Estate liability

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Under a rebate liability is understood in German law of succession , the liabilities for which the heir to the estate creditors shall be liable ( § 1967 para. 1 BGB ).

Estate liabilities can be:

Limitation of liability for inheritances

If the over-indebtedness is established, the heir can apply to the probate court for bankruptcy . If this is opened, the heir's liability is limited to the value of the estate. If the opening is refused (mostly due to lack of assets), the heir is entitled to the so-called indifference plea , which must be substantiated with the decision not to open. The costs of unopened bankruptcy proceedings are hardly higher than those of a succession .

If the over-indebtedness has not been established because the heir does not know how much inheritance there is, the alternative to inheritance insolvency is to apply for an estate administration . The effect is the same as with estate bankruptcy.

If the over-indebtedness has not been established because the heir is not aware of the debts , a list of creditors is the application of choice. This has the effect that all creditors who do not report by the call date can only access the estate and there only what remains after the other creditors have been satisfied. This means security for the heir after the appointment date. Either it is then known that the estate is over-indebted , in which case bankruptcy would be recommended. Or the estate is not over-indebted due to the fixed debts, then the heir is on the safe side because of the effect of the exclusionary judgment.

The advice that is sometimes given to set up an inventory of the estate has little positive effect other than costs, because it does not limit liability. The inventory is only to be set up if a creditor requests it. In this case, however, the heir is obliged to do so, because otherwise he loses any possibility of limitation of liability. As long as such an application has not been submitted, the inventory is only important if the heir fears that he will no longer be able to prove later that an item belongs to the estate and not to the heir's own property.

From the outset, the heir is only liable for certain debts with the value of the estate, e.g. B. for social assistance ( Section 102 (2) SGB ​​XII ) or the costs of previous care for the deceased (Section 1836e BGB).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. BGH, judgment of January 31, 1990 - Az .: IV ZR 326/88 Rz. 12