One family and two ways to settle everything in advance
Take Andrei and Marina. He is 58, she is 52, and they have been married for nineteen years. Andrei owns 70% of a steel structures plant near Kaluga, a company he founded during the marriage. There is a flat in Khamovniki that they bought together, and a house near Zvenigorod that Andrei built while he was still single. His son Kirill, from his first marriage, is 31 and works at the plant as commercial director. Their daughter Sonya is 16. And there is Andrei’s mother, Galina Petrovna, who is 79. The story is a composite, with invented names and figures, but families in exactly this position come to us regularly.
What do they want? The plant must pass to Kirill in full, without his stepmother among the participants. The flat stays with Marina and the house goes to Sonya. And after her husband’s death Marina needs a clear income from the plant that does not depend on her stepson’s mood.
An ordinary will made by Andrei cannot achieve this. The stake in the company is the couple’s joint marital property, and when one spouse dies the other, as a general rule, owns half of the joint property. Only the other half passes into the estate, so at best Kirill would receive 35% of the plant, with his stepmother as a business partner. This rule can be changed by a marriage agreement, and since 2019 the Code has offered two more ways: the joint will of spouses and the inheritance agreement. Both are certified by a notary, but frankly they are alike only at first glance.
Joint will: flexible, but binding on no one
In a joint will, spouses can do almost everything an ordinary testator can, and they do it for the death of each of them at once. For our couple the key point lies elsewhere: they can determine what forms part of each spouse’s estate. If they put the whole 70% of the plant into Andrei’s estate and the flat entirely into Marina’s, the stake in the company will pass to Kirill in full, with no spousal half carved out.
Both spouses sign it before a notary, and the notary records the procedure on video unless the spouses jointly decline.
There is a catch that people rarely think about when signing. Either spouse may revoke the joint will or make a new one at any time, and the Code expressly adds: including after the other spouse’s death. While both are alive, the notary must notify the other spouse of such a step. After the first spouse dies, the law no longer requires anyone to be notified.
What does this look like in real life? Suppose the spouses agreed that after Marina’s death the flat would be split equally between Sonya and Kirill. Andrei dies. A year later Marina leaves the flat to Sonya alone. There is nothing unlawful in this, and Kirill will only learn of the new will when succession to Marina’s own estate opens.
Two more points. A joint will lapses if the marriage is dissolved or declared invalid, whether before or after the death of one of the spouses. And either spouse can challenge it during their lifetime, whereas an ordinary will can only be challenged after the succession opens.
Inheritance agreement: what binds the parties
The difference shows in the signatures alone. The agreement is signed not only by the person leaving the property but also by those who will receive it. In the version for spouses, the parties would be Andrei, Marina and Kirill. Sonya does not need to sign anything: property can also go to a third party who has not joined the agreement. If the spouses already had a joint will, such an agreement revokes it.
Next comes something a will does not have. The agreement can impose obligations on an heir, and some of them can take effect during the testator’s lifetime. Kirill, say, pays for Sonya’s university studies from autumn 2027, and after his father’s death transfers an agreed sum to Marina every month. He agreed to this in advance and signed for it.
The agreement can be amended or terminated only while the parties are alive: by mutual agreement or through the court if circumstances have changed materially.
Does this mean Andrei is locked in? No. The testator may withdraw from the agreement at any time, but this is no longer a quiet visit to the notary. The notice of withdrawal is notarised, and within three working days the notary sends copies to the other parties. Andrei must compensate Kirill for the losses he incurred performing the agreement before receiving the copy, and the years of Sonya’s studies already paid for will most likely be among them.
Kirill has no such freedom: he can leave the agreement only in the manner provided by law or by the agreement itself, so it is best to spell out that procedure from the start. After his father’s death he may renounce the inheritance, and the agreement will remain in force for the others only if it can be assumed that it would have been signed without Kirill. In our story, that is hard to assume.
What neither document can do
Incidentally, a word on who really keeps control of the property. After signing the agreement, Andrei is still free to sell the plant or give away the house. The law says so expressly, and any agreement to the contrary is void. If five years later he sells his 70% to a strategic investor, the part of the agreement dealing with the plant will be left with nothing to apply to. Article 1140.1 of the Russian Civil Code contains no direct rule on compensating the heir in such a case.
The second limitation matters more than it seems. Neither a joint will nor an inheritance agreement overrides the compulsory share. It goes to children who are minors or unable to work, and to a spouse, parents and dependants who are unable to work: at least half of what they would have received on intestacy. Galina Petrovna is 79, and she is a first-line heir on an equal footing with Marina and the children.
Let us do the sums. Andrei has four first-line heirs: his wife, son, daughter and mother. On intestacy each would receive a quarter, so his mother’s compulsory share will be one eighth of everything Andrei leaves. It is taken first from property not covered by the will and, if that is not enough, from bequeathed property, which includes the stake in the company. Sonya, while she is a minor, is also entitled to an eighth, but the house covers it: everything an heir receives from the estate on any ground counts towards the compulsory share.
Hence a practical move. If Galina Petrovna is left something specific, such as monthly payments from Kirill, their value will count towards her compulsory share, and if it is large enough the plant will not be touched. It is also worth opening the charter: it may require the other participants’ consent for a stake to pass to heirs. We covered what else is worth preparing within the company in advance in our article on inheriting a business and capital.
Why they are challenged and what case law says
Frankly, little case law on these instruments has built up in more than seven years. The Supreme Court Plenum’s resolution on inheritance was adopted back in 2012 and still describes a will made by two citizens as void. So the courts work from the general rules on the invalidity of transactions, which the same Plenum allows to be applied to wills.
Most disputes are about whether the person understood what they were signing: if they could not understand the meaning of their actions or control them, the transaction is held invalid under Article 177 of the Russian Civil Code. The Supreme Court’s position here is settled. Mental state is established by expert examination, not by relatives and neighbours: in 2014 the Supreme Court panel disagreed with the lower courts, which had rejected the findings of psychiatric experts and believed witnesses (Ruling No. 24-KG14-7).
It works the other way too. In November 2025 the Supreme Court sent back for fresh consideration a dispute in which a will signed three days before death had been held invalid solely because of the patient’s serious condition. The courts never heard from the notary or from the person who had signed on her behalf.
Here the joint will and the inheritance agreement hold a trump card: the video recording, which the notary must make unless the parties object. In our view, a recording in which a person explains their wishes in their own words carries more weight in a dispute than relatives’ recollections, so we advise against declining it.
Who can bring a challenge, and when? While both spouses are alive, either of them can challenge a joint will, and after a spouse’s death anyone whose rights it infringes. During the testator’s lifetime, an inheritance agreement can be challenged only by a party to it; once the succession opens, also by anyone whose rights it affects. A claim over a voidable transaction must be brought within one year of the day the claimant learned or should have learned of the grounds; for a void transaction the limitation period is three years.
Which to choose and when to see a lawyer
In a nutshell, the choice comes down to trust and to what is given in exchange.
- A joint will suits a couple who trust each other and mainly want to reshape their marital shares. It is simpler to put in place and easy to change, but by the same token it places no obligations on the surviving spouse.
- An inheritance agreement is needed when an heir gives something in return or takes on obligations towards other family members. It is possible to withdraw from it, but only by notifying all parties and compensating their losses.
In the end Andrei and Marina chose an agreement with Kirill as a party. Under it Galina Petrovna receives monthly payments that cover her compulsory share, and the plant’s charter was amended before the visit to the notary.
Once the succession has opened, the standard procedure applies; it is described on our page on accepting an inheritance. If the document is challenged, our analysis of how to challenge a will and a case in which a will stood up in court will be useful. Other materials are collected in the Insights section.
Frequently asked questions
Can a joint will be revoked after a spouse’s death?+
Yes. Either spouse may revoke the joint will or make a new one at any time, including after the other’s death. The notary must notify the other spouse only while both are alive.
Does the compulsory share apply to an inheritance agreement?+
Yes. The terms of the agreement apply to the extent that they do not conflict with the compulsory share rules, including where the right to that share arose after signing. The heir’s obligations are then reduced proportionately.
Can property named in an inheritance agreement be sold?+
Yes. The testator is free to dispose of their property, even if the heir under the agreement ends up with nothing as a result. A term prohibiting a sale is void.
Need an assessment of your situation?+
Send us a request: an inheritance lawyer will review your assets, marital property regime, company charter and circle of heirs and tell you which of the two documents suits you.