When considering cases on the liability of heirs for the debts of the testator, it is important to determine the value of the inherited property transferred to the heir.
Promextek LLC sold a car to Alexey Bogdanov for 10 thousand rubles a year and a half before bankruptcy. As part of the bankruptcy, the transaction was declared invalid. At the same time, the court of first instance, with which the district court agreed, recovered 350 thousand rubles from Andrei Bogdanov, the son of Alexei Bogdanov, who had died by that time, the average market value of the car, the location of which is unknown. Bogdanov complained to the Supreme Court, stating that the inheritance had not been discovered at the moment and that the money had actually been recovered from his personal funds. The Economic Board overturned the decision of the appeal in full, as well as the acts of the courts of first and cassation instances regarding the application of the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction. The dispute regarding the application of the consequences of the invalidity of the contested transaction has been sent for reconsideration to the court of first instance (case A41–70924/2020).
Elena Myakisheva, Attorney at Law of the Yakovlev and Partners Law Group, considers the position of the Supreme Court to be logical and fully based on the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Elena Myakisheva: "The question arises why such cases reach the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The limitation of liability of heirs is directly stipulated in Article 1175 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and paragraph 61 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 05/29/2012 No. 9, which stipulates that the value of the property transferred to the heirs, beyond which their liability for the debts of the testator is limited, is determined by its market value at the time of the opening of the inheritance. Paragraph 63 of this resolution provides that when considering cases of recovery of the testator's debts, the court may resolve the issues of recognizing the heirs as having accepted the inheritance, determining the composition of the inherited property and its value, within which the testator's debts passed to the heirs, collecting the amount of debt from the heirs within the value of the inherited property transferred to each of them, etc."
According to Elena Myakisheva, there are different situations in practice:
The courts do not take actions to determine the market value of the inherited property and recover from the heir the entire amount that would be recoverable from the testator (sometimes this is due to the fact that the heir does not object to the value of the inherited property (Resolution 2AAC of 07/06/2020 in case A82-18135/2017)).
The courts determine the market value of the inherited property and recover funds from the heir within this amount. Since the testator's debts are understood to mean all the obligations he had at the time of the opening of the inheritance, it is advisable for the heirs to provide information not only about the inherited property, but also about the obligations of the testator that they had already fulfilled by that time (decision of the Irkutsk Region Court of 07.12.2016 in case A19-12687/2015).
The courts do not determine the market value of the property, but indicate in the operative part of the judicial act that the funds are subject to recovery within the value of the inherited property transferred to each of them (Resolution 12AAC of 06/20/2019 in case A12-11822/10).
"Thus, the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will not significantly change judicial practice, but it will once again remind lower courts of the limited liability of heirs," said Elena Myakisheva.
Link to the full plot and the decision of the Supreme Court: https://probankrotstvo.ru/news/vs-otkazalsia-vzyskivat-s-naslednika-dolznika-srednerynocnuiu-stoimos...