Debtor’s inheritance: some aspects of notarial actions on creditor’s appeals

Abstract

The article investigates the issues and aspects of registration of inheritance after the death of the debtor, reviews the theoretical aspects of notary measures to protect inherited property at the request of the creditor, analyzes the position of Russian civilists and modern judicial practice, and discusses the regulation of registering the inherited rights. Before the revolution, regulations focused on safeguarding goods and property that belonged to the deceased’s business, allowing creditors to appeal. The creditors’ interests did not prevail over the heirs’ interests, and an inventory of the deceased’s entire estate was not made just because a creditor applied for its protection. A growing number of questions regarding the application of legal norms in the area of measures to protect inherited property arise when there are not only claims to the testator’s estate from creditors but also conflicts between the testator’s spouse and other heirs. These issues are brought up by the development of the institution of individual bankruptcy and the increasing number of applications for recognizing the deceased as bankrupt. Currently, there is no clear regulation of the procedure for inventorying property at the request of a creditor. This includes situations where the creditor is not aware of the true nature of the property, and the heirs are preventing access to information about it and taking steps to safeguard the inheritance, such as creating an inventory of inherited property.