Bereaved Family of Former Mayor Park Won-soon Files for Inheritance Renunciation of 700 Million Won Debt in Court

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The bereaved family of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is reported to have filed for renunciation of inheritance and limited approval with the court. Renunciation of inheritance means giving up all inheritance, including debts, while limited approval is a legal declaration to repay debts only within the limits of the inherited assets.

According to the legal community on the 12th, Park's children filed for renunciation of inheritance at the Seoul Family Court on the 6th. On the 7th, Park's wife, Kang Nan-hee, filed for limited approval.

The reason for the bereaved family's application appears to be the debts left by former Mayor Park, who passed away on July 9. According to the government’s Public Officials Ethics Committee’s regular asset change report for high-ranking officials, as of the end of last year, Park's net assets were minus 690.91 million won.

Renunciation of inheritance and limited approval must be filed within three months from the date the inheritance begins. Usually, the date of death is the reference, and the deadline was the 9th of this month.

The simultaneous application for renunciation of inheritance and limited approval is interpreted as an intention to avoid passing debts onto lower-priority heirs. If only renunciation of inheritance is filed, debts automatically pass to lower-priority heirs (up to the fourth degree of kinship under civil law). However, if one of the heirs files for limited approval, it can prevent the debts from passing to the next heir.

Meanwhile, it is known that former Mayor Park owned land located in Jangga-ri, Jangma-myeon, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, but did not own any apartments, commercial buildings, or houses in his name.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.