Responsibility of heirs for the debtor's debts: article of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with comments

Many people think that being an heir is a profitable business. You can get an apartment, a car or some other property. But they at the same time forget that in addition to profits, the responsibility of the heirs for the debtor's debts may come. This means that a rich relative can not only leave the villa, yacht and sports car, but also multi-million debts for loans, housing and communal services.

The answer in court: "I did not know anything" is unlikely to be of interest to anyone later. We will try to prepare for the situation when the relative left behind him not the long-awaited millions of dollars, but huge debts, because the responsibility of the heirs for the debtor's debts is spelled out in the legislation. More on this further.

Responsibility of heirs for the debtor's debts: Roman law

The historical roots of the tradition inherit not only property and means, but also various obligations go back to Roman law. It was there that the procedure for transferring rights and duties of a private-law nature after the deceased to other relatives was regulated. As for natural law, it only meant providing the parents with their children. That is, according to him, no debts and duties should not be transferred, but only certain property.

But in Ancient Rome, this state of affairs did not form immediately. The property of the deceased remained for a long time in the "family", "surname", in modern interpretation it means that among all relatives, and his duties ceased.

The law of Justinian changed this right, and for the first time the heirs inherited responsibility for the debtor's debts, as well as his responsibilities. Of course, the functions of the personal nature of her husband, her father, no one forced to perform. However, duties of a public nature, for example, guardianship and trusteeship, passed to heirs. If they did not know anything about the debts and various obligations of the deceased relative, this did not free them from the coming legal position. Many norms of Roman law exist and now in our legislation.

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Article 1175: responsibility of heirs for the debtor's debts

The modern Civil Code presupposes the transition to a new owner not only of property, but also of various debt obligations of a property nature. This assumes Art. 1175 "Responsibility of heirs for the debts of the testator". But in this legal norm there is one feature - it does not have a clear definition of duty. For a better understanding, we will have to get acquainted with other articles of the Civil Code, but we will try to make out the main nuances.

When does "happiness" come about paying someone else's debts?

"Happiness" to pay other people's financial obligations comes immediately at the time of entering into the inheritance. Of course, a citizen may not know anything about the deceased's debts, but in case of the official adoption of a new legal provision, "ignorance of the law does not absolve from responsibility." This means that he agreed to an apartment - be kind, pay for the obligations of the former owner. And there can be several of them:

• Loans and borrowings in credit and financial institutions.
• Obligations on payments of rent.
• Debts for utility bills and housing and communal services.

Duties of a personal nature

Of course, personal obligations cease from the moment of death of a citizen. That is, the heir is not obliged to continue to pay alimony to minor children of the deceased, as it was in ancient Rome.

However, if you accumulated debts on child support for previous years, they will have to pay to the assignee.

In addition to them, various kinds of compensation for moral or material harm can be attributed to personal payments. For example, a certain citizen caused bodily injuries to another. The court awarded him moral compensation to the victim, but he died. In this case, there is no responsibility of the heirs to the debts of the testator. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation refers to such a case as a duty of a personal nature.

How to split the debt?

The limits of the heirs' liability to the debtor's debts are provided depending on the share that the successor will receive. For example, a certain citizen left the apartment. The relatives who divided it into equal shares, turned out to be four. Consequently, all debts of the property nature of the deceased must be divided into 4 parts by the number of successors.

What if the debt was "hanged" on one?

Often there are cases when "the orange was divided" by several relatives, and the court awarded a bank loan to one. Many ask the question: is it legal? In fact, yes. Despite the fact that all heirs are responsible for the debtor's debts, banks and various organizations sometimes sue one successor.

The difficulty is that in the majority of cases such "court hearings" are not suspected of such trials. They learn about them only when bailiffs' services initiate executive proceedings, which legitimately withdraw from bank accounts the amount awarded.

It is useless to sue the bank to return money, because, from the legal point of view, all procedures have been followed. The arguments that "I did not know about the court", "they did not warn me", they will not return the money. Of course, you can try to cancel the court decision, but the return of funds will be much more difficult.

In this case, there comes the so-called right of recourse - the heir who paid unilaterally all the debt of the deceased, or the amount that is greater than its share, has the right to demand extra money paid through the court from the remaining successors.

If the heir died before he entered into the inheritance

What should I do if the assignee died before the legal adoption of the legal status? Who in this case will bear the burden of paying bills? It turns out that in this case, there is no responsibility of the heirs for the debts of the testator, as well as for the property.

Let's give an example: a citizen A enters into the inheritance left by citizen B, but he himself dies before the official recognition of the new legal position. In this case, the children and relatives of A will not bear the unfulfilled financial obligations B, since And officially did not manage to take the inheritance. But relatives will not get A's property either.

Terms of the requirements

Banks very often until the last moment postpone appeals to the court for new successors. It is understandable: the longer the delay, the more you can judge from unsuspecting heirs. But we must not forget about the deadlines for the requirements, that is, we mean the statute of limitations.

Currently, any credit organizations and companies must file claims within 3 years, according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. However, the day on which the period begins begins not from the end of the expiration of the debt obligations, as in ordinary civil cases, but from the death of the testator. If within three years the bank has not demanded a debt, then after that it goes to its own losses. Demand after this time no longer has the right.

If the debt is more than an inheritance

Some are interested in the question of what is the responsibility of the heir for the debtor's debts, if the amount of obligations is greater than the received property. In this case, the assignee will not have to pay for them, since by law it can not exceed the value of the inheritance.

Role of the notary

The notary has the duty to preserve the inherited property. After the death of a person, the creditors have the right within 6 months (during this time the issue of the inheritance is decided), submit to him a statement on the requirements of the debt.

The notary has no right to satisfy their demands and alienate the property of the deceased debtor in their favor. His powers include only registering the application of creditors and notifying potential assignees.

But, as a rule, many banks do not enjoy this right, but sue the heirs after they have accepted all the rights to "not scare off" future debtors, from which it will be possible to demand the amounts in court. Otherwise, these debts will go to the losses of credit institutions.

What it is necessary to know the future heir

Entering into hereditary rights, remember:

• Ignorance of debts and various financial obligations does not exempt from liability of payment. The law stipulates that the future successor is obliged to learn independently about them within a 6-month period.
• Together with the property the debts of the deceased are transferred.
• The renunciation of the inheritance completely exempts all the debts of the testator.
• The term of the requirements of financial obligations is limited to three years. It begins immediately after the death of the testator. After this time, no one has the right to demand an obligation, they go to the losses of enterprises.
• All heirs bear jointly and severally a share of responsibility to the debts of the deceased in proportion to the share of the inheritance.
• If the property turned out to be less than financial obligations, then the law provides for refusal to pay them. In other words, you can not get only debts.

We hope that the article will be useful, because it is not known what tomorrow can expect us. As they say, who is forewarned is armed.