Deprivation of inheritance by law: procedure and grounds

After the death of the testator, heirs are not always satisfied with the distribution of shares of property. Some people feel offended after the will is read out. A person undeservedly deprived of an inheritance can restore his rights through the court.

Deprivation of inheritance rights: what is it?

The direct path, in which the owner of the property is required to draw up a document and have it certified by a notary. The owner directly indicates the person he wants to leave without inheritance. Or transfers property in favor of other persons, depriving the direct recipients of this right. However, he does not have to explain the reasons for his decision;

Resolve a controversial situation in court. The initiator can be a relative or a government body whose interests are affected.

Heirs according to order according to law

The priority is determined by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, namely Articles 1141, 1142-1145. According to the law, after the death of the former owner, property is distributed among his relatives in the following order:

1. Son and daughter, spouse, mother and father;
2. Brother and sister, grandfather and grandmother;
3. All others not included in the first two orders.

Heirs by will

• individuals;
• children (not yet born, but conceived);
• legal entities (organizations);
• state.

According to a testamentary document, the following cannot enter into ownership of property:

• unworthy recipients;
• not indicated in the last documented will of the deceased person (with the exception of those who have the right to a guaranteed part of the inheritance).

Grounds for loss of inheritance rights

1. Express your will through a testamentary document;
2. Through a court decision recognizing a person as an unworthy heir.

Read also: ​​The principle of freedom of will

The recipient of the guaranteed portion can be declared unworthy only in court. Such a guaranteed share may be reduced or even canceled by the court. In this case, the judge takes into account the following circumstances:

• type of property;
• which relatives used this property, and who really needs it.

Procedures for the withdrawal of inheritance rights

Let's take a closer look.

In law

A separate case is if there is already a previous conviction in a criminal case. If a person put pressure on the testator, caused harm to his health or created a threat to life, or put pressure on other claimants to the inheritance, then such a person will not be able to receive the property.

By will

If the document is notarized and there is no evidence of the deceased’s insanity, then it will not be easy to challenge it in court.

Mandatory share

To take away the obligatory share from the recipient of the inheritance, you must go to court. Exceptional cases that may be grounds for deprivation of the guaranteed share are set out in Article 1149 of the Civil Code. So, for example, if one relative did not use this property during the life of the former owner and does not need it, and another heir (for example, according to a testamentary document) needs this property as the main source of income or residence, then the issue of reducing guaranteed share or refusal to award it.

Disinheritance of the first priority heir

Let's look at it in detail.

Order and procedure

1. Draw up a testamentary document in which you indicate other persons as recipients. But this method is only suitable if the children have already reached adulthood and are healthy and able to work;
2. If they are minors and have a disability, they can claim a guaranteed share;
3. Draw up a testamentary document according to which a certain circle of persons specified in the document will not be able to participate in the division of property;
4. In court, seek to recognize successors as unworthy. This method is applicable after the death of the owner;
5. The owner, during his lifetime, can register ownership rights in relation to the property to other persons. Then he himself risks losing the rights to dispose of the disputed property.

Statement of claim

• which court the plaintiff is applying to, address and name;
• Personal Information;
• Contact details;
• personal data of the testator;
• details and circumstances of the case, the basis for the appeal, the subject of the dispute;
• evidence and reasons for recognizing the defendant as an unworthy heir;
• motivated demands of the plaintiff (reduction or complete loss of inheritance rights, recognition of the defendant as an unworthy heir);
• application census;
• personal signature;
• Date of preparation.

Required documents

A receipt for payment of the state fee must be attached to the statement of claim. Copies of documents—evidence in the case. The plaintiff determines independently what evidence to provide to the court. This can be any documented evidence of illegal behavior.

Expenses

If the plaintiff claims to increase his part of the inherited property due to a decrease in the defendant’s part, then his claims are of a property nature. This means that the amount of the state duty will be determined based on the value of the disputed property.

From whom the right of inheritance cannot be taken away

It is almost impossible to take away the right of inheritance from minor children. They must receive their guaranteed portion, even if they were not indicated in the testamentary document or a disclaimer was drawn up against them. It is also not possible to find them unworthy in court, given their young age.

Things to consider

Adult, able-bodied children can be exempted from inheritance rights by will and in court. In other cases, the courts, as a rule, side with minor children.

Full and partial confiscation of property

• The recipient is completely exempt from the right to succession of inheritance if there is a proven fact of committing illegal actions.
• He may be partially exempted from inheritance in court, in favor of another heir who has more rights to the disputed property.
• For the court to make such a decision, the plaintiff must present conclusive evidence.

Who cannot be disinherited by a will?

If the former owner of the property does not indicate in the testamentary document his minor children or disabled persons who are dependent on him during his lifetime, then after his death they will still be able to claim part of the property.

If you are deprived of an inheritance, you must go to court. Even if the inheritance has already been distributed among relatives, the court may take the plaintiff’s side and allocate the portion due to him. It is possible to restore your rights if there are legal grounds, if the plaintiff can reasonably prove that his interests have been infringed.

Unworthy heirs

The following persons may be considered unworthy:

• who have committed criminal acts against the testator or other heirs;
• obligated to care for the testator (for example, guardians), but who have evaded their obligations;
• deprived of parental rights.

Special cases

1. Children from a previous marriage. It is possible to take away an inheritance from children born in a previous marriage by competently drawing up a will for relatives, or a renunciation will. During your lifetime, you can transfer property to other persons, your current wife or children. Please note that in this case, children must be over 18 years of age;
2. First priority heirs. Primary heirs, like other applicants, can be called unworthy through the court;
3. Daughters and sons. The children of the deceased will not receive anything if he managed to register his movable and immovable property in the name of other relatives and spent the money received from the sale. If his children are under the age of 18 or disabled, then even if there is a will for other persons, they will still be able to claim their part of the property;
4. Pensioners. Elderly people who are supported by the deceased during his lifetime have the right to receive part of the property. However, through the court, if there are grounds for this, they are recognized as unworthy;
5. Deprived of parental rights. Persons in this category will not receive an inheritance. However, their children have the right to claim the property they are owed if they have documents officially confirming their relationship.

Arbitrage practice

Most often, real estate becomes the object of disputes. The court takes into account the financial situation and who uses the apartment as the only place to live. These circumstances are taken into account when distributing parts of the inheritance through a judicial authority. The will of the testator, expressed through the execution of a will, is also taken into account.

When considering the issue of withdrawing a compulsory share from a relative, Article 1117 of the Civil Code is taken into account. Proven facts of committed criminal acts or intentional criminal inaction against relatives are taken into account.

It should be remembered that even if the court decides to leave a person without an inheritance, you can appeal it and achieve a decision in your favor. However, this should be done if there is evidence and confidence that you are right.

Disinheritance of an heir

Can an heir be disinherited? Next - all about it.

The concept of “disinheritance”

Disinheritance is a civil procedure that involves denying heirs the right to receive property after the death of the testator.

There are 2 ways to disinherit:

• Direct disinheritance, or exheredation, involves denying inheritance to legal heirs through a will.
• Secondary disinheritance is the recognition of heirs as unworthy for serious reasons. This procedure is carried out on the basis of a lawsuit initiated by other heirs or government agencies.

It is possible to deprive an heir of property even after he has entered into an inheritance.

If a citizen has already received a certificate of inheritance from a notary, uses the property, but is later recognized as an unworthy heir, he will have to return the property he received.

Disinheritance by will

In paragraph 1 of Art. 1119 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation indicates the right of the testator to express his will in a will, depriving any of his close relatives of inheritance . At the same time, the testator is not obliged to explain the reasons and motives of his will either to the deprived heirs or to the notary certifying the document.

For example, parents can bequeath all their assets to only one of their children and disinherit the others. To do this, it is enough for the owner not to mention their names in the will among the heirs.

The testator has the right to transfer the rights to whomever he deems necessary (a foundation, state, hospital, etc.), while depriving those who are interested in the inheritance; and he is not obliged to explain his decision.

The will is certified by the signature and seal of a notary . It is very difficult to challenge the authenticity of a document or the sanity of the originator.

A will deprives the property rights of heirs of any order (with the exception of certain categories of persons), as well as heirs deprived of inheritance by law.

If the heir does not agree with the will, he has the right to go to court and challenge the document. Guardianship and trusteeship authorities and other government agencies can also challenge a testamentary document.

If, when drawing up a will, the testator deprived specific heirs of their property rights, then their descendants will also not be able to inherit. In this case, we are talking about inheritance by proposal (Article 1146 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Who cannot be disinherited?

The law protects not only the testator’s right to freedom of expression, but also the rights of certain categories of heirs, even if the testator decided to deprive them of their property.

These categories include:

• children under 18 years of age;
• disabled spouses;
• elderly parents;
• other dependents in need of financial support.

The above categories of persons have the right to a mandatory share of the inheritance, amounting to at least 50% of what they would have received by law without this will.

Let's consider this example: a man bequeathed all his property to his common-law wife, and deprived his official spouse with small children and frail disabled parents of inheritance.

Unless the spouse is disabled and in need, she will receive nothing. But minor children and elderly parents have the right to 50% of the mandatory share due to them by law.

Is it possible to deprive an heir of his compulsory share of inheritance?

In addition, the court may cancel or reduce the obligatory share if:

• the heir under the will used, or, conversely, did not use the inherited property during the life of the testator;
• when it comes to specific types of property.

For example, it is quite possible to reduce or deprive a sister’s obligatory share of an apartment if she lives in decent housing conditions, while the second sister needs housing and is not able to pay her sister’s share.

How to disinherit an heir by law in 2023?

In order to deprive legal heirs of property rights, they must be recognized as unworthy. The concept of “unworthy heirs” is discussed in Art. 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The grounds for recognizing heirs as such are also outlined here. Let's list them:

• Deliberate criminal acts against the testator in order to send them quickly “to another world.”
• Similar manipulations are carried out in relation to other applicants in order to receive the entire inheritance.
• Attempting to destroy, alter or falsify a will.
• Deprivation of parental rights.
• Failure of an applicant for an inheritance to fulfill obligations to support the testators. Not only guardians, but also the closest relatives who refuse to care for frail old people fall under this basis.

Only the court has the right to recognize the heir (by law or by will) as unworthy and subsequently deprive him of the inheritance.

If such a court decision was made after entering into the inheritance, then such an heir is obliged to return the received part of the inheritance to the remaining applicants (in kind or in the form of monetary compensation).

Most often, the relatives of the testator go to court, trying to prove that the claims of one of the claimants to the property are illegal. In court, they present evidence of the illegal acts he committed and demand that he be declared unworthy.

The statement of claim to the court must contain the following points:

• name and address of the court;
• full information about the plaintiff and defendant;
• information about the testator;
• description of the circumstances;
• grounds for recognizing the heir as unworthy;
• claim;
• list of attachments (receipt for payment of state duty amounting to 300 rubles), etc.;
• date and signature.

If the applicant is recognized as an unworthy heir, then all of his property rights, even to an obligatory share (by will or by law), will be completely canceled.

It is possible to restore the rights of an unworthy heir. Even if the court considers him to be such, the testator has the right to forgive and, by drawing up a will, restore him to inheritance rights.

How to disinherit a first-degree heir?

The easiest way is to make a will . This document allows you to record the composition of the heirs and determine the size of their shares, however, in relation to obligatory applicants for the inheritance, the will is powerless.

The testator can exclude from the will only legally capable and able-bodied first-degree relatives. But it is impossible to deprive minor children and disabled parents of their inheritance.

The second option is to initiate legal proceedings to recognize the first-priority heir as an unworthy beneficiary . The claim is filed after the death of the testator by any interested person from among the heirs.

Initially, it is necessary to determine the basis for depriving a relative of the first priority of inheritance. If the reason is his unworthy behavior, then a court verdict in a criminal case should be attached.

If the heir evades fulfillment of obligations, it is necessary to prepare a court decision on the collection of alimony and a document from the FSSP on the amount of the debt.

Documents to be attached:

• plaintiff's passport;
• death certificate of the testator;
• documents confirming relationship with the deceased person;
• title documents for the property of the deceased;
• evidence of the defendant’s misconduct;
• receipt of payment of state duty (300 rubles).

Additional costs may also arise, consisting of paying for a lawyer, calling witnesses, conducting a post-mortem examination, etc.

How to disinherit children from your first marriage?

It is important to know that all children of the deceased: natural and adopted, illegitimate and born in previous marriages are first-degree heirs.

To disinherit them, you can do the following:

• Do not include them in the will. If the children from the first marriage are adults, able-bodied and healthy, then they will not receive anything.
• Draw up a will, indicating that the children of the first marriage will not become heirs.
• After the death of the testator, prove that they are unworthy heirs.
• While still alive, transfer all property to a new wife or child, then after the death of the father, the children from the first marriage will simply have nothing to inherit.

Of course, all these methods do not make a man look good, but the moral aspect in this case does not affect the law.

What to do if you are deprived of your inheritance?

The new judge, if there is evidence, will annul the previous division of property and declare the issued inheritance certificates invalid.

If the testator has disinherited the will, the will can be challenged . In judicial practice, such cases often occur, and in many cases decisions are made in favor of the plaintiff.

The main reason for challenging a will is the incapacity/insanity of the testator when drawing up the will.

If the relatives manage to prove that the deceased was seriously ill and could not understand the consequences of his actions, then the court will recognize the will as void.

Next, the assets of the deceased will be distributed according to the law, and the heir under the will will lose all his property rights.

The division of the testator's property is often accompanied by disputes and lawsuits in court . Heirs should file a lawsuit if they were deprived of their inheritance illegally, especially if the case involves minor children. In this case, the court will definitely take their side.

Disinheritance

How to deprive a first-rank heir of an inheritance according to the law is regulated by codified acts of the Russian Federation. The procedure for receiving an inheritance for most heirs is an event that can significantly improve their financial situation. However, the person who inherits by law or by will is not always guaranteed to receive the desired enrichment.

Disinheritance is a legal mechanism that allows you to deny heirs the right to receive property after the death of the testator. Disinheritance may be a direct or secondary procedure:

1. Exheredation (direct disinheritance) is the denial of the right to receive property to direct heirs through the provisions of a will.
2. Secondary dispossession is a procedure for declaring legal heirs unworthy (under sufficient circumstances). The procedure is carried out during litigation (the proceedings are initiated by other heirs or government agencies).

Grounds for disinheritance

To disinherit potential candidates for heirs, it is necessary to officially recognize them as unworthy. The reasons for implementing such a procedure may be as follows:

1. It is possible to recognize an heir as unworthy if a citizen has committed intentional criminal acts against the testator.
2. The citizen committed deliberate criminal acts in relation to other heirs in order to receive the entire inheritance.
3. The heir is recognized as unworthy if it has been proven that there was an attempt to seize or falsify the will, or in any other way interfere with the implementation of the will specified in the document.
4. In 2023, a fairly compelling and common reason for deprivation of inheritance is deprivation of parental rights.
5. Failure of the heirs to fulfill their obligations to support the testator may be considered as a basis for deprivation of inheritance rights. In the latter case, a compelling argument will be the existence of an agreement between the heir and the testator. Such an agreement regulates the standards for providing the testator with the necessary care (for example, delivery of products, medications, care, and so on).

Disinheritance of heirs by law

To disinherit heirs by law, it is necessary to file a claim in court. Such an appeal can be considered as an addition to the criminal case (when a crime has been committed or an attempt has been recorded).

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After filing a claim, the interested party is obliged to collect a significant evidence base. It should be noted that there is no point in litigating the fact that there is a court verdict in a case whose circumstances are directly related to the inheritance. A court decision in itself is recognized as a sufficient basis for deprivation of inheritance.

It is possible to disinherit an unworthy heir both before accepting the inheritance and after:

1. If the inheritance has not yet been accepted, interested parties have the right to contact a notary’s office and provide grounds for excluding a citizen from the number of applicants (a court verdict or court decision may be considered as a basis).
2. If the inheritance has already been received, the situation will be much more complicated. In accordance with current legislative norms in 2016, the heir is obliged to return all property received during inheritance. The person also undertakes to return the benefits received as a result of the ownership of the inheritance. If the property was sold, exchanged or donated (actions were taken as a result of which the return of the property mass is impossible), the unworthy heir is obliged to compensate the value of the property at the time of opening of the inheritance.

Disinheritance by will

The testator has the right to deprive potential heirs of the property mass under the will, without regulating his own decision on any grounds.

The document represents freedom of expression. The testator has the right to indicate by name all potential heirs and possible next heirs, and then declare that he is depriving them of the right to receive the inheritance (the reasons and grounds for such a decision are not indicated).

By means of a will it is impossible to disinherit only persons who have the right to receive an obligatory share of the inherited property:

1. The rights to receive a compulsory share are reserved for the disabled parents of the deceased. The exception is that parents have been deprived of parental rights. If the decision to deprive parental rights was not canceled before the death of the testator, the testator's parents are automatically excluded from the number of heirs.
2. Inheritance rights are reserved for the disabled spouse (a wife or husband can be considered obligatory heirs if they were officially married to the testator).
3. Persons who were dependent on the testator for at least a year before his death. These citizens can be both distant relatives and persons who have no family ties with the testator, but had the only source of livelihood in the person of the testator.

Disinheritance of heirs' compulsory share

Is it possible to disinherit compulsory heirs? The circle of persons claiming obligatory shares in the inheritance may inherit a reduced share or be completely deprived of the inheritance by a court decision. To cancel the mandatory share, the following factors are considered:

1. Specific property is considered as an inheritance.
2. The heir under the will exploited the property while the testator was alive.
3. The obligatory heir, on the contrary, did not use the property of the testator.

Disinheriting children

It is possible to deprive the property of first-priority heirs (children, spouses and parents), regardless of their number. All children born to the testator are equated to heirs of the first stage, and they can be deprived of the inheritance mass as follows:

1. A son or daughter can be left without inheritance by specifying other persons in the will. If the testator's children are able to work, healthy and of age (at the time of opening of the inheritance), they will not receive anything.
2. Regardless of the order of the marriage, the testator can deprive the children of their inheritance by drawing up a will.
3. After the death of the testator, recognize the son or daughter as unworthy heirs.
4. During the life of the testator, all property was transferred to the children from the new marriage (in this case, the children from the first marriage will not receive anything).

Children who have not reached the age of majority cannot be disinherited. Even if a will is drawn up or the property is bequeathed to third parties, minor children will be allocated a share of ½ of the legal estate. It is almost impossible to recognize children as unworthy heirs (due to their age).

The only way to deprive children of the inheritance is to issue a deed of gift for all the property to an outsider or sell everything, having managed to spend the proceeds.

It should be noted that the descendants of an heir legally deprived of the inheritance by the testator do not have the right to use the mechanism of inheritance by right of representation. This norm is regulated by Article 1146 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Is it possible to deprive a child of his rights to inheritance and how to do this?

Children are of different ages, and even a 45-year-old man will be a child for someone, so a child is not necessarily a person under 18 years of age.

You can disinherit a child in a simple way; the most common is to write a will and not indicate the child in it, in this way you can exclude the child from inheriting. This is the simplest method, but it is not possible to completely disinherit a child in this way in all cases.

For example, in the civil code there is article 1142 “The right to an obligatory share in the inheritance”; minors and disabled children have the right to such a share.

Example! The father bequeathed the apartment to his sister and indicated this in the will, but the testator had a disabled child aged 20 years. Since the child is the heir of the first stage, if there had been no will, he would have been entitled to the entire apartment if there were no more heirs of the first stage.

Let's take a situation where a disabled child of the first priority is the only heir, and if there had been no will, he would have received the apartment in full, but in the will there is a sister, and this is the heir of the second priority, but since she is indicated in the will, she cannot be disinherited, but the disabled child is not despite the fact that it is not indicated in the will, he has the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance, and this is no less than half of what would be due to him by law, and by law he would be entitled to the entire apartment, but since he is only entitled to an obligatory share, then Considering that this is at least half, he can safely claim half of the apartment on the basis of paragraph 1 of Article 1143 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Yes, of course, simply not specifying an heir in the will is one way to disinherit, but if such an heir has the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance, then it will not be possible to completely deprive him of the inheritance.

You can recognize the heir as unworthy!

• If you have legal grounds for recognizing an heir as unworthy, then you can use them and thus completely exclude the possibility of inheritance by such an heir.
• The grounds for recognizing an heir as unworthy are the following!
• If a person entitled to inheritance, by his unlawful actions directed against the testator or other heirs, or against the last will of the testator expressed in the will, tried or contributed to calling himself or other persons to inherit, or tried to increase his share in the inheritance against the will of the testator.

For example, such a person could forge a will in which he increased his share in the inheritance, or destroyed the will or stole it, could force the testator to cancel the will, include other persons in the will, or increase the share of a particular heir in the inheritance. Such a person could treat the testator cruelly.

But only the court can deprive the right to inheritance if specific facts are confirmed, that is, evidence is needed directly indicating the unlawful actions of a particular heir in relation to the testator. But more on that later.

There is another reason why the heir can be considered unworthy.

If able-bodied adult children are entrusted with the obligation to support their disabled parents, then they are obliged to comply with the conditions of such maintenance. Usually this is the payment of alimony for the maintenance of disabled parents.

But a prerequisite in this case is a court decision that an able-bodied child is obliged to support his disabled parents.

Without this decision, even if a child does not support his parents, it is almost impossible to recognize him as unworthy, since paragraph 2 of Article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation tells us that specific heirs can be recognized as unworthy at the request of an interested person in the case where a citizen in our case, the child maliciously evades fulfillment the duties assigned to him by force of law to support the testator, that is, if there was no legal requirement before, then it will be very difficult to recognize the heir as unworthy on this basis, because no one obliged him to support the testator.

The court may oblige the testator to pay alimony to his disabled parents; if the alimony is not paid, then the interested person may file a claim with the court to remove a particular heir from the inheritance on the basis of paragraph 2 of Article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In order to recognize the heir as unworthy for the two reasons listed above, you need to file a statement of claim and attach the following documents to it:

• Photocopies of the statement of claim for defendants and third parties, as well as the original statement of claim;
• A receipt for payment of the state duty, in this case it is 300 rubles;
• You must confirm your requirements with documents, as mentioned above, this could be a court decision or a certificate from the FSSP about the debt to pay alimony;
• A copy of the death certificate;
• Documents confirming your status and the status of the defendant as an heir, for example, documents on kinship, this could be a birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.

Such statements of claim are filed in the district court at the place of residence of the defendant, that is, the person whom you want to deprive of the right to inheritance.

After the court proceedings come to an end and you receive a court decision, then you can, after 30 days from the date of the decision, receive a writ of execution, if the defendant does not appeal the court decision and give the writ of execution to the notary who is handling your inheritance case and the notary on the basis the executive document is obliged to exclude the unworthy heir from the list of heirs both by will and by law.

That part of the property that would be due to the unworthy heir is distributed among the remaining heirs in proportion to their shares.

If you do not have grounds to recognize the heir as unworthy, then you simply do not need to indicate him in the will, but remember about the obligatory share in the inheritance.

These are, in principle, all the grounds on which it is possible to deprive a child of an inheritance.

Disinheritance by law, disinheritance of children: procedure and grounds. What diseases can a child inherit from his parents?

Surprisingly, the secret of human life is contained in a thread a meter long and only a few billionths of a millimeter wide. Experts call it DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid. It is in it that all our savings, all the big and small family secrets are contained.

Coiled into a ball, it is located in the very center of the nucleus of each cell in the form of 46 chromosomes. They, in turn, contain 50,000 - 100,000 genes, which we inherit in the proportion of half from dad, half from mom. Each chromosome in our body has a pair (there are 23 of these pairs), with the exception of sex chromosomes in men (XY).

If there are different genes in a pair, only one of them will be able to declare itself, and the one that succeeds will be called dominant, and the “suppressed” one will be called recessive. In order for a child to exhibit a recessive hereditary trait, it must be passed on to him by both his father and mother at the same time.

But the dominant trait will become obvious, even if the baby gets it from only one of the parents.

Can brunette parents give birth to a blonde child?

Yes, dark-haired parents can have a fair-haired baby. It all depends on the arrangement of dominant and recessive traits. But for a child to have brown eyes, one brown-eyed parent is enough: brown color is a dominant trait in relation to blue.

Just don’t think that each gene corresponds to one clearly defined anatomical, physiological (or even psychological) trait, such as eye or hair color or ear shape. In reality, everything is much more complicated.

It is the play of chance in the distribution of genes and their combinations that explains the amazing diversity of human types, including among brothers and sisters, because there is only one chance in billions that two children from the same family will be genetically similar.

What is our “inheritance” made of?

To understand what we inherit from our parents, look at this diagram. Half of the baby’s genetic trait bands coincide with the father’s (green), the other half with the mother’s (red).

Yes, theoretically identical twins have the same genetic “inheritance” because they were born from the division of one egg fertilized by one sperm.

In fact, they will develop differently, depending on environmental conditions, which can influence how our genetic traits manifest themselves.

Twins or fraternal twins, born from the fertilization of two eggs by two sperm, are no more similar to each other than ordinary siblings.

What blood type will the child have?

Blood type depends on which sugar molecule is on the surface of red blood cells (erythrocytes).

It may be type A, and then the baby will have blood group II, type B will have group III, both A and B will have group IV, or it may not exist at all, then it will be group I.

Parents with blood groups II and III may have a child with group I, II, III or IV. And mom and dad with group I - only with exactly the same. Holders of blood group IV will give birth to children with group II, III or IV.

Is character inherited?

Many human traits depend on several genes. In addition, some of them, for example, character traits or intellectual abilities, cannot be explained only by the rules of inheritance.

Think for yourself, throughout a person’s life, in addition to heredity, he is also influenced by the environment in which he lives. It depends on her whether our inclinations will manifest themselves, and if so, how.

But some diseases, which are characterized by behavioral disorders, are inherited (for example, a tendency to, or cases of mental retardation associated with a diseased X chromosome).

The case of the “royal illness”

Compiling a patient's pedigree greatly helps geneticists in their work. Here is one such story.

A couple who is expecting the birth of their third baby consulted a doctor. Unfortunately, their second child has hemophilia. The doctor will have to determine whether their eldest daughter is a carrier of the gene and whether the future baby will inherit the disease. So far the chances of this happening are 50/50. This is what the pedigree of this family looks like.

Expert commentary. In order to accurately determine whether the unborn child has inherited the hemophilia gene from the mother, it is necessary to carry out prenatal diagnosis - a chorionic villus biopsy at 9-12 weeks of pregnancy.

If this turns out to be the case, later in the pregnancy, she, like her mother now, will need to have a prenatal diagnosis.

Do we inherit the health of our parents?

The genes that we received from our relatives play a decisive role in this matter. Then everything depends on the lifestyle and living conditions, because it depends on them. whether the genetic characteristics inherent in us, including a predisposition to diseases, will manifest themselves.

Let's hope that in the near future specialists will have the opportunity to determine the genetic predisposition of people to various diseases (this area is called preclinical medicine). Then we will know about the weaknesses of our body from birth.

Is it possible to somehow find out about a predisposition to a disease?

Yes, with the help of pedigree. True, now this method is most often used by future parents who want to make sure that their offspring are not at risk of any hereditary diseases. A pedigree is compiled by a geneticist to assess the likelihood of having a sick child in a family.

At first glance, this study looks simple (square, circle, arrows), but in reality everything is very serious. The pedigree is based on the medical history of all relatives known to the family. The doctor is interested in cases of serious illnesses that are repeated from generation to generation, and consanguineous marriages.

The doctor will definitely clarify whether any of the relatives have had infertility, miscarriages, or whether children were born with developmental defects and mental retardation. Therefore, before you go to see a geneticist, you should seriously talk with your parents and grandparents and clarify all the details.

As you can see, genealogy is not only a look into the past, but also into the future.

If there are hereditary diseases in the family, using the compiled pedigree, the doctor will determine how they are transmitted in the family and what is the likelihood that these disorders will be transmitted to the unborn baby.

When the risk of inheriting a genetic pathology is high, the doctor will tell you what can be done to detect it in time.

We are talking about a variety of examination methods before conception and during pregnancy.

Karyotyping is the mapping of a person's chromosomes. In some countries, by the way, this study has become as common as determining blood type and Rh factor. It is given to both parents, because the child receives half of the chromosomes from the mother and half from the father.

The problem is that the future baby may inherit a chromosome that is missing a piece or has an extra one. If rearrangements in the chromosome set of spouses are detected in time, special examination during pregnancy can prevent the appearance of a sick baby.

Already from the 11-12th week of his life, many developmental defects and changes can be detected inside the mother during an ultrasound, which indicate that the child has inherited a chromosomal pathology. For example, thickening of the collar area in a small child in 30% of cases indicates.

One of the additional research methods will help dispel doctors’ suspicions or, alas, confirm them: chorionic villus biopsy (analysis of cells of the future placenta), amniocentesis (examination of amniotic fluid), cordocentesis (analysis of the baby’s blood from the umbilical cord).

The second ultrasound is performed on the expectant mother at 20-22 weeks, and at this time most deviations in the development of the face, limbs and malformations of the baby’s internal organs are determined. At 30-32 weeks, ultrasound can detect delays in its development. A change in the concentration of proteins in the mother’s blood (they are produced by the placenta and the baby’s organs) can also indicate chromosomal pathology and some malformations of the baby. This test is called a biochemical blood test.

Where do genetic “damages” come from?

The cells of our body are constantly dividing so that old and dead ones are replaced by new ones. Each time a new cell is formed, the hereditary material contained in the DNA is copied. When copying, errors (mutations) often occur: either a fragment of DNA is lost, or one of its sections is copied incorrectly.

Our immune cells find these breakdowns and eliminate them. When this does not happen, the mutant cells pass on erroneous information to their daughter cells when they subsequently divide.

Fortunately, prudent nature created two copies of genes (all chromosomes, with the exception of sex chromosomes in men, as we remember, are paired). If the mutation occurs in one recessive gene, nothing bad will happen. A genetic disease will begin if he “meets” a second exactly the same gene or a “breakdown” occurs in the dominant gene.

Why do some diseases occur only in boys?

If a mutation occurs on a woman's X chromosome, she will become a carrier of a genetic disease.

Unfortunately, if she gives birth to a boy, there is a 50% chance that he will inherit the “broken” chromosome, because women have 2 copies of the X chromosome (XX), while men have one (XY), and they get her from her mother.

For example, in the case of hemophilia (blood clotting disorder), women are carriers of the mutation, and it occurs on one of the X chromosomes. Having received it from his mother, the boy will get sick, and the girl will be healthy, but will inherit this gene defect and can pass it on to her children.

Science does not stand still, and modern genetic diagnostic methods make it possible to determine not only the sex of the unborn baby, but also whether he will receive a defective gene, that is, whether a boy will get sick and whether a girl will become a carrier. This direction is called prenatal diagnosis, and already from the 8th week of pregnancy, specialists will be able to answer these questions.