Deputies decided to oblige notaries to collect information about the debts of the deceased

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma that will allow the heirs to learn about the debts of the deceased in time. Notaries, the authors of the initiative believe, will have to request information about the obligations “hanging” on the inheritance from the Credit History Bureau when opening an inheritance case. There is a problem, lawyers say, and the intention to provide the heirs with complete information is assessed positively. The government’s opinion is not yet known.

The bill was introduced by United Russia deputies Natalya Kostenko, Ivan Demchenko and Andrey Doroshenko.

Now the Civil Code calls inheritance not only things belonging to the deceased and other property, movable and immovable, but also property rights and obligations, “including the obligation to pay debts on loans (microloans)”. But the procedure for informing heirs about debts is not defined. As a result, six months later, having entered into an inheritance, the heirs sometimes learn about the debts of the testator that have passed to them, only when they begin to receive creditors’ claims. It happens that credit debts are equal to the value of the received property or even exceed it.

So that the heirs can “timely make an economically rational decision” (to take the inheritance or refuse it), the deputies propose to oblige notaries not later than three working days after the opening of the inheritance case to send a request to the Central Catalog of Credit Histories in order to obtain information about which bureau credit histories store the history of the testator – or that he is not listed as a debtor anywhere. If debts are discovered, the notary will have to contact the bureau where the information is stored and then notify in writing about the problem of the heir, and before the time comes when the time comes to enter into the inheritance. At the same time, it is proposed to allow the exchange of information on deposits and accounts of the testator between banks and notaries in electronic form – “if there is a technical possibility.”

How relevant is the problem that the authors of the initiative are trying to solve? Sergei Makarov, adviser to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (FPA) of the Russian Federation, confirmed to MK that “the problem is very relevant.” “In the absence of a centralized collection of information about the presence or absence of a credit history of the testator, the execution of an inheritance is often complicated by insufficient information,” which affects the interests of heirs, creditors, and notaries.

“The heirs, knowing about the assets of the testator, but not knowing about his debts, accept the inheritance, and subsequently are forced to pay these debts within the value of the inheritance property.

Creditors do not know about the death of the testator, and therefore risk missing the deadline for filing claims (although, admittedly, this is unlikely). The work of notaries is complicated by the need to collect disparate information,” explains Mr. Makarov. The introduced bill, introducing a centralized collection of information by a notary and mandatory informing the heirs, in the first place, of course, protects the interests of the heirs, but in fact “solves the problems of all three of these groups,” the lawyer believes.

In a conversation with MK, the chairman of the Bankruptcy Club, lawyer Oleg Zaitsev called the initiative of the deputies “logical”. Although it’s really impossible to take more than what was inherited to pay off the debts of the deceased, but some heirs immediately begin to spend the inheritance they received, he draws attention: “they went to the Crimea, bought a car or solved some other problems of theirs – and then it suddenly turns out that the money must be paid.

The proposals of the deputies offer a “point solution” and a “quite a working scheme”, but the reform of the inheritance system could globally improve the situation, Mr. Zaitsev believes: its essence should be that the heir should receive the inheritance already cleared of debts according to a special procedure, when the manager of the estate is appointed, he calls all the creditors, satisfies their requirements after studying the case, and gives the rest to the heir.

“This is, alas, a rare case when the legislator took into account the problems that arise in practice,” Olga Vlasova, FPA adviser, told MK. Now, she explains, the heir enters into the inheritance “virtually blindly”, according to the law, you can either accept everything or nothing, and sometimes, having spent money on the registration procedure (by paying a notary, paying a tax if we are talking about an heir not of the first stage, collecting supporting documents ), he suddenly discovers that “everything was meaningless.”

Distant relatives of the deceased often find themselves in such situations. In addition, we have a total statute of limitations for loans for three years, and it may turn out that after entering into an inheritance in a couple of years, the heir suddenly faces the need to pay, but if you know about the debts of the deceased in advance, you can refuse a toxic inheritance …

The relevant Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation has not yet considered the bill. But its head, Pavel Krasheninnikov (ER), in a conversation with MK, called his very idea “civilized” and “good.” “I’m not sure that it is possible to get a response within three days, and not all debts are recorded in the Credit Bureau, but the committee will study all the details and look for ways to improve the procedure,” he said.

“I have always said and continue to say that inheritance is not only an asset, but also a liability. Unfortunately, people don’t know much about it. But a person does not become an heir automatically, he must accept the inheritance, that is, express his will, conclude a kind of deal.

And you need to understand all the possible consequences of this transaction, to know what debts are also included in the inheritance,” Mr. Krasheninnikov said. “Especially since the mortgage on an apartment is an increasingly common phenomenon,” he added.