According to the Supreme Court decision of March 1, 2022 (I NSNc 39/21), the court’s decision on the declaration of inheritance acquisition is declaratory in nature, and therefore does not create a new, but states the existing legal status. Civil law provisions link the acquisition of inheritance with the moment of opening the inheritance (Article 925 of the Civil Code), and the opening of the inheritance takes place at the moment of the testator’s death (Article 924 of the Civil Code). Therefore, the acquisition of rights and obligations included in the inheritance is not dependent on the heir submitting a declaration of acceptance of the inheritance, nor on him obtaining a ruling from the competent state authority. In other words, the fact that the law links the acquisition of inheritance by the testator with a legal event, which is the death of a natural person, means that at the moment of the testator’s death (and therefore at the moment of opening the inheritance), the heir enters by operation of law into all the rights and obligations belonging to the inheritance.
At the same time, it should be emphasized that the court’s decision on the acquisition of inheritance, pursuant to Article 1027 of the Civil Code, constitutes the exclusive proof of acquisition of rights to the inheritance against a third party who does not claim rights to the inheritance by virtue of inheritance (apart from the registered deed of certification of inheritance). The heir cannot prove his rights to the inheritance, including the amount of the inheritance share to which he is entitled, using any other evidence.