Ukrainians Can Inherit Debts of Deceased Relatives: What You Need to Know.

Ukrainians can inherit the financial obligations of deceased relatives. Avoiding someone else's debts is not possible, as the requirements are established by law. However, heirs must understand that they will never pay more than they have inherited. The remaining debt is considered uncollectible.

This was explained by lawyer Bohdan Yankiv in his own blog.

What Debts of Individual Entrepreneurs Can Be Inherited

The obligations of a deceased individual entrepreneur are divided into three categories. The first is tax debts, including military fees, personal income tax, single tax, etc. These are inherited within the value of the property received from the testator.

The second category is the single social contribution. This debt is written off, and there is no liability for non-payment. The third category includes civil-law debts, including financial obligations to suppliers, landlords, banks, and other market participants. They must be repaid within the value of the inherited property.

'The first and most important fact that every heir should know: you will never pay more than you inherited. This is a fundamental principle established in Article 1282 of the Civil Code and specified in Article 99 of the Tax Code of Ukraine,' noted Bohdan Yankiv.

How Debts Are Shared Among Heirs

If there is only one heir, they must repay the debt equivalent to the value of the property received from the deceased individual entrepreneur. For example, if there is a liability of 100,000 UAH of single tax and 30,000 UAH of single social contribution with inherited funds amounting to 70,000 UAH, the situation would be as follows:

• 70,000 UAH must be paid to cover the single tax debt;
• the debt for the single social contribution will be fully annulled;
• the remaining tax debt of 30,000 UAH will be recognized as uncollectible and written off.

When there are several heirs, the financial responsibility is divided proportionally to their shares in the inheritance. It is prohibited to transfer the entire debt to one person because they have the largest assets. Thus, if two brothers inherit property from their father, an individual entrepreneur, 50/50, they must equally divide the tax debt.

Another important point: for six months from the date of the testator's death, penalties are not applied to the debt. During this period, it is necessary to agree with the controlling authority on the repayment procedure. Reports and declarations for the deceased entrepreneur do not need to be submitted, as such obligations are not inherited.

What Else Ukrainians Should Know

We remind you that property arrest is applied in cases of debts, criminal cases, or confiscation decisions. This blocks any actions with the property. An arrest is imposed exclusively based on a court decision and enforcement proceedings.

We have also written that state-owned PrivatBank and Ukreximbank seized the shopping and entertainment center 'Gulliver' due to debts. The owning company 'Tri O' had credit obligations exceeding 600 million dollars but failed to pay, leading to legal disputes.