Which court decides

Before the Lithuanian rules, check where the dispute belongs. Under the EU Succession Regulation, the courts of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at death decide disputes about the whole estate. If the deceased chose the law of their nationality in a will, the parties can agree that the courts of that country decide instead.

If the deceased lived outside the EU, including in Ireland, Denmark or the UK, Lithuanian courts can decide about the whole estate if there are assets in Lithuania and the deceased was a Lithuanian national, or moved away from Lithuania no more than five years before the case started. Otherwise they can still decide about the assets located in Lithuania. More on this in which country’s law applies.

In Lithuania, inheritance disputes are heard by the courts at the place where the inheritance opened. If you live abroad and are sued in Lithuania, our guide to court papers from Lithuania explains the deadlines.

The rest of this guide assumes Lithuanian law applies.

Challenging another heir’s inheritance

Someone who claims a right to the estate can challenge another person’s acceptance of the inheritance and the certificate of inheritance issued to them. The claim is brought against the person who accepted, within one year:

  • from the day the inheritance opened, or
  • from the day the claimant learned, or should have learned, that the other person had accepted.

Typical situations are an heir who was not told about the death and missed being included, or a person who obtained a certificate while hiding that other heirs existed. If the court rules that the other person was not entitled to inherit, they are treated as never having accepted. The other heirs then have three months from the judgment to accept.

Challenging a will

Grounds

A will is invalid if:

  • the testator lacked capacity, meaning they could not understand the meaning and consequences of what they were doing;
  • its content is unlawful or so unclear that the testator’s wishes cannot be established.

A will can also be set aside on the general grounds for invalid legal acts, for example if it was made under fraud, threats or duress. Ordinary persuasion is different. Asking the testator to make a favourable will, or encouraging them to, is not duress.

Minor errors do not invalidate a will if the testator’s wishes are clear. Nor does a mistaken description of a person or an asset.

Who can bring the claim

Only heirs under the law or under another will who would inherit if the will or part of it were set aside. A relative who would gain nothing has no claim. If a later will is set aside, the earlier one does not automatically revive, except where the later will was made under violence or real threats, or by a person a court had declared lacking capacity.

Unworthy heirs

A court can exclude an heir who, by deliberate unlawful acts, made themselves an heir: for example by forcing or tricking the deceased into making or changing a will, by hiding, forging or destroying a will, or by deliberately taking or attempting to take the life of the deceased or another heir.

The reserved share

Under Lithuanian law, the deceased’s children (including adopted children), spouse and parents who needed support at the date of death receive half of what they would have inherited without a will, whatever the will says, unless the will gives them more.

The requirement of need is central. Minor children usually meet it. Adult children and spouses who can support themselves usually do not. The value includes household furnishings and belongings.

If the reserved share is not respected, the entitled person can claim it from the heirs under the will.

Dividing the estate

Until the estate is divided, the heirs own it together in shares, unless the will says otherwise. Nobody can be forced to stay a co-owner.

  • By agreement. The heirs can divide the estate as they wish. Dividing real estate requires a notarial agreement, registered in the Real Property Register.
  • By the court. If they do not agree, any heir can ask the court to divide it. Divisible property is split in kind. An indivisible item, such as a flat, is usually given to one heir, who compensates the others with money or other property. The heirs can also agree to sell at auction and share the proceeds.

Division is not possible while an heir is not yet born, or during a period of up to five years set in the will for joint ownership.

An example

Ieva lives in London. Her father, who lived in Kaunas, dies, and her brother, who lived with him, tells her there is nothing to inherit. Eight months later she finds out that her brother applied to the notary, received a certificate of inheritance for the flat and has put it up for sale.

Ieva has not accepted within three months, so she first needs the deadline renewed, either with her brother’s consent or by the court, which will look at whether she had a good reason for missing it. At the same time, she can challenge her brother’s certificate, within one year from when she learned that he had accepted. To stop the sale while the case runs, she can ask the court for interim measures, such as a ban on selling the flat. If her father left a will in her brother’s favour, the questions become whether it is valid and, if she needed support from her father, whether her reserved share was respected.

Before going to court

Inheritance disputes between relatives are slow and expensive, and the property often loses value while they continue. Before filing:

  • get the documents: the will, the certificate of inheritance, the property register extracts, bank statements;
  • check the deadlines, especially the one-year period;
  • consider whether a negotiated settlement or mediation could achieve the same result faster;
  • if there is a risk that an heir will sell or hide assets, ask the court for interim measures.

If an executor or estate administrator is not doing their job properly, the heirs, legatees and creditors can ask the court to remove them.

For how the rules on accepting and refusing interact with disputes, see deadlines, refusing an inheritance and the deceased’s debts.