论遗产继承中债权人利益的法律保护

1、论遗产继承中债权人利益的法律保护 摘 要 中华 人民共和国采取直接继承制度,即从继承开始被继承人的财产权利和义务概括地转归继承人。被继承人的债权由继承人接取,债务由继承人承当,被继承人的债权人只能向继承人行使权利,债务人只能向继承人清偿债务。 遗产必需经过分割程序才能转归继承人手中 除非继承人愿意对遗产承担无限责任外,但我国继承法却没有规定遗产分割的期限,共同继承人可长期共同享有、使用、收益遗产,而迟迟不分割遗产,导致继承人之间难以区分清楚对遗产享有的是共同继承权还是财产共有权,发生纠纷时,也难以区分是继承之诉还是共同财产分割之诉。 再者,一旦继承人的债权人或被继承人的债权人起诉,马上声明放弃

2、继承,从而使财产权属关系极不稳定,甚至使遗产沦为无主财产。 如遗产长期不予以分割,必定会产生两个人以上对同一个遗产共有所有权,按共有制度的原那么,在处分这些财产时需要其它共有人的同意,势必影响财产的流通速度,更为严重的是,由于缺乏有效的约束,不动产产权登记长期维持在被继承人死亡时的状态,即只是事实上的共有,却没有予以登记公示,这对于财产关系的平安与交易平安的保护都极为不利,破坏社会经济秩序。 做成这种不稳定状态的弊端有二:不利于遗产的管理和利用,再者、影响债权人行使权利,不利于债权人利益的保护。 当继承人有数人的情况时,继承人互相之间对于被继承人的债务在遗产分割前负有的责任问题,我国?继承法?

3、没有对此作出明文规定,但根据一般的民法原理,各继承人对于被继承人的债务应负连带责任。 债权人对于继承人中的任何一人不问其继承财产数额的多少,都有权请求他归还被继承人的全部债务。 而继承人那么不得以自己继承份额的多寡而拒绝清偿。 另一方面,由于我国没有遗产清算制度,也没有对遗产债权人在一定期限拒绝清偿的规定,那么,当发生债权债务诉讼时,继承人为适格被告的身份只凭类推出来,司法实践中一般都被采纳。继承发生时,即使继承人放弃继承,也只是免负归还税款及债务,并不能免除管理义务,以其为被告并不是让其承当还款责任,而是令其以遗产来清偿债务。 从债权、债务相方当事人的公平观点看,当继承人均放弃继承或无继承人

4、而有遗产时,法律模糊的适格被告极易阻却债权人的权利4行使。 再者,司法实践中,一般由债权人承当举证责任。 要求由债权人举证证明哪些财产为遗产,是极不公平的,特别是证明动产是遗产,几乎是不可能的。 依据?证据规那么?第 7 条规定:“在法律无具体规定,依本规定及其它司法解释无法确定举证责任承当时,人民法院可以根据公平原那么和老实信用原那么,综合当事人举证能力等因素确定举证责任的承当。笔者认为可依这一规定,在该类诉讼中,适用举证责任倒置原那么,限定继承人在举证时限内提供遗产清册,如果继承人逾期不提供或提供的清册有诈欺情形,依?证据规那么?第75 条,那么推定继承人占有该遗产,判决继承人对债权人主张

5、的遗产债务承当连带清偿责任。 在香港地区,由于遗产须经遗产管理程序,在清偿遗产的债务后有剩余的,才向继承人交付,故不存在共同继承人对遗产债务的清偿责任问题。 在台湾地区,在分割遗产前,共同继承人对共有遗产应在继承人中推举人加以管理,共同继承人对被继承人的债务除另有约定外,应按其应继分比例负担,且共同继承人之间负有连带责任,并规定了继承人之间连带责任的期限。 不同于台湾地区,我国与香港两地法无明文规定,但两者的共同点在于共同继承人对于遗产债务都承当连带责任;而不同点在于,台湾地区规定了共同继承人之间承当连带责任的期限。 笔者建议,我国继承法规对清偿遗产负担的责任采用分别对待的做法,即将遗产债务的

6、清偿分为两个阶段:在遗产分割前,必须以未分割的整体遗产来清偿债务,且各共同继承人对遗产债务负连带责任;在遗产分割后,原那么上各继承人只负责清偿与其应继份比例相应的债务。 但如债权人或受遗赠人未获得全部支付时,那么各共同继承人仍承当连带清偿责任。 此规定具有合理性,既能保护遗产债权人的利益,也能维护继承人的利益。作为一个经济稳定开展的社会,继承人的债权人利益亦应等同被继承人的债权人利益同受保护。 虽然,继承人的债权人不直接涉及遗产继承,但继承人选择何种继承方式以及遗产的价值都间接地影响着继承人的债权人利益的实现。但是,我国现行?继承法?却缺乏这方面的规定,给保护继承人的债权人利益不够充分。试问,

7、如依法成立的债权不受到充分的保护,当债务人死后,他所留下的财产不是首先用来清偿债务,保护继承人和债权人双方的合法利益又如何能到达。因此,我国的财产继承法律制度应对此作出规定。5我国采有限责任继承原那么(即通常人们所说的限定继承原那么),其核心是限制继承人对被继承人债务的清偿责任,即继承人只需在继承遗产的限度以内为被继承人清偿债务,不需以自己的财产对被继承人的债务负责。 这种制度符合现代社会家庭成员人格独立、责任自负的理念,具有其积极的意义。 但是它明显是保护了被继承人的利益,而无视了被继承人的债权人的利益。 作为一种法律制度,必须对所涉及当事人的权利予以平等的保护,这是现代法律维护公平、正义精

8、神的需要,也是评判法律之善、恶的标准之一。 现行继承法却未能给予继承人和被继承人的债权人的权益以平等的保护。 再者,限定继承为无条件的限定继承,缺乏对遗产状况、范围的规定,在继承人有隐匿财产、在遗产清册上为虚假记载、不当处分遗产等欺诈债权人行为时,无法加重其责任。 其结果,保证了继承人的固有财产不被强制用于清偿被继承人的债务,却无法保证遗产首先用来清偿被继承人的债务,殊为不公。 对此,主流说法有二,有观点认为我国应采有条件的有限责任继承制度。 也有认为我国应采无条件的限定继承原那么,理由是可规定一系列维持债权人利益的新规定,如先清偿遗产债务后分割遗产的遗产处理原那么等制度。 限定继承制度所衍生

9、出来的是两个相反相成的问题, 继承人和遗产债权人的利益互相矛盾、互相对立,又互相统一于限定继承制度之中。 虽然目前世界各国的继承制度有直接继承制度和间接继承制度两类。 尽管它们区别很大,但有一点却是共同的,是把遗产债权人利益保护问题放在十分重要的地位,把遗产保持独立,脱离继承人控制,保证被继承人的财产首先用于清偿遗产债务的作用。 只有有条件的限定继承制度,接受和放弃继承制度的结合,才能表达了继承法公平地保护继承人和遗产债权人的利益,表达了老实信用的民法原那么。 除考虑上述制度外,随着时代的变迁,个人经济关系开展日趋复杂、亲属间?系?如往常密?,故?为?实遗产清算及清册制?,须给予继承人相当之期

10、间,并赋予法院或相关主管机关一定权限,使其可视个案情形准予延长清算及制作期间,在必要时,甚至应考虑国家公权?介入、协助清算、调查遗产?况之相关标准。 而除?个案式的遗产清册制作外,现?相关法规并无遗产管?人制?,故容?因继承人个人专业性的?足、时间的匮乏、以及?的冲突等因素下,造成被继承人财产无法有效管?用,使其财富价值因此减少,造6成遗产受继承人?法侵占、遗产无法有效?用致价值减损等问题。 毫无疑问,债权人利益保护问题是继承法的一个根本问题,笔者建议,在直接继承制度之下,改变现行继承法无条件的有限责任继承制度,确立有条件的有限责任继承制度,同时赋予债权人遗产管理请求权。关键词:共同继承人;继

11、承人为适格被告的身份;债权人遗产管理请求权;有限责任继承原那么;有条件的有限责任继承制度7Abstract Direct succession system is adopted in the Peoples Republic of China, namely, the property rights and obligations of the deceased are generally vested in the heir as from the succession. The creditors rights and debts of the deceased are taken ov

12、er by the heirs, the creditor of the deceased may only exercise its rights against the heir, and the debtor shall merely clear off its debts for the heirAn estate can be vested in the heir only through the procedure of partitioning unless the heir is willing to accept unlimited liability for the est

13、ate, however, the succession law of China does not provide the deadline of the estate partitioning, the co-heirs may jointly share, use and profit from the estate for a long term instead of partitioning it definitely, thereby causing the confusion between the heirs as to whether they enjoy the joint

14、 succession or common property in respect of the estate, and leading to difficulty in distinguishing whether it is a succession suit or common property suit once a dispute arises. Furthermore, the right to inheritance is declared waived forthwith once a lawsuit is brought by the creditor of the heir

15、 or the creditor of the deceased, thereby rendering the property ownership relations highly unstable, even making the estate become an unclaimed property. If the estate is not partitioned for a long period, co-ownership will surely exist between two or more persons over an estate, based on the princ

16、iple of co-ownership system that such property shall be disposed of with the consent of other co-owners, the circulation speed of the property will inevitably be affected. More severely, the registration of the real property ownership remains on as-is basis at the time of the death of the deceased a

17、s a result of the lack of effective binding, namely, it is merely a factual co-ownership, but not registered and publicly announced, it is extremely detrimental to the protection of the safety of the property relations and dealings and against the social economic orderThere are two abuses for such u

18、nstable state so caused: it prejudices the management and use of the estate, and additionally affects the exercise of the rights by the creditor8and go against the protection of the creditors interestsThere are no express provisions in the Succession Law of China regarding the liabilities borne by t

19、he heirs in the case that the number of the heirs is more than one for the debts of the deceased before the estate is partitioned. However, based on the general principles of the Civil Law, the heirs shall be jointly liable for the debts of the deceased. The creditor has the right to claim the repay

20、ment of all debts of the deceased by any of the heirs without regard to their respective amount of the properties inherited and the heir shall not decline to pay off the debts on the account of the amount or share of his inherited property. On the other hand, there are no systems on estate liquidati

21、on and no provisions on the refusal of payment to the creditor of the estate within a specified time limit, as such, in the case of any lawsuit with regard to the creditors rights and debts, an heir can be determined as an eligible defendant only by analogy, which is normally adopted in the judicial

22、 practice. An heir who even waives his right to inheritance that arises may only be exempted from the repayment of tax and debts but not his obligation of the estate management; considering him the defendant is not to make him take responsibility for repayment but to clear off the debts out of the e

23、state. From the just viewpoint of the relevant parties to the creditors rights and debts, the exercise by the creditor of his rights can be easily hindered as a result of the eligible defendant as defined ambiguously in the law at the time when all heirs have waived their rights to inheritance or th

24、e estate is left with no heirs. In addition, the burden of proof is on the part of the creditor in the judicial practice. It sounds fairly unjust that the creditor is subject to the burden of proving which property is the estate, particularly with remote possibility of proving that a personal proper

25、ty is the estate. Clause 7 of the “Evidence Rules provides that in the absence of any specific provisions under the law and in the case of its inability to ascertain the burden of proof pursuant to this provision and other judicial interpretation, the peoples court may determine such burden of proof

26、 on the principles of fairness, honesty and credibility with the parties capacity of proof etc taken into comprehensive consideration. I am of the view that the principle of the inverse burden of proof may be applied in such lawsuit according to this provision,9requiring the heir to tender the accou

27、nt of executors of the estate within the evidence submission deadline, if the heir has failed to supply such account of executors within the specified deadline or supplied it fraudulently, then the heir can be presumed to occupy the said estate under Clause 75 of the “Evidence Rules, adjudicating hi

28、m to be jointly liable for the estates debts claimed by the creditorIn Hong Kong, the remaining portion of an estate after the repayment of the debts can only be delivered to the heir as a result of the administration procedure required for the estate, as such, no issues as to the liability for repa

29、yment by co-heirs of the estates debts exist. In Taiwan, co-heirs shall appoint a person from among themselves to administer their common estate prior to the partitioning, co-heirs shall be liable for the debts of the deceased in proportion to their respective shares of the estate, unless otherwise

30、agreed, and they shall take joint responsibility within the required deadline. Unlike in Taiwan, there are no such express provisions in China and Hong Kong, but the similarity in both lays where co-heirs also take joint liability for the estate s debts; and the difference lays where the deadline fo

31、r their joint liability is specified in TaiwanI recommend that different practices shall apply separately in respect of the liability for repayment of the estates debts, which are divided into two phases: the debts shall be cleared off out of the whole estate prior to the partitioning for which all

32、co-heirs shall be jointly liable; all co-heirs shall only be held responsible on principle for the corresponding debts in proportion to their respective inherited portions of the estate subsequent to the partitioning. But if the creditor or legatee is not paid in full, then all co-heirs are still jo

33、intly liable. Such provision is reasonable in nature under which the interests of the estate creditors and heirs can be safeguardedAs a society of stable economic growth, the interests of the creditor of the heir shall also be equally protected as the creditor of the deceased. Although the creditor

34、of the heir cannot directly get involved in the estate succession, the way of inheritance and value of the estate opted for by the heir have indirect impact on the realization of the interests of its creditor. But the “Succession Law in effect in China is silent in this respect, affording insufficie

35、nt protection to the interests of the creditor10of the heir. Assumingly, if a legally created creditors right is not sufficiently protected, the property left by the debtor after his death is not used first to clear off his debts, how can the lawful interests of the heir and creditor be protectedAcc

36、ordingly, provisions shall be made on it in the legal system of property succession in our countryThe succession system with limited liability usually known as the limited succession system is adopted in China, its core is to limit the heirs liability for the repayment of the deceaseds debts, and na

37、mely, the heir is only liable to repay the deceaseds debts to the extent of the amount of the inherited estate, not out of his own property. Such system is in line with the mentality of the personality independence and responsibility taking of modern social family members and embodies a positive sig

38、nificance. But it apparently protects the interests of the deceased while the interests of the creditor of the deceased are neglected. As a legal system, equal protection shall be afforded to the rights involving the parties, this is what the modern law demands for maintaining fair and just spirits

39、as well as one of the criteria to judge the good and evil of the law. There is no equal protection available from the Succession Law in effect to the interests of the heir and creditor of the deceasedFurthermore, there is a lack of provisions on the status and scope of the estate with respect to the

40、 inheritance classified as unconditional defined inheritance, it is unlikely to aggravate his liability in the case of any fraudulent acts against the creditor such as misstatement on the account of executors and undue disposal of the estate etc. As a result, the inherent property of the heir is ens

41、ured to be protected from being compulsorily applied to clear off the debts of the deceased, but the estate cannot be ensured to be applied first to clear off the debts of the deceased, thus, it is unjust. On this aspect, two leading theories exist, a viewpoint supports that the conditional successi

42、on system with limited liability shall be adopted in China, and another point supports that the unconditional defined succession system shall be adopted in China on the ground that a series of new provisions protecting the interests of the creditor may be available, such as the system and principle

43、that the11estate is partitioned after the estates debts are cleared offWhat derives from the defined succession system are two issues both opposite and complementary to each other, the interests of the heir and estate creditor are mutually contradictory, independent and unified in the defined succes

44、sion systemAlthough there are the two categories of direct and indirect succession systems in the succession systems of different countries in the world and they differ widely, there is one point in common that the protection of the interests of the estate creditor is put on priority, rendering the

45、estate independent of and isolated from the heirs control to ensure that the deceaseds property is applied first to clear off the estate debts. Only by the conditional defined succession system and combination of acceptance and waiver of the succession system can the equal protection afforded by the

46、 Succession Law to the interests of the heir and estate creditor be reflected, demonstrating the civil principles of honesty and trustBesides considering the aforesaid systems, with the passage of times, the individual economic relations are growing and increasingly complicated, and contact among th

47、e relatives is not close and frequent as usual, hence, for the purpose of putting the estate liquidation and account of executors systems in place, a certain period of time shall be afforded to the heir and certain authority shall be granted to the court or relevant competent agency that may approve

48、 the extension of the period for liquidation and preparation on a case-by-case basis, where necessary, the state power may even be considered to assist in liquidation of and investigation into the estate status. In addition to the accounts of executors on a case-by-case basis, as there are no system

49、s on estate administrators in the current laws and regulations, the property of the deceased cannot be effectively managed and utilized, minimizing his wealth value due to such factors as the insufficient professionalism, lack of time and conflicting interests of the heir, thereby causing the estate

50、 to be illegally occupied by the heir and impaired in value arising from the ineffective utilization etcUndoubtedly, the protection of the creditors interests is the fundamental issue of the Succession Law, I recommend that under the direct succession system, the system of the unconditional successi

51、on with limited liability be changed to establish12the system of conditional succession with limited liability while granting to the creditor the right to request for estate administration Key words: Co-heirs; An heir can be determined as an eligible defendant; Granting to the creditor the right to

52、request for estate administration; The succession system with limited liability; The system of conditional succession with limited liability13目 录 前 言1 第1 章 遗产继承中债权人利益保护的中外法律制度概述4 1.1 接受或放弃继承的期限4 1.1.1 我国现行继承法对此问题缺乏有效规定5 1.1.2 不利于维护交易平安,阻碍物质资料的流通. 6 1.1.3 法律应明确规定继承人接受或放弃继承的期限。 7 1.1.4 大陆法系的国家解决此问题的几种

53、制度7 1.2 遗产管理制度的规定. 8 1.2.1 欠缺遗产管理制度之规定8 1.2.2 债权人之遗产管?请求权9 1.3 外国保护遗产债权人利益的主要制度. 10 1.3.1 直接继承制度对遗产债权人利益的保护. 11 1.3.2 间接继承制度对遗产债权人利益的保护. 12 第2 章 限定继承制度的分析13 2.1 欧美国家如何贯彻限定继承原那么13 2.1.1 美国的遗产管理制度13 2.1.2 法国、日本的接受继承和放弃继承制度. 14 2.1.3 德国的遗产管理和遗产破产制度. 15 2.1.4 瑞士的公式财产清单和官方清算制度 15 2.2 我国限定继承原那么16 2.3 限定继承原那么造成继承人和遗产债权