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International seminar on “Inheritance: Russian and foreign experience” was held on December 6-7 in Saint-Petersburg. Organizer of the seminar was the International Cooperation Commission of the Federal Notary Chamber. Notaries from more than twenty regions of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of notaries of France, Austria, Germany, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria participated at the event. Representatives of Serbian notary participated at the international event for the first time. As Konstantin Korsik, President of the Federal Notary Chamber said “This seminar will be the beginning of a new stage in development of mutual relations between Russian and Serbian notaries”. The Federal Notary Chamber of Russia and Serbia have signed a cooperation agreement, and with this step they expressed their interests to productive relations.

The President of the Russian Notary thinks that, such agreements will make notaries of different countries cooperate with each other and exchange knowledge and experiences. Srbislav Sveich, President of the Serbian Notary Chamber thanked to his Russian colleagues for their hospitality, he also expressed his confidence about positive effect of the signed agreement to the development of Serbian notary system which newly celebrated its 5th anniversary. Elena Moskal, Chairman of the International Cooperation Commission of the Federal Notary Chamber, President of Leningrad Notary Chamber opened the seminar and she talked about the significance of the role of international cooperation in notary field and increase in relations with foreign colleagues.

Maria Melnikova, counsellor of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation highlighted the significance of the issues of the agenda and actuality of inheritance in notarial experience. Dmitriy Smirnov, General Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in Saint-Petersburg, Maria Terekhova, President of Saint-Petersburg Notary Chamber and Maria Sazonova, honorary President of Saint-Petersburg Notary Chamber greeted the seminar participants. The purpose of this year's seminar is to properly implement the law of inheritance, which has undergone significant changes in connection with the reforms. The development of a market economy and entrepreneurship in Russian society, the improvement of inheritance law through the diversification of the inheritance was considered the most pressing issue.

New institutions, such as the fund agreement and the inheritance agreement, were called upon to explore a very wide range of tasks (from reducing the risk of disputes between heirs to maintaining a large business after the owner's death). For example, the creation of heritage funds in the long run can be a serious incentive to de-offshore business and keep investment in the country. “Today main task of Russian notary is to take into consideration new disposal means on property for effective solution of inheritance problems and to provide citizens with the necessary conditions. Undisputed notarization of inheritance rights has always been considered the most reliable and convenient method. Within inheritance case, a notary conducts unique research, inspection and consulting work, prevents potential disputes between the heirs and protects the rights of each of them. According to the results of legal examination of the notary, certificate of inheritance rights is a public basis proving that the property belongs to both the deceased and the legal heir.”  - Konstantin Korsik, President of the FNC noted.

Today, the main part of Russian notary is carried out through an electronic service, which is a single notarial information system. It is through the Electronic Notary System that it is possible to see the existence of any will without presenting its original paper form. Such an effective sequence of searches now also affects the issue of inheritance funds. Registration application of inheritance fund is signed by notary and sent to Federal Tax Service through reliable channels of interdepartmental electronic communication system. Within one year more than 600 wills were registered by Russian notaries through this Electronic Notary System, and this established inheritance funds. Of course, it will be possible to assess the effectiveness and importance of new legal institutions over time with the formation of a legal framework.

The program of the seminar included theoretical aspects and practical part of inheritance law. Representatives of notarial and scientific communities from France, Azerbaijan, Austria, Moldova, Belarus, Tajikistan, Poland, Serbia have made their presentations. Pavel Repin, Leningrad Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Elena Smirenskaya, member of Qualification Commission of Leningrad Department of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, teacher of the notary department of the law faculty of the Saint-Petersburg State University have also participated at the seminar. Concluding the seminar, Elena Moskal spoke about the importance of international cooperation in the field of notaries, especially in the field of inheritance law, as well as thanked all participants for their interesting and productive work.