Lifelong maintenance contract in Serbia (ugovor o doživotnom izdržavanju): form and challenges

What a lifelong maintenance contract is

The lifelong maintenance contract (ugovor o doživotnom izdržavanju) is governed by Art. 194 to 205 of the Inheritance Law (Zakon o nasleđivanju, "Sl. glasnik RS", No. 46/95, 101/2003 - Constitutional Court decision, and 6/2015). The recipient undertakes that after their death ownership of precisely specified items or other rights passes to the provider. The provider undertakes to support the recipient, to care for them until the end of their life and to bury them after death.

Two features define this contract. The first is deferred transfer: the recipient remains the owner until death, and the provider acquires the property only then. The second is uncertainty (its aleatory nature): when the contract is concluded, nobody knows how long maintenance will last or what it will cost the provider. The heirs' special right to seek annulment rests precisely on the absence of that uncertainty.

Unless the contract says otherwise, the maintenance duty covers housing, food, clothing and footwear, care in illness and old age, medical costs and allowances for everyday needs.

Lifelong maintenance between parents and children: an example

The most common example is a contract between a parent and a child. A widowed mother has two children and an apartment. She concludes a lifelong maintenance contract with one child: the child cares for her until the end of her life, and the apartment passes to that child after her death.

The consequences for the other child are significant. The apartment does not enter the estate, so the other child cannot claim a forced share from it (Art. 195). The other child can only try to have the contract annulled if the statutory grounds exist (Art. 203).

Tax works as follows. Had the succession opened on the day the contract was concluded, the providing child would have inherited half by law, because children and the spouse inherit in equal shares (Art. 9 of the Inheritance Law). No tax is paid on that half; on the other half the provider pays the 2.5% tax on the transfer of absolute rights after the mother's death (Art. 31(1)(6) of the Law on Property Taxes).

If the only aim is to pass the apartment to the child without a maintenance obligation, a gift contract is the alternative. Unlike lifelong maintenance, a gift is taken into account in the other heirs' forced share.

Form: solemnisation and the notary's warning

The contract must be concluded as a notarially confirmed (solemnised) document (Art. 195). The notary must specifically warn the parties that the property under the contract does not enter the recipient's estate and that forced heirs cannot be satisfied from it. A note of that warning is entered in the confirmation clause. If the form is not observed, the contract is void.

Contracts concluded before notaries were introduced were certified before a judge.

Where the contract concerns real estate, the notary delivers the document to the cadastre.

Can a lifelong maintenance contract be challenged

Heirs ask this when, after a parent's death, they learn that the apartment did not enter the estate. The law provides several routes, each with its own conditions:

• Annulment for lack of uncertainty (Art. 203). At the request of statutory heirs the court may annul the contract if, because of the recipient's illness or age, the contract involved no uncertainty for the provider. A typical example is a contract concluded when the recipient was already seriously ill and death was certain and near. The claim is filed within one year of learning of the contract, and at the latest three years from the recipient's death.
• Nullity because of form (Art. 195) or because of who the provider is (Art. 196).
• General grounds under the Law on Contracts and Torts (Zakon o obligacionim odnosima). For example, the recipient lacked the capacity to reason, there was fraud or threat, or the contract is a sham concealing a gift. With a sham contract the rules on gifts apply, so the property can be counted towards the forced share.
• Non-performance. If the provider did not perform, the recipient could have sought termination during their lifetime.

The fact that the heirs were left without property is not in itself a ground for annulment. The burden of proof lies on the person challenging the contract, and the evidence consists of medical records, witnesses and expert opinion.

Costs and tax

The cost at conclusion is the notary's fee for solemnisation, which depends on the value of the property. No tax is paid when the contract is concluded, because there is no transfer at that point. The tax liability arises after the recipient's death, when the provider acquires the property, and the tax on the transfer of absolute rights of 2.5% is paid.

Until death the recipient remains liable for annual property tax on the real estate, because they are still its owner.

Common mistakes

• The provider's duties are described in one sentence, so it later cannot be established what was agreed.
• The provider keeps no evidence of maintenance (bills, payments, receipts), which the court asks for in a dispute with heirs.
• The contract is not entered in the cadastre.
• The contract is concluded when the recipient is already seriously ill, which opens the way to annulment under Art. 203.
• The fact that the apartment is joint marital property is overlooked.
• The contract is confused with a gift contract or a will, although the effects on forced heirs differ.

A short overview of the clauses usually found in the contract: contracting parties, property under the contract, content of maintenance, manner of performance, burial, entry in the cadastre, statement on marital property, termination, costs. This is an overview of content, not a ready-made contract text.

Sources

• Inheritance Act (Zakon o nasleđivanju, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 46/95, 101/2003 and 6/2015), Art. 9 and 194-203
• Law on Property Taxes (Zakon o porezima na imovinu, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 26/2001 ... 94/2024), Art. 25, 29, 30 and 31
• Notary Tariff (Javnobeležnička tarifa, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 91/2014 ... 59/2025), Art. 10 and tariff items 1 and 9
• Act on the Procedure for Registration in the Real Estate and Infrastructure Cadastre (Zakon o postupku upisa u katastar nepokretnosti i katastar infrastrukture, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 41/2018 ... 92/2023), Art. 14 and 15 (paragraf.rs)
• Law on Contracts and Torts (Zakon o obligacionim odnosima), Art. 68