1st general rule:
Inheritance of a real estate in Bulgaria is governed by the Inheritance Law of Bulgaria (with the exception of the rules of EU 650/2012).
That is why the documents provided by the heirs should meet the requirements of the Bulgarian legislation. For movable assets such as vehicles, bank accounts and other, unless otherwise legally specified, the Bulgarian law also applies.
Problem:
The Bulgarian legislation requires the heirs of the deceased foreigner to provide a Certificate of heirs of the deceased. This Certificate must correspond to the requirements of Bulgarian Inheritance law.
The problem is that not all countries have such certificate (Anglo-Saxon countries) and the heirs must confirm their status with other documents that usually require a lot of efforts, time and expenses.
2nd general rule:
According to the Bulgarian legislation the lawful heirs in the first row are all the children in the line of descend. The spouse also inherits an equal part to that of each child.
Problem:
It means that the spouse and all children have to provide documents confirming their status - marriage and birth certificates and special notarised declarations, as documents issued outside Bulgaria should also be translated and legalised for Bulgaria.
The situation becomes more complicated in case the deceased has no legal heirs of the first category, because in this case the heirs of the second category not only have to confirm their status, but also to provide documents about luck of the heirs of first category and in some cases and for some countries such documents simply can not be obtained.
Problem:
Division of the inheritance can be made only after all the heirs provide their documents, i.e. the spouse cannot require his or her part of the inheritance until all the children of the deceased provide their documents which may cause a delay if the spouse and children live in different countries.
Problem:
We see many times that people who come to us do not want their property to be divided according to the Bulgarian legislation, in the event of their death.
3rd general rule:
The heirs can administer the inherited assets only after they are transferred to all heirs - all children and living spouse.
Simple example: a married couple owns an apartment in Bulgaria. The wife dies and the husband wants to sell the apartment.
He will not be able to do so until he and all children of his wife are registered as owners of her owned share of the apartment (the legal grounds for that being the Bulgarian law that provides in case when a property is owned by a married person, the spouse owns half of it notwithstanding whether the name was in the deeds.
Problem:
The cause of delay in case the heirs plan to sell the real estate and potential problems with the buyers due to that.
4th rule:
A foreign will /i.e. a will made according to the rules of another country/ can be accepted in Bulgaria if it meets the requirements of the Bulgarian legislation.
Problem:
A non-Bulgarian will cannot guarantee that the Bulgarian assets and property of the deceased will be administrated according to this will.
Those are the general rules and problems that come out during our work. However each inheritance case is unique and it has its own specifics.
Most of the problems listed above can be solved by making a Bulgarian will that ensures to:
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Meet the requirements of the Bulgarian legislation;
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Specify the inheritor's instructions about the division of the Bulgarian assets between the heirs;
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Relieve the heirs from expenses and time to obtain additional documents.
Bulgaria Legal Law Office Special Offer
There are two types of wills in Bulgaria:
Type 1:
The notarial will is prepared and typed before a Notary Public in the presence of two witnesses. The testator announces his verbal testament and the Notary writes it down. The Notary reads the will and the testator, the witnesses and the Notary Public sign the deed. The notary fees are percentage on the value of the property.
Type 2:
This will is entirely handwritten with a date and signature of the testator and there is a specific legal form that needs to be followed if you want the will to be valid. The hand written wills can be changed or corrected several times, as the valid one will be the one with most recent date.
Our SPECIAL OFFER for assistance regarding the handwritten will is 190 Euro and it includes:
- Providing a draft of the will in English;
- Providing a consultation how you should write the will;
- Registration of the will at a Bulgarian notary public and obtaining a notary protocol;
- Notary fee for registration of the will
Please contact us if you would like additional information.
