Chapter IV: Option of the heir

The heir settles the liabilities of the estate. He pays the registered creditors according to the rank of the security attaching to their claim. Other creditors who have declared their claim are paid in the order of the declarations. Legacies of sums of money are delivered after payment of the creditors.

The heir must pay the creditors within two months of either the declaration to retain the property or the day on which the proceeds of the disposal become available. Where he is unable to dispose of it to the creditors within this period, in particular because of a dispute concerning the order or nature of the claims, he shall record the sums available for as long as the dispute remains.

Without prejudice to the rights of creditors with securities, the creditors of the succession and the legatees of sums of money may only pursue recovery from the assets collected from the succession which have not been retained or disposed of under the conditions provided for in Article 793. The heir’s personal creditors may not pursue recovery of their claims against these assets until the end of the period provided for…

Inheritance creditors who, within the period provided for in Article 792, declare their claims after the exhaustion of the assets have recourse only against the legatees who have been fulfilled of their rights.

The heir is responsible for administering the assets he receives in the succession. He keeps an account of his administration, of the debts he pays and of the acts that commit the property received or affect its value. He is liable for serious faults in this administration. He must present the account to any creditor of the succession who so requests and respond within two months to the summons, served…

As long as the right to accept is not time-barred against him, the heir may revoke his acceptance up to the amount of the net assets by accepting purely and simply. This acceptance is retroactive to the day on which the succession was opened. Acceptance up to the net assets prevents any renunciation of the succession.

Despite forfeiture or revocation of acceptance up to the amount of net assets, estate creditors and legatees of sums of money retain exclusive rights of pursuit over the assets mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 798.

The costs of sealing, inventorying and accounting are borne by the estate. They are paid as preferential partition costs.