My grandmother left a will with notary Ivanov in Kazan back in 2022. I recently found out that the notary himself has passed away. How do I get a copy of the will now and start the inheritance process? Where should I go?
The will didn't disappear with the notary - all documents are transferred to the archive of the notarial chamber or to his successor :) contact the notarial chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan, they'll definitely be able to tell you who's now handling Ivanov's cases and they'll give you a copy of the will. After that you can go to any active notary with the will and start the inheritance proceedings through the standard process.
According to the law, documents from the archive of a deceased notary are transferred to the notarial chamber, but not always right away and not always in proper order - it depends on how the transfer was organized. Call the Tatarstan chamber and find out whether the papers have arrived there, and while you're at it, ask whether they've appointed an heir of the deceased notary - that person might be temporarily responsible for the archive. If you can't locate the will through the chamber, get a death certificate for the notary from the registry office and send it to court - they'll be able to recognize the will through a fact-establishment procedure.
Don't go straight to another notary - they won't be able to issue a copy without being sure where the document is. You should contact the Notarial Chamber of Tatarstan, but keep in mind that archives transferred there sometimes sit waiting to be processed for several months, especially if the notary's death was recent and the document transfer procedure hasn't been completed yet. First, find out the status of the archive from this specific notary - give them the notary's full name and the year the will was deposited, and the chamber will be able to check whether everything has already been transferred or if the documents are still being processed.
I ran into a similar situation with some acquaintances - it's definitely scary, but the document hasn't gone anywhere. Contact the notarial chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan, where the archives of deceased notaries are kept. Call the chamber right away and clarify whether Ivanov's archive has been transferred, because the process can take a while. Ask them to help you locate your specific will using your grandmother's last name and the date it was drawn up - they'll find it faster that way.
Once the will is located, you'll be given a copy or granted access to the original. After that, you can approach any notary to get a certificate of inheritance. Just keep in mind that archives can be in transition for a couple of months, so don't expect lightning-fast results - but this is a normal, established process.
The main thing to understand is that this isn't an emergency situation, just a procedure that takes a bit longer than usual. I had acquaintances go through something similar: a will was held by a notary, then he retired and transferred his archive to the chamber. They called there, explained the situation, and were told how long they'd need to wait (everything gets transferred and organized there, it takes time). Then they went to a different notary with a certificate from the chamber - and everything went smoothly.
Here's what you should do: call the Notarial Chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan and ask where the archive of notary Ivanov is now and how to get a copy of the document. Ask for a phone number or address if the archive has already been moved somewhere specific. Once you find out the location, go to an active notary with the information from the chamber - he'll quickly issue a copy and help you start the inheritance process.
The main thing here is not to panic - documents really don't disappear. By law, all archives of deceased notaries are transferred to the notarial chamber, so your will is either already there or will be handed over soon. Call or write to the Tatarstan Chamber of Notaries and ask them to help locate the document using the deceased notary Ivanov's name and the year the will was drawn up - they'll quickly figure out what stage the archive transfer is at.
The archive of the deceased notary is transferred to the notarial chamber, but it can sit there for months while being processed - don't be surprised if they don't find it right away. Ask them to issue you a certificate confirming the existence of the will, even if they're not ready to give you a copy yet; this will help you prove its existence if needed.
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