The President of Russia has signed Federal Law No. 459-FZ, introducing a requirement for mandatory notarial certification of real estate gift agreements between individuals.
With the introduction of this new rule, the Civil Code has also been amended to remove the requirement for state registration of real estate gift agreements — a provision that has, in practice, not been applied since 2013¹. It should be noted, however, that this does not eliminate the mandatory state registration of the transfer of ownership arising from such agreements.
In the original version of the bill, the requirement for notarial certification applied to all gift agreements except those between close relatives. By the second reading, however, the wording had been amended.
The authors of the law emphasise that notarial certification will serve as an additional safeguard for citizens’ property rights. It is expected that, once the law enters into force, the number of contested gift agreements will decrease.
In practice, this amendment will have little impact on commercial organisations and entrepreneurs, as gifts between them are generally prohibited.
The law enters into force on 13 January 2025.
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