Consequences And Cancellation Of Refusal Of Inheritance
When the inheritance is rejected, the heir cannot gain the title of heirship since the death of the heir. For this reason, the rejection of the inheritance has retroactive effect. The legal regulation regarding this is found in Articles 611- 613 of the TCC. In accordance with these articles, we can list the consequences of the refusal of inheritance as follows:
If one of the legal heirs rejects the inheritance, his/her share shall pass to the beneficiaries as if he/she was not alive when the inheritance was opened.
If one of the appointed heirs rejects the inheritance, his/her share shall pass to the closest legal heirs of the heir, unless it is understood from the testamentary disposition of the heir that his/her wish was otherwise.
The inheritance rejected by all of the nearest legal heirs shall be liquidated by the court of peace according to the provisions of bankruptcy. The values remaining at the end of the liquidation shall be given to the beneficiaries as if they had not rejected the inheritance.
In the event that all of the descendants reject the inheritance, their share passes to the surviving spouse.
CANCELLATION OF REFUSAL OF INHERITANCE
In order to protect the heir’s receivables, the law regulates the cancellation of the refusal of inheritance. In some cases, the refusal of the legal heir who rejects the inheritance may be cancelled. Pursuant to Article 617 of the TCC:
If the heir, whose assets are insufficient for his/her debts, rejects the inheritance in order to harm his/her creditors, his/her creditors or the bankruptcy administration may file a lawsuit for the cancellation of the rejection within six months starting from the date of rejection, unless a sufficient guarantee is given to them.
If it is decided to annul the rejection, the inheritance shall be officially liquidated.
If anything falls to the share of the rejecting heir from the heritage liquidated in this way, the receivables of the objecting creditors shall be paid first, and then the receivables of the other creditors shall be paid. The remaining values shall be given to the heirs who would have benefited had the refusal been valid.
If the creditors of the heir who rejected the inheritance think that the heir whose assets are not sufficient for his/her debts rejected the inheritance in order to harm them, they may file a lawsuit for the cancellation of the rejection within 6 months. This period is a forfeiture period and a lawsuit cannot be filed afterwards. The court in charge of the cancellation case is the Civil Court of First Instance.
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