The Heir’s Liability for the Debts of the Deceased in the Case of an Insolvent Estate: Gaps in the Protection of Heirs and Creditors under Slovak Law

The paper analyses the legal regulation of the heir’s liability for the debts of the deceased in the Slovak legal order, with particular regard to the insolvent estate. It deals with substantive and procedural aspects of ceding the estate to creditors, the winding-up of the estate and the convocation of creditors. It seeks to answer whether the ranking of creditors and the effects of the convocation apply even where the court has not ordered the winding-up of the estate, and how to proceed where the insolvency of the estate comes to light only after the inheritance proceedings have been finally concluded. At the end of the paper, considerations de lege ferenda are set out, in particular a proposal for mandatory convocation of creditors and an amendment of the rules on supplementary inheritance proceedings.