A vacant inheritance is an inheritance that has not been taken up by heirs. A heirless inheritance, on the other hand, is an inheritance for which there are no heirs. And such inheritances passed – in accordance with the provisions of the Napoleonic Code – to the Treasury.

A few years ago, the bodies of the State Treasury started to question the acquisition of inheritances by the heirs of former property owners, claiming that these rights had passed to the State Treasury and had never been acquired by these heirs.

A rather serious legal problem has thus arisen in this respect.

The case law of common courts confirms, however, that an inheritance cannot be considered vacant and heirless if the heirs have taken over the inheritance, and performed ownership activities, e.g. administering the real property, filing a decree motion for granting a temporary ownership right to the real property, etc.