What happens to the debts of a deceased person

When a close relative dies, all of us who lived around us are assaulted by doubts about whether we are beneficiaries of that person's inheritance or not. Once we know the result, it's time to manage another important part. What happens to the deceased's debts ? What if the amount of debt exceeds that of the estate? Do we have to be forced to take care of these debts? In .com we explain what happens with the debts of a deceased person, and what possibilities exist to manage them once the time has come.

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In principle, the debts that the deceased owns and that appear in their patrimony at the moment of death, must be paid or maintained . They do not have to be explicitly paid by the heirs in all cases, but the creditors have priority in any of the circumstances. As we decide to accept or reject the inheritance, we will proceed to manage the debts in one way or another.

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One option we have is to renounce the inheritance : this decision is irrevocable, and we must accept or reject the inheritance in its entirety, we can not choose what part of the inheritance we want to have. In the event that we renounce the inheritance, we would follow a judicial process by which the patrimony of the deceased would be distributed among its creditors to settle the debts. If the debts were less than the patrimony, this would be distributed among the rest of the heirs.

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The other option is to accept the inheritance : In this case, we accept to inherit the totality of the part that corresponds to us of the inheritance, both with their assets and patrimony as well as with their debts, taking charge of them. The acceptance of an inheritance can be done expressly, is measured by a notarial or tacit writing, ie those goods that are understood that are accepted (jewelry, a car, etc.). Normally we will decide to accept the inheritance without major complications if we have the certainty that the debts do not exceed the patrimony.

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Finally we have another option, to accept the inheritance for the benefit of inventory : in this way, the debts will be paid with the limit of the inherited heritage, not of our own patrimony. It is the most recommended option in case the debts of the deceased exceed their assets. In this way the estate of the deceased and the heir will be maintained separately, without becoming unified, and creditors can not ask the heirs for responsibility for these debts.