A debt of 40 million rubles was collected from a resident of Kemerovo after the death of her husband. As her son said, most of the debt was written off at the expense of property, and she had to file bankruptcy for the rest. However, for the past six years, the Kemerovo woman has been periodically arrested for accounts - the last time she was withdrawn to pay off an already non-existent debt, half a million rubles set aside for the operation. Bankruptcy experts explained how an inheritance can become a burden and what to do in this case.

Debts of 40 million

After the death of close relatives, there is a risk that debts and loans will become a problem for the family - they are transferred as inheritance. After the death of his father, Denis Shalyuta, a blogger from Kemerovo, got into such a situation with his mother.

“My father ran the business around 2010. In 2012, he died, and then there was no concept of debt insurance, and my mother, of course, acted as a co-borrower. After the death of her father, my mother could not do business, because she had a baby in her arms. Accordingly, the business went bankrupt, ”he said.

As a result, the woman ended up with a debt of almost 40 million rubles - 90% of which was interest. The main debt was written off against the sale of property: the base, building materials, equipment that remained from the business. But the woman could not repay the rest of the debt due to lack of funds.

Then it was decided to declare itself bankrupt. In 2016, the Kemerovo resident went through bankruptcy proceedings, proving that she had no intention not to return the money taken from the bank, and all her debts were subsequently written off. Despite this, for the past six years, bailiffs continue to periodically seize her accounts.

“Despite the fact that my mother went through the bankruptcy procedure back in 2016, she calmly moved around Russia, traveled abroad and now lives in another country for permanent residence.

At the same time, she regularly visits her homeland. In one of these cases, her account was blocked again: the number minus 41 million appeared in the online bank - this is the bankruptcy code of the bank, ”said Shalyuta.

According to the blogger, at that time, the mother had about half a million rubles in her account, which she set aside for the operation.

“At first I thought it was bailiffs, because periodically over the past year, accounts were blocked - I go to them and bring documents. Three months ago I visited them for the last time. Periodically, some collectors call, but they simply buy this debt from bank. It’s just that they don’t update the information, ”the blogger clarified.

However, it turned out that the bailiffs had nothing to do with it. There was a failure in the bank, and the woman’s account, which at that time had about 552 thousand rubles, was seized.

“The bank said it was a massive mistake. At the moment, the blockages from all accounts seem to have been removed, but the money has not been returned to the balance, and half a million rubles are hanging somewhere in the air. We will go to court if the bank does not return the money in its normal form. Let's file a lawsuit and win it, because the case is simple, ”concluded Shalyuta.

Debts are inherited

It happens that the testator dies without paying a loan, which then passes to the heir together with the testator's property. The law does not provide for the ability to choose what to accept as an inheritance, and what to refuse. You can get property and debts, or completely refuse to accept the inheritance, explained Maxim Morozov, managing partner of the KMK law firm.

“When accepting an inheritance, the heir must take into account that he is liable for the debts of the testator within the value of the inherited property transferred to him, except in cases of joint and several liability of the heirs,” he stressed.

So, Morozov cited the following situation as an example: an apartment worth 1 million rubles was inherited, and debts amount to two million. In this case, the heir is obliged to cover the debt only in the amount of one million rubles. In part of another one million debt, the obligations are terminated by the impossibility of performance.

It is important to pay attention to the timing of the return of the debt, that is, if the claim has already expired, then the creditor does not have the right to present it. Vladimir Kuznetsov, Vice-President of the Association of Lawyers for Registration, Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Legal Representation, in turn, cited the following case as an example: a man signed a loan agreement, under which he undertook to repay the loan amount in two installments - February 15 and April 15, 2021 of the year.

The debtor died on January 8, 2021. The limitation period for this claim is general - three years after the expiration of the period when the debtor had to fulfill the obligation. “Thus, a claim for repayment of the debt for each of the payments can be made by the creditor: for the first payment - in the period from February 16, 2021 to February 15, 2024 inclusive; for the second payment - from April 16, 2021 to April 15, 2024 inclusive," the expert explained.

“I am obliged to declare myself bankrupt”

Therefore, before accepting an inheritance, you need to make sure that the debts do not exceed the value of this property. And then it is already up to you to decide whether it is worth accepting property as an inheritance with debts, the experts advised.

“If you find out that enforcement proceedings have been initiated against you, including for the debts of the testator, you need to find out from the bailiff the case number, the details of the judicial act, which are indicated in the writ of execution. Then go to court and appeal this decision or order. You also have the right to apply for a suspension of the execution of a judicial act in connection with such an appeal,” Morozov said.

If claims were received from the creditors of the deceased relative before the acceptance of the inheritance, then we can safely answer that for the time being you do not owe them anything, Kuznetsov specified.

However, it is important to understand that after the inheritance is accepted, it will not be possible to relieve oneself of responsibility for paying the debt. Unless creditors miss the statute of limitations for going to court with a claim for debt collection - three years from the date of default by the original debtor, that is, the deceased, the lawyer explained.

“If, nevertheless, the heirs accepted the inheritance property, and with it the debts, and the creditors did not miss the limitation period, then the debts will have to be paid, but within the value of the property received. In this case, it is worth negotiating with creditors and agreeing on an installment plan or the removal of penalties. If the property is not enough to pay off debts, then the citizen is obliged to apply to the court to declare himself insolvent (bankrupt) with a debt amount of more than 500 thousand rubles, ”concluded Kuznetsov.

bbabo.Net