Deceased's property not registered in the Public Registry: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. ⏰ Accept the inheritance first, then deal with the registry. The acceptance period is 6 months from the opening of the inheritance, and the absence of registration does not extend it (Civil Code of Georgia, Art. 1424). An accepted inheritance belongs to the heir from the date of opening (Civil Code, Art. 1433). The application to the notary must be filed within this period, even without a registry extract.
2. House or apartment recorded with the BTI: for property recorded with the Bureau of Technical Inventory (BTI) but not entered in the Public Registry, the notary issues a certificate of inheritance based on certificates from the National Agency of Public Registry (Instruction on the Procedure for Notarial Acts, Art. 89); a certificate from the BTI archive showing who the owner is (Instruction, Art. 89); a certificate that the object is not registered and not under attachment (Instruction, Art. 89).
3. Land or house in a village without registration: plots under individual houses held in lawful use have belonged to citizens since the Civil Code took effect (Civil Code, Art. 1513). A presumptive heir may also request recognition of the right to land held in lawful possession (Law on Recognition of Ownership Rights to Land Plots, Art. 2). Recognition is carried out by the National Agency of Public Registry through registration (Law on Recognition of Ownership Rights to Land Plots, Art. 4¹). Possession documents include a BTI certificate of registration before 4 October 2004, an extract from the household register, a gardener's book, and others (Law on Systematic and Sporadic Registration of Land Rights, Art. 3). Without the original, an archival copy is accepted (National Archive, the Agency, the municipality) (Law on Systematic and Sporadic Registration of Land Rights, Art. 7). Registration is made on application, with the documents and a cadastral plan (Law on Systematic and Sporadic Registration of Land Rights, Art. 5). After that, the certificate of inheritance is issued under the general procedure (Law on Recognition of Ownership Rights to Land Plots, Art. 5¹).
4. Registry refusal: a refusal by the registry is appealed within 30 calendar days (Law of Georgia on the Public Registry, Art. 29). A dispute over the right is brought as a lawsuit in court, which establishes the fact of accepting the inheritance and the place of opening (Civil Procedure Code of Georgia, Art. 312).
5. Where to apply: notary; Public Registry (through the Public Service Hall); National Archive, municipality; district court.
6. Evidence: death and kinship certificates; National Agency of Public Registry certificates; Soviet-era documents (executive committee or village council decision, land allotment act, technical passport), household register extract, land tax receipts, cadastral plan.
7. Pitfalls: waiting for registration and missing the acceptance deadline; believing that without a registry extract nothing can be inherited, when there are separate routes for BTI-recorded property and for lawful possession; ignoring a registry refusal, since the appeal period is short.

Be sure to check

• accept the inheritance within the 6-month period, without waiting for registration
• property recorded with the BTI: certificate based on National Agency of Public Registry certificates from the BTI archive and on the absence of registration
• land in lawful possession: recognition of the right on the application of the presumptive heir, which old documents qualify (archival copies)
• appealing a registry refusal, and the court if there is a dispute