As a general rule, relatives should not pay a loan instead of the deceased in the absence of any connection with the relevant legal relationship. But in the case of accepting the inheritance or a certain share of it, such a duty can be assigned to relatives.
The death of a citizen does not entail the termination of his obligations under most contracts. An exception is made by the current legislation only for those obligations, the performance of which is inextricably linked with the personalities of the creditor, the debtor. Credit agreements do not apply to this type of obligation, therefore, in the event of the death of the debtor, the obligation remains in effect. But in the absence of a direct connection with the relevant loan agreement (for example, participation in it as a surety), the relative of the deceased debtor will not have to pay off any debts. A more complicated situation arises when a relative accepts any property as an inheritance.
When is the obligation to repay the loan assigned to relatives?
The only case in which a relative may be obliged to pay off the debts of a deceased borrower is the acceptance of the inheritance. This situation is regulated by Article 1175 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. If the inherited property is transferred to the relatives of the deceased by law or by will, then debts are also accepted without fail. At the same time, domestic legislation does not make it possible to accept part of the inheritance, therefore, consent to accept any property after the testator will entail the possibility of presenting claims against the heir for the obligations of the debtor.
What should relatives who have accepted the inheritance know?
It should be borne in mind that the acceptance of the inheritance is an exclusively voluntary act, the need for which is determined by each heir independently. If a relative does not inherit, and there are no other heirs, then the property after the expiration of the period established by law becomes the property of the state, and obligations to creditors can be satisfied upon its implementation. A similar rule applies when accepting an inheritance, that is, a relative who has inherited can be held liable only within the value of the property received. If there are several heirs, then the debt may be obliged to pay off only within the value of the received share. The main problem, which can be difficult to solve before the expiration of the inheritance acceptance period, is the identification of the existing obligations of the testator, their size, and the names of creditors.
