When an inheritance is received, the heirs must be clear that both goods and debts are inherited. Article 659 of the Civil Code establishes that “the inheritance includes all the assets, rights and obligations of a person who do not extinguish for his death.” That is, in a will, properties or money can be received, but also outstanding debts of the deceased. For this reason, accepting an inheritance can become a problem. This has happened to a son who, after accepting his father’s inheritance, hacienda claimed a debt of 67,064.34 euros. Although he appealed before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia alleging prescription, he dismissed his appeal and recalled that the heirs must assume the debts of the deceased in the same state in which they were at the time of their death, without the possibility of reopening what has already been resolved in life.
Apparently, everything begins when the claimant’s father dies, who had been declared as a “subsidiary responsible” of his company’s tax debts, which initially amounted to more than 1.2 million euros. After several resources and partial resolutions, the figure was reduced to 770,526.85 euros, although it remained a very high amount.
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When this, the inheritance step to his wife as well as his three children, who accepted it “pure and simply”, which implied that, in addition to the goods, they also inherited the debts. The distribution set that the widow had to assume 52.5% and the children the remaining 47.5%, so that Oscar, the plaintiff, corresponded a 15.83% share.
Having accepted that inheritance, years later, in 2018, the Treasury notifies that requirement to pay a debt of 67,064.34 euros, directly derived from the party inherited from the tax debt. The Son, not being satisfied, since he understood that the debt had prescribed a claim before the Regional Administrative Economic Court of Catalonia (TEARC) who dismissed it, so without further remedy, he had to file a contentious-administrative appeal.
I accept inheritance and debts
Once in the judicial headquarters before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, the Son alleged that the debt was prescribed because more than four years had passed between the company’s decision statement and the derivation of responsibility to his father, and that the derivation agreement was void for violating article 40 of the former General Tax Law of 1963. Therefore, he asked the court to annul 67,064.34 euros.
For his part, the Treasury explained that there was a “procedural deviation”, since what was discussed in this resource was the payment requirement to the son as heir, while he focused his arguments on questioning the derivation of responsibility practiced years before to his father, an issue that had already been resolved in administrative means. In addition, he defended that, by accepting the inheritance, the son was subrogated in the same position his father had in front of the administration.
For all, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia gave the reason to the Tax Agency explaining that by accepting the inheritance “they must assume the tax debts pending of the deceased in the same state in which they were at the time of their death”, without the possibility of reopening what had already been discussed and resolved in life of the deceased. For this reason, by accepting that “Ensenada” inheritance, he must pay the debt of his deceased father of 67,064.34 euros.