INHERITANCE AND ONE-TIME FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A SERVICEMEMBER: LEGAL STATUS ISSUES OF DE FACTO SPOUSES IN UKRAINE

Background: The military aggression of the russian federation1 against Ukraine has led to a rise in inheritance disputes involving de facto spouses of deceased servicemen. The increasing prevalence of such partnerships in Ukrainian society, coupled with the lack of proper legislative regulation, creates legal uncertainty, compelling individuals to seek judicial recognition of the status and right to inherit. Judicial practice shows inconsistency in resolving such cases due to the absence of uniform criteria for assessing evidence and procedural mechanisms. Within this context, addressing the issue of one-time financial assistance to de facto spouses of deceased servicemen becomes significant. Given Ukraine’s prolonged military involvement, comparative analysis with the legal frameworks of the United States and South Korea offers valuable insights to assessing Ukraine’s domestic model. Thus, the premises of this study are shaped by wartime realities, the legal imperfections of existing inheritance law, and the urgent need to adapt Ukrainian legislation to emerging challenges. Methods: The study employs various methods, including analysis and synthesis for studying legal norms, adjudications, and scientific works, as well as summarising the obtained results. Inductive and deductive reasoning support the development of general conclusions based on judicial practice. Abstraction is used to refine and generalise key concepts and legal categories related to inheritance law. The formal-legal method is applied to analyse norms of civil and family law of Ukraine, while the comparative-legal method facilitates the review of foreign experiences in common-law marriage inheritance issues (particularly focusing on the USA and South Korea. The historical-legal method provides insight into the evolution of Ukrainian inheritance legislation, and the teleological (purposive) method to analyse the objectives underlying legal norms and judicial precedents in this area. Results and conclusions: The research identified the main issues regarding inheritance disputes involving the de facto spouses of deceased servicemen. Judicial practice demonstrates a standardised approach to the assessment of evidence, contributing to the uniform application of the law. An analysis of current legislation and case law showed that the main challenge remains the fact of common-law cohabitation, which often requires substantial evidentiary support. International experience confirms that Ukraine’s model of financial assistance in the event of a servicemember’s death aligns with global standards. The findings lead to the conclusion that domestic legislation needs to be amended.