Inheritance benefit means the privilege or advantage that an heir may enjoy upon receiving an inheritance, without being liable for the debts or obligations of the limited succession, to the extent of the value of the inheritance that he inherits. The heir who accepts the benefit of the succession is liable for the debts of the inheritance only for the value of its effects.
It is a right of the legal or testamentary beneficiaries to demand an inventory of the administrator’s assets.
This benefit cannot be prohibited by the testator; It is also mandatory that the fiduciary heirs accept the benefit of the succession. An heir, until he has made an act of heir, retains the right to accept the inheritance with the benefit of succession.
You may lose the benefit of listing the person you omit in bad faith by failing to list any part of the property. The one who accepts with the benefit of the succession is responsible not only for the goods that he receives, but also for those that are later accumulated in the inheritance, in the same way that he will be responsible for all the credits as if he had actually collected them. .
On the other hand, some countries establish in their laws that the beneficiary heir can be exempted from any obligation by delivering the assets of the succession to the creditors; Once the creditors have been paid, the judge must, at the request of the heir, summon through public notices the hereditary creditors who have not been covered.
For example, a person can inherit two cars and a house. But if he was buying everything on credit and for a short period of time, mortgages and loans also become the responsibility of the heir. Considering that the buildings lost value in the crisis as well as the vehicles, he can incur a debt of more value than he inherits.
Unless there is a special sentimental value for what is inherited, in these cases it is better to renounce the inheritance directly. But the best option is resignation.
However, what happens if the debt is less than the value of the assets to be inherited? In this situation it is positive to accept the inheritance, knowing that the debts, once contracted, are valid for the heir as if they were his. And a lot of people can’t handle it.
For these cases, there is a little known but ideal solution for a situation like this: inheritance for the benefit of shares.
