Russian Federation Legislators Council supported changes to Civil Code proposed by Parliament of Bashkortostan

The Council of Legislators of Russia presented a positive opinion on the draft federal law “On Amendments to Article 574 of Part Two of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” introduced by the State Assembly - Kurultai of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The bill proposes to introduce mandatory notarization of gift agreements, except in cases where the donor and the donee are closely related, Bashinform News Agency reports.

“The existing procedure for drawing up donation agreements sometimes puts older people at risk of losing their only home. To give an apartment to a stranger, all you need to do is come to the MFC and sign the necessary papers. This simple scheme is widely used by scammers today. The victims of attackers are often single elderly citizens who often have health and memory problems and who, on average, are more gullible and less versed in legal issues than younger people. Citizens suffering from alcohol or drug addiction also fall for scammers. Having lost their rights to their apartments, victims seek justice in court. A long legal battle begins. Since contracts are concluded in compliance with all formalities, the courts of first instance do not always decide the issue in favor of the plaintiffs. To protect citizens from attacks on their property, it is necessary to change the legal mechanism and revise the simplified procedure,” said Chairman of the State Assembly Konstantin Tolkachev.

The explanatory note to the document notes that notarization of gift agreements in cases where the donor and recipient are not close relatives “will carry a preventive and protective function and will act as a form of social protection of property rights of citizens on the part of the state, since by virtue provisions of Article 54 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries, the notary explains to the parties the meaning and significance of the transaction being concluded, checks whether the content of the transaction corresponds to the actual intentions of the parties.”

Having studied the bill, the Commission of the Council of Legislators for Coordination of Legislative Activities and Monitoring of Legislation concluded that notarization of transactions “can reduce the number of offenses in the field of state registration of the transfer of rights to real estate when concluding gift agreements between persons who are not closely related.”

The bill will be submitted to the State Duma.

Author: Leila Aralbaeva