LAWYER IS RESPONSIBLE — INHERITANCE

We have gathered some of the most common questions that the parties face in hereditary proceedings. If you have any further questions, you can always contact us – contact details are provided below.

 

Is it possible to inherit debts? 

The answer is yes, the heir inherits, in addition to the rights, the obligation (debts), but not unlimited. The liability of the heir for the debts of the deceased is limited to the value of the inherited property. It is important to point out, however, that the heir is liable not only with the inherited property, but also with his own assets. It is therefore a restriction on value and not by type of property. To illustrate the example: The deceased left a property worth EUR 55 000 and EUR 50 000 in debt. The heir to the deceased is only his son. My son has decided to accept the inheritance. The son will thus be held accountable for the EUR 50 000 debt, but this liability is not limited to the inherited property, but to all the assets of the heir (up to a value of EUR 50 000). The son of a deceased could find himself in trouble if the property he inherited was not sold. The inheriting lawyer will be able to advise you in such situations.

The heir is thus liable for the debts of the deceased. These are debts arising from the deceased himself, irrespective of the legal basis of creation – e.g. tax liabilities, social security obligations, liabilities arising from the deceased’s legal and non-business relationships, and so on. In addition, the heir is also liable for the debts of the estate. These are obligations arising only after death – e.g. the cost of the deceased’s funeral, the costs of the inventory and the valuation of the estate, but not the costs of the probate proceedings and the costs of the inheritance litigation (these costs are borne by the parties in the light of the success of the litigation).

If he inherits only one heir, he will be responsible for the debts of the deceased, of course up to the amount of the inherited property. However, if there are more than one heir, they are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the deceased, each up to the value of their share of succession. The creditor will thus be able to re-insoud any heir, but only up to the amount of his inheritance share. As has already been said, before the probate procedure itself, it is advisable for the client to meet with a lawyer for hereditary law (who has effective experience in this legal field) who will be able to explain his rights and any obligations to him.

 

The deceased had a lifetime/lifetime contract signed. Will I still be able to inherit?

In the case of a lifetime contract, the parties agree that one party will support and care for the other for the rest of his life, which in turn will give him certain assets which he or she belongs to at the time of the conclusion of the contract. The extradition of the property is deferred until the smti of the estate. That property, which is the subject of a lifetimelithi deal, does not fall within the estate of the contractor who disposed of those assets. Therefore, this property will not be the subject of inheritance, but the heirs will be able to inherit the rest of the deceased’s assets. A delicate situation can arise if the necessary heirs are deprived in their necessary share.

In practice, however, it is often the case that a lifetime contract/over-the-deal contract is in fact a covert gift contract. In such a case, the contract may be contested and, if the contest is successful, the parties may claim their essential heised shares (a lifetime contract is considered a gift contract – in the event that the necessary inheritance is deprived, half of the legal share must be returned to the estate). The lawyer for the succession will be able to explain to the client when the lifetime agreement/over-the-life contract does not reflect the true will of the parties.

The field of succession law in the Republic of Slovenia is governed primarily by the Law on Succession.

 

My mother gave her sister a property over the course of her life. Is this gift taken into account in the inheritance?

Yes, this gift will be taken into account, as our legislation knows the institution of the calculation of gifts and votes in the hereditary share. This means that those co-heirs who received gifts from the deceased during their lifetime will get so much less from the estate than the value of the gift. Thus, equal treatment of the rightful heirs is obtained in respect of everything they have obtained free of charge from the deceased, either for the duration of their lives or in the title of inheritance. It should be noted that the calculation itself is applicable to the rightful heirs (and the necessary heirs, who are also the rightful heirs), and only if the testamentor expressly provided for this in the will.

The method of taking into account the gift when counting is that the rightful heir who received the gift can choose to return that gift either in kind to the estate or to have the value computed. We always recommend that clients meet with a law-a-court lawyer before a probate hearing, who will be able to explain her rights and obligations.

 

The deceased with a will and gifts deprived me of my emergency share. What can I do?

The law defines persons from the circle of rightful heirs who are already legally entitled to part of the estate, regardless of the will of the deceased. If the deceased has disposed of such property, either by gift or will, the disadvantaged heirs may, after the deceased’s death, request that those dispositions be annulled. The disadvantage of the heir of urgency shall be eliminated by first reducing or eliminating altogether the dispositions made by the deceased by the will. If the deficit cannot be covered in this way, it also intervenes in the gifts given (i.e. the return of gifts). If gifts are to be returned, they return in reverse order as they were given: first, the gift closest to the time of death is returned, then the following, and so on.

An urgent heir who has been deprived must claim (assert in the probate proceedings) in order to reduce the repo of disposition or return the gifts – the court will not take this of its own motion. It is a good thing that such an indable claim is made by a lawyer on his behalf. The necessary share of hereditary proportions is half legal.

A lawyer for hereditary law must also know well other areas of law, notably law and litigation.

 

When my parents were alive, I invested in their property. Is this taken into account in the succession?

A descendant who has lived with a deceased person and has assisted him in obtaining property through his work, earnings or otherwise in obtaining property shall have the right to require that a part corresponding to his contribution to the increase or preservation of the value of the deceased’s assets be excluded from the deceased’s property. Thus, the descendants have the right to claim the exclusion of the deceased’s assets corresponding to their contribution, but they do not have the right to the monetary equivalent of the contribution. Exceptionally, a monetary consideration may also be fixed if the elimination of part of the property would be economically unsmoeting in nature. The assets excluded by the beneficiaries are in fact their assets, even though they formally belonged to the deceased. Thus, that property does not become part of the estate and is not included in the shareholding and is not taken into account in the calculation of the necessary holding.

The descendant must make an exclusion claim already in the probate process. If he didn’t do so, he can claim expulsion later in the lawsuit. It is recommended that such a request be made by a lawyer for the succession.

 

For many years, the law firm Križanec has represented clients in succession proceedings.  For more information, you can contact us via email: info@odvetnik-krizanec.si or call us on + 386 41 534 931.

You can also read more about hereditary law at the following link: HEREDITARY LAW