Information for authorities issuing an ECS

1 The kinds of registers that exist in the Member State, containing information relevant to successions

• State Unified Computerised Land Register
• Registers of civil status
• Register of matrimonial property
• Register of public wills
• Enterprise register
• Register of accounts

2 Information contained in each of the registers of the Member State, as listed under point 1

1. The State Unified Computerised Land Register records immovable property and related rights. The Computerised Land Register is an electronic database which stores land registers, record books and alphabetic indexes long term without amendment, and enables these data to be displayed on a computer screen and printed out. The Computerised Land Register stores electronic documents and documents that have been obtained electronically from paper versions of documents included in cases relating to immovable property.

Contact details:

https://www.zemesgramata.lv/saturs/lv/39-6-6

https://www.ta.gov.lv/lv/iestades-kontakti

https://www.ta.gov.lv/lv/iestades-kontakti

The State Unified Computerised Land Register is a centralised database.

Entries in the computerised Land Register may be freely consulted and extracts or copies requested via a direct connection. Information may be requested by specifying the entry number, the property’s cadastral number, the property’s name or the address of an object forming part of the property. The entry extract can be accessed once all sections of the land registry entry have been updated.

This information may be obtained from district (city) courts, or it may be provided by the custodian of the State Unified Computerised Land Register.

Computerised record books, details of immovable property cases and the index of individuals may be consulted by, or information obtained from these, only by property owners and persons holding property rights (Article 1477 of the Civil Law). The list of officials of State institutions to which the information in question may be sent by the custodian of the State Unified Computerised Land Register to meet official needs, along with the volume of the information in question and the manner in which the information may be provided, is laid down by the Cabinet. This information may be sent to other individuals with the authorisation of the President of a district (city) court, where the said information is needed to protect rights of individuals which have been infringed or contested, or interests which are protected by law.

The institution that curates the register, in accordance with legislation, may also send a specified amount of information to another State institution.

An institution may refuse to send this information to another State institution if doing so is not compatible with Cabinet Regulation No 801.

Information must be requested and sent in the State language (Latvian) using e-mail, an e-address or by post.

Information will be sent depending on the specific request (admissibility will be determined by the president of the court).

To register a change of ownership of a registered property as a result of inheritance, a request must be submitted for confirmation certified by a notary along with documents attesting to the change of ownership (certificate of inheritance, will, death certificate). Documents must be in Latvian or must be accompanied by a translation certified by a notary. Since each case is different, the judge in charge of the investigatory procedure may also need additional documentation.

For the registration authority to be able to identify the registered property and register the change of ownership on inheritance, the property identification data provided for in the request for confirmation, including the extent of the property rights to be confirmed, must be completed.

The State Unified Computerised Land Register is the only computerised land register that contains legally recognised information. Land registers are universally accessible and their entries have the status of official records.

2. Registers of civil status the Republic of Latvia has a unified State information system, the Register of natural persons (hereinafter ‘FPR’). In accordance with Article 2(1) of the Law on the register of natural persons, the FPR is a State information system which stores restricted information and which is controlled and curated by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (‘PMLP’). In accordance with Article 4(1) and (11) of the Law on the register of natural persons, the FPR contains updated particulars of Latvian citizens, Latvian non-citizens and foreigners. The FPR updates and renews details of entries in civil status records. However, in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, details of marriages entered into, and of registered births and deaths, are included, updated and renewed in the FPR by the registry office.

Contact details:

https://www.pmlp.gov.lv/lv/pakalpojumi/fizisko-personu-registrs

Latvia does not have separate regional information systems for storing details of entries in registers of births, marriages and deaths, as provided for in Article 7(1) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts. Details of marriages entered into, and of registered births and deaths, are included, updated and renewed by the FPR.

In accordance with Article 9(1) and (2) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, the General Registry institution prepares a computer print-out of an entry in the register of civil status acts after including the information referred to in Article 7(1) of that law in the FPR. The computer print-out is signed by an official or employee of the General Registry institution and by the person to whom the extract of entry in the register of civil status acts relates, or by the person notifying the event, and is approved with a seal bearing the State coat of arms.

In accordance with Article 43(2) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, the registry office which registered the civil status acts in question keeps the entries in registers of civil status acts in printed form for 100 years, thereafter transferring them to the National Archives of Latvia.

As there are no regional registers in Latvia, documents attesting to the registration of civil status acts in the FPR may be issued by any local registry office (hereinafter ‘registry office’), by a diplomatic and consular representation of the Republic of Latvia abroad (hereinafter ‘representation’) and by the Ministry of Justice within the framework of its competence.

The FPR contains restricted information. Information on entries in registers of civil status acts may be obtained by persons in accordance with the regulatory provisions laid down in the Law on the register of civil status acts.

In accordance with the provisions of the following sections of Article 6 of the Law on the registration of civil status acts:

1. paragraph 4 - the right to access an entry in the register of marriages and to request a marriage certificate, an extract testifying to the registration of a marriage or a copy of the entry in the register of marriages, shall be enjoyed by the person in respect of whom the entry was made, or a person authorised by them. If the marriage is terminated by the death of one of the spouses or the declaration of the death of one of the spouses, the General Registry institution or the Ministry of Justice shall issue an extract testifying to the registration of the marriage in accordance with the entry in the marriage register.
2. paragraph 5 - the right to access an entry in the register of births (other than an entry in the register relating to adoption) and to request a birth certificate, birth registration certificate or a copy of the entry in the birth register, shall be enjoyed by the person in respect of whom the entry was made, or by a person authorised by them. The right to access an entry for a minor in the register of births and to request a birth certificate, birth registration certificate or a copy of the entry in the birth register shall be enjoyed by the parents or the legal representatives of the child.
3. paragraph 6 - the right to access an entry for an adopted person of legal age in the birth register and to request a birth certificate, birth registration certificate or a copy of the entry in the birth register, shall be enjoyed by the person in respect of whom the entry was made, or by a person authorised by them. The right to access an entry for an adopted minor in the register of births and to request a birth certificate, birth registration certificate or a copy of the entry in the birth register shall be enjoyed by the adopting party, the child’s legal representatives or a person authorised by them.
4. paragraph 7 - the right to access an entry in the register of deaths and to request a death certificate, a death registration statement or a copy of an entry in the register of deaths, shall be enjoyed by the relative of the deceased or a person authorised by them.
5. paragraph 8 - other persons may request and obtain a certificate of the registration of a civil state document if they can prove their lawful interest.

The FPR is maintained by the PMLP.

Article 2(2) of the Law on the register of natural persons stipulates which institutions may, within the limit of their remit, update and disclose FPR particulars. Civil status documents (extracts or certificates) relating to the registration of births, marriages or deaths may be issued by registry offices, representations and the Ministry of Justice, if the record is drawn up by a Latvian registry office or a representation.

In accordance with Article 6(9) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, a copy of the entry in the register of civil status acts must be made available to the courts, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, an investigating authority, the Ministry of Justice, the General Registry institution, the family court and notaries on request.

Registry offices, representations or the Ministry of Justice may issue documents attesting to civil status from register entries drawn up by Latvian General Registry institutions within the last 100 years. In accordance with Article 43(2) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, the registry office which registered the civil status acts in question keeps the entries in registers of civil status acts in printed form for 100 years, thereafter transferring them to the National Archives of Latvia.

In accordance with Chapter XI on the re-issue of documents attesting to the registration of civil status acts of Cabinet Regulation No 761 of 3 September 2013 on the registers of civil status acts, applications submitted must indicate the following:

1. the reason why the document needs re-issuing;
2. depending on the type of document needing to be re-issued, the date and place of the marriage, divorce, birth or death, and the place and year of registration of the register entry;
3. the personal data of the individuals in respect of whom the re-issue of the document is requested.

If certificates are requested for the registration of the marriage or birth of a deceased individual, proof that the individual is dead (death certificate or a certified copied thereof, or other document with legal force attesting to the death of the individual in question) must be submitted. If details of the registration of the birth, marriage or death of a deceased person are requested by a person who is not a relative of the deceased, documents attesting to lawful interest must be submitted. If details are requested by a relative of the deceased, copies attesting to kinship must be adduced.

Institutions and legal persons should preferably make a request using an official form.

Private individuals may draw up their requests in free text, giving their contact details (address, e-mail, phone number).

If necessary, the application should include certified copies of other documents. If any of the documents are drawn up in third countries, the attached documents must be duly legalized and translated into Latvian or English.

For a request sent to an institution via its official e-mail address or e-mail to be accepted for examination, it must be electronically signed with an ASICE e-signature that can be read in the European Union or a means of electronic authentication that is recognised in the European Union.

If it is not possible to certify the application and the attached documents by the above-mentioned means of electronic authentication, the paper request, duly signed by the competent official or private individual, must be sent to the addressee by post.

Information may be requested in Latvian or English.

In accordance with Article 47(1) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, a registry office, representation or the Ministry of Justice, based on the entries in civil status registries, issues the following documents attesting to the registration of civil status acts:

1. a marriage, birth or death certificate;
2. an extract attesting to the registration of a civil status act;
3. an entry in the register of civil status acts kept by the institution in question in paper form (copy);
4. a computer printout of an entry in the register of civil status acts.

Where documents are requested by a public authority for the performance of own activities, the documents are issued free of charge. Other parties must make a service or State fee payment. The amount of the service payment shall be determined by the schedule of service fees of each registry office, representation or the Ministry of Justice. The service or State fee payment may be made via the intermediary of any bank.

In accordance with Article 46(1) of the Law on the registration of civil status acts, civil status register entries in the FPR and in paper form and the documents attesting to registration issued on the basis of these prove the conclusion of a marriage, the registration of a birth of death or other particulars shown in the entries of registers of civil status acts.

3. The register of matrimonial property. The register of matrimonial property records contracts of marriage entered into by a man and a woman A contract of marriage is a legal transaction, or a special type of contract, by which the parties - spouses - establish, amend or terminate their matrimonial property regime by exercising their rights and the possibilities afforded them by law in terms of determining their own property regime.

4. The register of public wills is controlled and curated by the Latvian Council of certified notaries [Latvijas Zvērinātu notāru padome]. Data in the register of public testaments relating to the aforementioned acts of last will and testament made as of the date on which the register of public wills became operational constitute official records. Data in the register of public wills relating to acts of last will and testament made up to the date on which the register of public wills became operational are informative in nature. The operation of this register is regulated by a Cabinet Regulation. Again, this register is unified, i.e. it does not consist of regional registers.

Contact details: https://www.latvijasnotars.lv/services

The issue of data from the register of public wills in the cases specified by the Cabinet Regulation is a service subject to payment. The amount of the fee for the issue of data from the register of public wills, the payment procedure and exemptions from its payment are laid down by the Cabinet.

The Register of public wills contains details of

1. documents containing a last will and testament (hereinafter 'documents') - public wills, documents of acceptance for safekeeping of private wills, contracts of succession and other publicly attested transactions containing instructions in the event of death;
2. documents that rescind, amend, supplement or revoke a last will and testament;
3. information requested from the register.

Information from this register on documents and where they are located is provided by the Latvian Council of Certified Notaries. Consequently, the contents of a will are not available and can only be accessed by a certified notary in connection with a succession case.

Information on particulars included in the register during the testator’s lifetime may only be accessed by the testator and the Council.

After the testator’s death, information on particulars included in the register may be obtained by certified notaries, the courts, and bodies of central and local government to assist them in their work, or by other persons.

Information on particulars included in the register may be sent to the testator, the Council and bodies of central and local government to assist them in their work, and to other persons, based on an electronic or written request indicating the need to obtain information.

Information on particulars included in the register is sent electronically or in writing to the testator, bodies of central and local government to assist them in their work, and to other persons, within no more than 10 days of a request being received.

As part of inheritance proceedings, information on particulars included in the register is sent to persons other than certified notaries, the courts or bodies of central and local government by the certified notary in charge of the inheritance proceedings.

Certified notaries and the courts receive information on particulars included in the register via the online data transmission regime.

For the issue of particulars from the register of public wills the following fees are payable:

1. for an extract prepared in writing or electronically in accordance with legislation on the drafting, presentation and circulation of electronic documents (per testator) – EUR 8.54;
2. if the extract includes information on more than one testator, in addition to the payment referred to in subparagraph 3.1, a fee of EUR 4.27 is charged for each additional testator (starting with the second).

If the requesting party asks for the extract to be sent in less than 10 days from the date of receipt of the request, the fee shall be increased as follows:

1. by a factor of two, if the extract is sent within five days;
2. by a factor of four if the extract is sent within a day.

The fee is increased by 50% if the extract is drawn up in a foreign language.

The fee for the issue of extracts from the register of public wills is paid into the current account of the Council of Certified Notaries or may be paid in cash at the Council’s offices prior to the receipt of the particulars in question.

The following are exempt from the payment of the fee for the issue of particulars from the register of public wills:

1. the persons and institutions mentioned in paragraph 7 of this Regulation;
2. interested parties obtaining register information under inheritance proceedings;
3. natural persons (testators), who may obtain information on themselves once a year.

5. In accordance with Article 1(1) of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia, the functions of the Enterprise Register are to carry out the registration of commercial operators and their branches, representations of foreign commercial operators and organisations and representatives thereof, cooperative societies, European Economic Interest Groupings, European commercial companies, European cooperative societies, political parties and alliances thereof, administrators, insolvent entities, developments in legal protection and insolvency proceedings, developments in the release of a natural person from debt liabilities, associations and foundations, religious organisations and their institutions, trade unions, media, decisive influence, commercial pledges, spousal property relations and arbitration courts, to ensure that the relevant registers are kept and to ensure that a list is kept of public persons and institutions and that information on the public persons and institutions entered in it is available. Information crucial to succession proceedings kept in the registers run by the Enterprise Register is on participants in legal entities and their owners, members and beneficial owners.

Postal address of the Enterprise Register: Pērses iela 2, Rīga, LV-1011 Tel. 67031703; The official email address is pasts@ur.gov.lv. Web: https://www.ur.gov.lv/lv/

The Latvian Enterprise Register is a centralized institution.

The Enterprise Register provides the information and documents included in the public section of the registry free of charge via on-line data transmission (including bulk download). Other documents and particulars are included in the non-public section of the registry. This means that the information stored in the Register is divided into two parts - public and restricted.

The information and documents included in the non-public part of the register are restricted, and they may be freely accessed for the purposes of performing the tasks provided for in legislation by law enforcement authorities, the Financial Intelligence Unit and surveillance and control bodies operating in the field of the prevention of money laundering and terrorism and proliferation funding, and by other institutions subject to the submission of a justified request. Information and documents in the non-public section of the register may be requested by private persons in accordance with the procedure for requesting restricted information set out in the Law on the freedom of information.

At the request of the Saiema [Latvian Parliament], the Cabinet of Ministers, institutions under direct State control, law enforcement and control bodies and local authorities, at the request of any other State institution enjoying such a statutory right, and at the request of judicial officers for the performance of their tasks, the Enterprise Register provides the requisite information from the registers free of charge, within the limits laid down by legislation. The Enterprise Register sends these bodies any of the information requested which it holds in its registers. Legislation makes no provision for refusing requests for information. Legislation does not stipulate a specific volume of information that must be provided on an individual in respect of whom information is requested.

Legislation does not stipulate a specific volume of information that must be provided on an individual in respect of whom information is requested. However, such information must be sufficient to identify the person in respect of whom information is requested.

As regards the request of information from the Enterprise Register, a written request from an institution constitutes sufficient grounds for the transmission of information.

Information may be requested by mailing a written request to the Enterprise register, or by sending an electronic request to the e-mail address of the Enterprise register or its official electronic address. Requests must be signed using a secure electronic signature. Requests must be signed using a secure electronic signature.

Information may be requested in Latvian only.

Electronic copies of documents are available on-line on the information website of the Enterprise Register, while copies issued on request are certified (in paper or electronic format).

Information is provided in Latvian only.

The competent authorities referred to in Article 4¹⁰(1) of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia and requesting information from the Enterprise Register are exempt from payment of the State fee. By contrast, other bodies must pay the fee for this service in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No 23 of 7 January 2020 governing the issue of information from the Enterprise Register and the schedule of service payments. The fee is payable by bank transfer to the Enterprise register account at the Treasury.

The Enterprise register does not record the transfer of property rights. Likewise, for example, as regards capital companies, for the re-registration of a testator’s capital as that of an heir, an application must be submitted to the Enterprise Register accompanied by a copy of extracts from the register of participants and a copy of the inheritance certificate. The formal aspects of documentary checks are set out in Article 14(1) of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia.

In accordance with the general provisions of the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia, the operational objective of the Enterprise Register is to register the legal entities referred to in the law with a view to establishing the legal status of legal entities, securing public confidence in the information laid down in legislation (on registered legal entities and legal facts) and providing access to the information laid down in legislation. This means that the public can have confidence in all the information recorded in the registers kept by the Enterprise Register. It should also be noted that the Enterprise Register does not record property, and enrolment in the registers kept by the Enterprise Register does not constitute proof of ownership.

3 The availability of information on bank accounts

On 1 July 2017 the Law on the accounts register entered into force, making it obligatory to bring together in one place information on all natural and legal persons holding accounts in Latvia at any credit institution, credit union or institution for payment service providers. The Accounts register is controlled by the State Revenue Service (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests, VID).

The accounts register introduces a system that allows identification of any natural or legal person holding a demand deposit account or a payment account. The register brings together information on persons who have opened payment accounts or demand deposit accounts in the Republic of Latvia and on their beneficial owners.

The register records information on account ownership, not on monetary transfers or account balances.

Information from the register can only be requested by the following bodies referred to in the law in order to perform their duties:

• the Service for the prevention of money laundering;
• authorities engaged in operational activities;
• investigating authorities;
• the Financial and Capital Market Commission (Finanšu un kapitāla tirgus komisija);
• the State Revenue Service (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests);
• the courts;
• the Public Prosecutor’s Office
• the Anti-Corruption Office (Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs);
• certified judicial officers;
• certified notaries;
• family courts;
• the Bank of Latvia (Latvijas Banka).

Data on accounts are supplied to the Register by credit institutions, credit unions or payment service providers. The procedure whereby a credit institution, credit union or payment service provider forwards information to the accounts register and users of the accounts register receive information from it is laid down by the Cabinet.

4 The availability of a register of intellectual property rights

The Latvian database on industrial property is maintained by the Patent Office of the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republikas Patentu valde), specifically:

1. the database on patents and patent applications contains the full texts of patent applications and patents granted, and translations of European patent claims. The publication numbers shown in the ‘publications’ section of the database function as hyperlinks to the official gazette in which they were published, while the ‘case documents’ section shows and displays case materials;
2. up-to-date information on trademarks registered or refused in Latvia can be found in the Trademarks database;
3. The Designs database contains details of design patents granted in accordance with the Law on designs.

Databases giving details of holders of copyright or related rights are created and maintained by collective management organisations such as the Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency / Latvian Authors’ association (Akka/LAA) and LaIPA, the Latvian Association of Performers and Producers (Laipa).

5 Other registers with information relevant to successions

Certified notaries also make daily use of the Inheritance register. The Inheritance Register is owned solely by the Latvian State. The Inheritance Register is controlled and curated by the Latvian Council of certified notaries.

The Inheritance Register shows the testator’s first and last name and personal identity number, plus the first and last name and personal identity number of the certified notary in charge of inheritance proceedings.

Interested parties may consult the inheritance register and obtain extracts from it.

For the issue of extracts from the inheritance register, the following fees are payable:

1. for access to the inheritance register by interested parties using the global computer network (internet), EUR 4.27 per inheritance case;
2. for an extract prepared in writing or electronically in accordance with legislation on the drafting, presentation and circulation of electronic documents (per inheritance case) – EUR 8.54;
3. if the extract includes information on more than one inheritance case, in addition to the payment referred to in subparagraph 2.2, a fee of EUR 4.27 is charged for each additional inheritance case (starting with the second).

If the requesting party asks for the extract to be sent in less than 10 days from the date of receipt of the request, the fee shall be increased as follows:

1. by a factor of two, if the extract is sent within five days;
2. by a factor of four if the extract is sent within a day.

The fee is increased by 50% if the extract is drawn up in a foreign language.

The fee for the issue of extracts from the inheritance register is paid into the current account of the Council of certified notaries or may be paid in cash at the Council’s offices prior to the receipt of the extract in question.

The following are exempt from payment of the fee for the issue of extracts from the inheritance register: certified notaries, the courts and central and local government institutions accessing register data to carry out their professional duties and functions, and persons submitting an inheritance application to a certified notary.

In Latvia, the Courts information system can also be accessed. This records information on the cases and materials being examined in court. This information includes, for instance, data on parties to a case, court sessions and written proceedings, applications and complaints submitted, decisions taken in a case, sanctions applied and other documents accompanying a court decision.

The information in the system is restricted and contains data on natural persons. It consists of information needed for judicial purposes.

In accordance with Cabinet Regulation No 618 on the Courts information system, the information in the system can be used by judges and court officials for the performance of professional or work-related duties and to meet needs relating to professional duties.

In accordance with paragraph 18 of this Cabinet Regulation, access to the information contained in the system may be granted to State and local authorities to the extent necessary for them to perform and exercise their functions. To obtain the information in question, the institution must indicate which functions it needs to perform which require the information in question from the system. In accordance with paragraph 19 of this Cabinet Regulation, outside users may only use the system data distribution solution.

Anybody may use the publicly accessible part of the system on the internet site https://www.elieta.lv/web/. This website may be used to access, for example, the timetable of court sessions, the scheduled dates of legal proceedings concerning the subject’s case upon log-in, anonymised court decisions and the dates of other legal proceedings without information on parties to the case.

Generalised access is also available to the Register of executive files, which is designed to help judicial officers do their work. The purpose of this register to ensure the unified electronic registration, processing, storage and access of executive files, with a view to ensure the operational control of legal enforcement proceedings. The operation of the register of executive files is governed by the Law on civil procedure, the Law on judicial officers and Cabinet Regulation No 941 on the register of executive files.

It should be noted that in accordance with the above-mentioned Cabinet Regulation, the system information may be accessed by the following:

• certified judicial officers;
• certified assistant judicial officers;
• staff from a certified judicial officer's office needing access to the register to perform their professional duties;
• persons employed at the Ministry of Justice needing access to the register to perform their professional duties;
• persons employed at the Courts Administration needing access to the register to perform their professional duties;
• persons employed at the Latvian Council of judicial officers needing access to the register to perform their professional duties.

Register access rights are granted by the Courts Administration. Users of the register of executive files use the register in accordance with its intended purpose and the extent of the access rights granted.

Both natural and legal persons may secure on-line access free of charge to information from the register of executive files on enforcement cases recorded in the register in which a specific individual has the status of collector or debtor.

The Latvian cadastral information system (with a public section and an authorised section) is a unified recording system that ensures the acquisition, maintenance and use of up-to-date official textual and spatial data on items of real estate within the territory of the Republic of Latvia, their constituent cadastral objects (plots of land, buildings/structures, groups of premises, land unit parcels and their characteristic data), as well as owners, legal holders and users. This system allows the registration of immovable property that may not be registered, or which in accordance with legislation need not be registered, in the land register.

The running of the Latvian cadastral information system is regulated by the Law on the State immovable property cadastre and is curated by the Land Survey of Latvia.

Registers run by the Enterprise Register.

The Electronic insolvency supervision system is also available.

Access for persons involved in insolvency proceedings to the EMUS service, the electronic insolvency recording system.

Information on pensions, benefits and remedies can be provided by the State Social Insurance Agency (VSAA).

6 The availability of information on closed wills and wills not subject to registration

Under civil law, private wills may be deposited with a notary in accordance with the Law on notaries, or with a family court in accordance with the Law on family courts. The contents of a will may only be disclosed at the premises of the sworn notary in charge of inheritance proceedings.