In the photo: a sign on the building of the Supreme Court. (Photo: Sergey Bobylev/TASS/Archive)
A mother and daughter from Rostov-on-Don inherited from the deceased head of the family, in fact, only loans. But we live in a social state, not in the dark era of Dickens and Dostoevsky! A family tragedy should not be aggravated by a “debt pit” these days.
Again, the evil collectors were cut off a couple of years ago, there were only civilized bailiffs who must act strictly within the law. But the “wolf’s grin”, as it turned out, has not gone away and children, as the most vulnerable, are still under threat.
The exact amount of the debts of the deceased Rostov resident is unknown, but it exceeded half the value of his apartment, which automatically passed to his heiresses. There, the grief-stricken mother and daughter stayed to live. Moreover, the second half of the housing belongs to the wife, now a widow. And then she suddenly gave up her share of the inheritance. And then, with the consent of the guardianship authority, she refused her daughter’s share. No other way, “smart people” advised.
So half of the apartment was transferred as “extortionate property” of the city administration — and they did without any collectors. And soon Sberbank filed a lawsuit, for some reason, against the girl, to collect the debt on her father’s credit card. As it turned out, this is more than half a million rubles.
The court immediately satisfied this claim, considering that since the child continues to live in the apartment, it means that he has accepted the inheritance and must “answer for debts.”
Although the law says that all transactions with the property of minors are made for their benefit. The court of first instance did not take into account that it was not in the interests of the child to accept the inheritance — because of the testator’s multiple debt obligations to creditors, the court said in its ruling.
And mom and daughter would have been on the street if the Supreme Court had not overturned the previous court decision and sent the case for review. For entering into the inheritance did not correspond to the interests of a minor.
Lawyer Dmitry Agranovsky recalls that unfortunately, the judicial system, as a mechanism, works very slowly:
— Plus, suing is a difficult matter in itself. Few people can get to the Supreme Court, especially if a person is strapped for money.
In turn, banks usually have a professional legal service. Therefore, it is very difficult for a debtor, including a minor, to protect their rights.
Even in this case, the case is far from over, because the Supreme Court did not make a final decision, but sent the case for a new appeal. The decision of the appeal can be appealed again, including by the bank.
Another thing is that the appeal will be obliged to take into account the conclusions of the Supreme Court, so that the family’s chances of a favorable outcome have increased, although they still do not amount to 100%. Nevertheless, let’s hope that the solution The Supreme Court will become a precedent for the present case and for other similar cases.
Vladimir Kuznetsov, Vice-president of the Association of Lawyers for Registration, Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Judicial Representation, chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Mediators, deputy head of the Federal Mediation Center, clarifies that in this case it was not so much the issue of inheritance by a minor of the testator’s debts that was raised, as the issue of actual inheritance of real estate and related entry into the testator’s debts:
— In this dispute, the lower courts linked the will of the child’s parent and the minor himself, placing the testator’s debts on the latter in violation of the interests of the minor, since special regulation applies to him.
It is impossible to call such a story typical, since for the formation of such a dispute it is necessary that certain circumstances arise: the testator has debts, real estate and heirs in the form of a spouse and a minor child, as well as certain actions on the part of the spouse. However, such circumstances may well arise.
In order for the minor heir not to be charged with the debts of the testator, it is necessary to declare on his behalf the refusal of the inheritance, with the approval of such a refusal by the guardianship authorities. In the event of a legal dispute, as in this case, it is necessary to refer to the legal position presented by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The question of how not to inherit debts is quite complicated, because in the conditions of modern legal regulation, one refusal of inheritance may not be enough, because the creditor can initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the estate or the heir himself, and challenge such a refusal…
The manager, the founder of the Legal Group, Semyon Nikolaev, believes that this story represents one of the possible scenarios of inheritance law in Russia, where minors can transfer not only property, but also the debts of the testator:
— Although this situation is not everyday, it is quite typical in legal practice. In such cases, various legal conflicts may arise, partial and actual acceptance of the inheritance.
For example, if the heir lives in an inherited apartment, this may be interpreted as the actual acceptance of the inheritance, even if he legally renounced his share in the inheritance.
The courts must balance the protection of the interests of a minor and the rights of creditors to repay debts. Guardianship and guardianship authorities should protect the interests of minors, but sometimes their decisions may be erroneous or insufficiently motivated.
Giving up an inheritance if it is burdened with debts is a key strategy to avoid inheriting them.
Here are some steps and recommendations for this process: submit an application for renunciation of inheritance to the notary office at the place of opening the inheritance. But before accepting or renouncing an inheritance, carefully study what exactly is included in the inheritance mass: property, money, shares, debts. Ask the notary for a list of the testator’s debt obligations. Get full information about his debts from creditors.
Obtain the consent of the guardianship and guardianship authority to renounce the inheritance on behalf of the minor. This will protect the interests of the child and formally formalize the rejection of the inheritance, which includes debts.
Avoid partial or actual acceptance of the inheritance. Do not use or dispose of the testator’s property before the official acceptance or rejection of the inheritance. Do not pay the testator’s debts until the moment of official refusal.
Keep in mind that in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, after accepting the inheritance, the heir is responsible for the debts of the testator within the value of the inherited property. This means that even if the debts exceed the value of the inherited property, creditors can only claim an amount not exceeding the value of the property.
It is important to act in a timely manner and properly process documents, as well as attract qualified specialists to ensure maximum protection of your rights and interests.
It is also worth remembering that the Federal Bankruptcy Law provides for the bankruptcy procedure of a deceased person, where his heirs are the applicants in court. In our practice, there are several similar cases where we managed to free the heir from the debts of the deceased debtor and leave him with the only inherited housing.
Currently, the number of such requests is multiplying. To a greater extent, this is due to the fact that family members do not always know about each other’s credit obligations, try to keep it secret, and find out about existing debts after receiving a bailiff’s order to seize property and funds.
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