Lawyers and real estate experts helped an heir reduce the amount of debt inherited.
For a representative in such cases, it is important to shift the focus of the client and the court to circumstances that will truly help reduce liability in court.
A citizen, the heir of a deceased person, contacted us on the recommendation of a regular client, requesting that we represent him in court regarding a claim by Sberbank to recover a debt under a loan agreement entered into by the deceased during his lifetime. Initially, the case seemed hopeless since claims under loan agreements are almost always fully satisfied. The case materials confirmed the fact of the opening of the credit line and the non-repayment of the funds. However, after conducting a detailed analysis of the situation, we identified some interesting circumstances.
The client inherited an apartment in a remote area, with a cadastral value of just under 1 million rubles. Together with the client, we concluded that the market value of the apartment was actually much lower. According to Article 1175 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, heirs are liable for the debts of the deceased only within the limits of the value of the inherited property. The valuation of the property must be conducted as of the date of the opening of the inheritance (the death of the deceased), which at that point had been more than a year ago. The appraisal company determined the market value to be 520 thousand rubles. The court accepted our valuation and partially satisfied the claim: within the value of the apartment, according to the appraisal report. Thus, the client's benefit was estimated at more than 300 thousand rubles.
We would like to add that defendants in such cases often choose an incorrect position in court, which puts them at a disadvantage. For example, our client believed that the claim should not be satisfied at all, as no notification of the debt from the creditor bank had been received by the heirs or the notary before the inheritance was accepted. From the layman's perspective, it seems that if the bank did not send a notification to either the heirs or the notary during the acceptance period, then there is no interest in the repayment of the funds. However, courts harshly reject such arguments, referring to Paragraph 58 of Resolution No. 9 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 29, 2012, which states that heirs are liable for the debts of the deceased regardless of their awareness of them when accepting the inheritance.
We would like to add that defendants in such cases often choose an incorrect position in court, which puts them at a disadvantage. For example, our client believed that the claim should not be satisfied at all, as no notification of the debt from the creditor bank had been received by the heirs or the notary before the inheritance was accepted. From the layman's perspective, it seems that if the bank did not send a notification to either the heirs or the notary during the acceptance period, then there is no interest in the repayment of the funds. However, courts harshly reject such arguments, referring to Paragraph 58 of Resolution No. 9 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 29, 2012, which states that heirs are liable for the debts of the deceased regardless of their awareness of them when accepting the inheritance.