Establishing kinship in court for an inheritance: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. ⏰ First the deadline: the inheritance is accepted within 6 months from the day of opening, and establishing kinship does not extend this deadline (Civil Code Art. 1424). File the application for acceptance with the notary immediately, with what you have; the notary may postpone the notarial act until the requested documents are received (Law on Notaries, Art. 46). If the deadline has already been missed, the court extends the acceptance deadline for a valid reason (Civil Code Art. 1426).
2. First, without a court: an error made when registering a birth or marriage is corrected by the Public Service Development Agency (Public Service Hall) without a court (Law on Civil Acts, Art. 79); an archival duplicate can be requested. However, the registration authority establishes only the facts of birth and death and their registration. Kinship itself is established by a court (Law on Civil Acts, Art. 90).
3. If the document does not exist and cannot be obtained: the court, in special (non-contentious) proceedings, establishes the family relationship of the persons (Civil Procedure Code Art. 312). The application must be accompanied by evidence that the required document cannot be obtained or the lost document restored; the court establishes the fact only in that case (Civil Procedure Code Art. 315). The application must state its purpose, which is obtaining the inheritance (Civil Procedure Code Art. 315). For distant kinship, prove the whole chain to the common ancestor (first cousins are heirs of the fifth order (Civil Code Art. 1336)).
4. Procedure: the application is filed with the district court at the applicant's place of residence (Civil Procedure Code Art. 314); state duty in non-contentious proceedings is GEL 50 (Civil Procedure Code Art. 39); if a dispute over the right arises (another heir objects), the application is left without consideration and a claim on general grounds is required (Civil Procedure Code Art. 311). The decision is then submitted to the notary: a decision establishing the fact is the basis for registration and processing with the relevant bodies (Civil Procedure Code Art. 316).
5. Where to apply: notary, for the application for acceptance within the deadline; Public Service Development Agency (Public Service Hall), for correction of civil records and archive certificates; district (city) court at the applicant's place of residence.
6. Evidence: replies from archives or the Agency that the document cannot be issued; documents with different spellings (Soviet passports, metric books, work records); family photographs and letters; household registers; witnesses; genetic examination if necessary.
7. Traps: waiting for a court decision and not filing the acceptance application with the notary within the deadline; going to court without requesting the archive and the Agency, since without proof that the document cannot be obtained the application will not be considered; filing an application to establish the fact when another heir disputes the kinship, where a claim is required.

Be sure to check

• file the application for acceptance with the notary within the 6-month deadline, without waiting for the court
• first correct the record or obtain an archival duplicate through the Agency, if the error is in a civil-registry record
• the court establishes kinship in non-contentious proceedings, only if the documents cannot be obtained otherwise
• where to file, state duty, and what to do if another heir disputes the kinship
• what evidence is needed (witnesses, archives, genetic examination)