The decedent, identified as , a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from Minsk in 1992, passed away last month at her home in Greenville, Delaware. Her Last Will and Testament, signed in 2021, has triggered a complex, multi-jurisdictional process that legal scholars say will test the limits of international estate law.
However, a competing claim has been filed by the , acting through a private law firm in Washington, D.C. Belarusian authorities argue that under Soviet inheritance law, which they claim as a predecessor state to the BSSR, a portion of any citizen’s estate must revert to the state if heirs are not "direct bloodline dependents." first soviet citizen will probated in the united states
“The USSR has no embassy, no consulate, and no legal successor for private civil matters dating to specific republics before the collapse,” said Professor Elena Hartwell of Columbia Law School, a specialist in post-Soviet inheritance law. “The court must determine: Was her ‘domicile of origin’ the USSR, the modern Republic of Belarus, or a stateless entity? This has never been adjudicated in an American probate court.” The decedent, identified as , a naturalized U
The probate hearing is scheduled for August 10, 2026. Legal experts predict the case will likely reach the Delaware Supreme Court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, on the question of whether a non-existent state can be a party to a probate dispute. However, a competing claim has been filed by
The core legal challenge stems from the fact that Mrs. Volkov-Morrison was born in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) in 1939—a sovereign political entity that ceased to exist on December 26, 1991.
Wilmington, Delaware – April 14, 2026 — In a landmark legal first, the Superior Court of Delaware has formally opened probate proceedings for the estate of a former Soviet citizen, marking the first time a person born under the flag of the USSR has had their last will and testament adjudicated on American soil.