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Liability of Heirs for the Deceased's Debts

Liability of Heirs for the Deceased's Debts: Joint Liability, Overindebted Deceased, and Estate Bankruptcy

The Law on Inheritance stipulates that heirs are the universal legal successors of the deceased.

Through inheritance, all the deceased's property relationships, inheritable rights, and obligations that the deceased had at the time of death pass on to the heirs. Similarly, all the deceased's debts also pass on to the heirs as of the date of death.

Exclusion of the heirs' liability is not possible. Heirs are responsible for the deceased's debts even if the deceased explicitly excluded their liability, for example, through a will.

If there are multiple heirs, they are jointly liable (undivided) for the deceased's debts, each up to the value of the inherited property, regardless of whether the division of the inheritance has already taken place or not.

However, heirs are not only liable for the deceased's debts with the inherited property but also with their own property. They are liable with their entire assets but only up to the value of the inherited property.

Only the heir who has acquired the inheritance is responsible for the debts. If the heir renounces the inheritance, they do not inherit and are not liable for the deceased's debts.

The decision to accept the inheritance (or renounce it) can largely depend on whether there are obligations or debts in the estate alongside property rights.

If the value of the estate's assets is lower than the liabilities (i.e., there are more debts than assets), the estate is overindebted, which may meet the conditions for estate bankruptcy, even after the conclusion of the probate procedure.

In such a case, it is highly likely that heirs would not accept the inheritance if they knew what they could potentially face in the estate bankruptcy proceedings.

Heirs must carefully consider whether they even want to accept such an inheritance.

For more detailed information about the liability of heirs for the deceased's debts, please refer to the articles and questions and answers below.

To schedule a consultation regarding the liability of heirs for the deceased's debts, please contact Attorney Jurij Kutnjak during business hours at +386/2/25-23-780 or send an email to info@odvetnik-kutnjak.si.

Attorney Jurij Kutnjak from Slovenia, Maribor offers comprehensive legal assistance in inheritance and handling all inheritance law issues: from drafting wills and concluding contracts with inheritance law elements (contract for life interest, contract for lifetime support, handing over contract) to representation in probate proceedings and possible litigation related to the estate or inheritance throughout Slovenia.

To schedule a consultation regarding inheritance and representation in the probate process, call attorney Jurij Kutnjak during business hours at the phone number 00 386/2/25-23-780 or send an email to info@odvetnik-kutnjak.si.

Legal Documents:

e-forms
authorization for representation
will, revocation of will, inheritance statement, renunciation of inheritance, proposal for the issuance of a European certificate of inheritance

Legislation:

 

Judicial Practice:

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