Do debts from loans pass on to heirs after a person dies?
Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 1040 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the estate includes property belonging to the deceased, as well as rights and obligations whose existence is not terminated by the deceased’s death.
The estate may also include rights necessary for formalizing the deceased’s property rights that were not formalized during the deceased’s lifetime, including the right to register such rights.
At the same time, paragraph 2 of Article 1040 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan establishes an exhaustive list of rights and obligations that are inseparably connected with the personality of the deceased. This list does not include the deceased’s credit obligations.
Accordingly, obligations to repay loans are inherited under the general rule.
Pursuant to Article 1081 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, creditors of the deceased are entitled to assert claims arising from the deceased’s obligations against the executor of the will (trust manager of the estate) or against the heirs, who are jointly and severally liable up to the value of the property transferred to each heir.
If heirs who have accepted the inheritance evade registration of the property comprising the estate or the rights thereto, the creditors of the deceased are entitled to demand compulsory registration.
Thus, the deceased’s obligations pass to the heirs only up to the value of the inherited property that they have accepted.
If there is no inheritance or the inheritance has not been accepted, the heirs of the deceased have no legal grounds for paying the deceased’s debts.