Minors May Choose to Inherit 'Parents' Debt' Upon Adulthood... Civil Act Amendment Bill Proposed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] A provision granting minors the right to choose inheritance after reaching adulthood, so they do not bear excessive parental debt, will be newly added to the Civil Act.

The Ministry of Justice announced on the 5th that it has publicly notified a partial amendment to the Civil Act containing this provision.

Under the current Civil Act, even if the inherited debt exceeds the inherited property, if the legal representative does not file for limited acceptance or renunciation of inheritance within the prescribed period, it is deemed as simple acceptance, resulting in minors inheriting the entire debt.

In response, the legal community has consistently pointed out that it is excessively harsh for minors to bear all of their parents' debts simply because the legal representative did not take timely action, and that this infringes on minors' rights to self-determination and property rights.

The Ministry of Justice will amend the Civil Act to allow minors to file for limited acceptance within six months from the day they become aware that the inherited debt exceeds the inherited property after reaching adulthood (or within six months from the day they reach adulthood if they became aware before adulthood). Limited acceptance is a system expressing the intention to be responsible for debts only within the scope of the inherited property.

Additionally, to broaden the scope of protected minors as much as possible, a retroactive provision will be added to the supplementary provisions to allow limited acceptance under the newly established rules even if the inheritance commenced before the enforcement of the amended law.

The Ministry of Justice expects that once the amendment is enforced, minors will be able to start a fair and equitable economic life without being bound by their parents' debts.

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