Dispute over whether immovable property belongs to the estate: costs of proceedings and court fee (Part 7)

In the previous parts, we examined the nature of this action, the jurisdiction of the court, the question of standing, the interim measure, and the wording of the relief sought. In this final part, we look at the practical side of the matter – how much such proceedings cost, that is, the lawyer's fee under the tariff regulation and the court fee.

Why it matters to settle the nature of this action

How court practice views the nature of this action affects not only the correct wording of the relief sought, but also the basis on which the lawyer's fee and the court fee are calculated.

Based on the decision-making practice analysed, we have concluded that this is not an action for a determination of ownership – neither in relation to the deceased, nor in relation to the heirs. Not in relation to the deceased, because they lost legal personality upon death and are no longer a subject of law at the time of the decision. Not in relation to the heirs, because they have no legal title on which they could claim ownership – the sole legal ground for acquiring ownership of immovable property belonging to the estate is the inheritance order itself.

A decision that the property belongs to the estate (or that it was owned by the deceased as at the date of their death) therefore does not directly establish the claimant's ownership. It is rather the resolution of a preliminary question that matters for the subsequent inheritance proceedings.

How the lawyer's fee is calculated

Since this is not an action for a determination of ownership, the calculation of the lawyer's tariff fee cannot be based on the value of the property that is to belong to the estate (§ 10(2) of Slovak Regulation No. 655/2004 Coll. on lawyers' fees and compensation).

Instead, § 11(1)(a) of that regulation applies – the rule for cases where the value of the thing or right cannot be expressed in money. The basic rate of the tariff fee for one act of legal service is one thirteenth of the so-called calculation base, which is the average monthly wage of an employee in the economy of the Slovak Republic for the first half of the preceding calendar year. In addition to this fee, the lawyer is entitled, for each act of legal service, to:

• a flat overhead allowance of one hundredth of the calculation base,
• compensation for loss of time of one sixtieth of the calculation base for each half-hour (including any commenced half-hour).

In most cases, however, the lawyer will agree an hourly rate or a fixed sum with you.