons living in de facto marital relations are only partially equated to spouses in inheritance rights. The grounds for the emergence of actual marriage relations have been highlighted. It has been proposed to make alterations to the family legislation of Ukraine, which would improve the legal regulation of the amount of inherited property of spouses and persons legally equated to spouses.