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DOI :10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004   IUP :10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004    Full Text (PDF)

Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors

Doruk Gönen

An inheritance waiver agreement is a contract between the deceased and the probable heir and deals with the partial or complete renunciation of the inheritance right of the presumptive heir. If the party waiving their inheritance right receives a benefit in return for making a waiver agreement, this contract may cause creditors to suffer losses if the debts of the estate cannot be met from the estate. Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code aims to eliminate this detriment to the creditors of such an estate. According to the article, if the debts of an estate cannot be met by the estate at the time the inheritance proceedings begin and the debts are not paid by the heirs, the waiver and heirs become liable to the creditors of the estate to the amount of their enrichment at the time the inheritance proceedings begin regarding the wealth they had received in the five years prior to the death of the deceased in return for the waiver. As can be seen, in order to implement Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code, the estate must first of all be unable to meet the debts at the time the inheritance proceedings begin. Secondly, any debt that cannot be met from the estate must also not be paid by the heirs. The third condition for implementing the provision of Article 530 is that a gain must have been made by the person renouncing the inheritance in accordance with the waiver agreement and within five years prior to the death of the deceased.

Keywords: Inheritence Waiver, Renunciation of Inheritance, Inheritance Creditors, Protections for Estate Creditors, Inheritence Waiver Responsibilities
DOI :10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004   IUP :10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004    Full Text (PDF)

Mirastan İvazlı Feragat Edenin ve Mirasçılarının Tereke Alacaklılarına Karşı Sorumluluğu

Doruk Gönen

Mirastan feragat sözleşmesi, miras bırakan ile muhtemel mirasçısı arasında yapılan ve muhtemel mirasçının miras hakkından kısmen ya da tamamen vazgeçmesini konu edinen sözleşmedir. Mirastan feragat sözleşmesi yaparak miras hakkından vazgeçen tarafın bunun karşılığında bir ivaz alıyor olması halinde, mirastan ivazlı feragat sözleşmesi kurulur. Bu sözleşme, mirasın açılması anında tereke borçlarının terekeden karşılanamıyor olması halinde alacaklıların zarara uğramasına sebep olabilir. İşte TMK m 53O düzenlemesi, tereke alacaklılarının zararına olan bu durumu ortadan kaldırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Hükme göre, mirasın açılması anında tereke borçları terekeden karşılanamıyor ve borçlar mirasçılar tarafından da ödenmiyorsa, feragat eden ve mirasçıları, tereke alacaklılarına karşı, feragat karşılığında miras bırakanın ölümünden önceki beş yıl içinde almış oldukları değerden, mirasın açılması anındaki zenginleşmeleri tutarında sorumludurlar. Görüldüğü üzere, TMK m 530’un uygulanması için öncelikle mirasın açılması anından tekenin borçları karşılayamıyor olması gerekir. Hükmün uygulanmasının ikinci şartı, terekeden karşılanamayan borçların, mirasçılar tarafından da ödenmiyor olmasıdır. Tereke alacaklıları, alacaklarının yasal veya atanmış mirasçılar ya da üçüncü kişi tarafından ödeniyor olması halinde, feragat edene başvuramaz. Hükmün uygulanmasının üçüncü şartı, mirastan ivazlı feragat edene, miras bırakanın ölümünden önceki beş yıl içinde feragat sözleşmesi gereği bir kazandırmada bulunulmuş olmasıdır. Bu şartların gerçekleşmesi halinde, öncelikle feragat eden kişinin, onun hayatta olmaması halinde ise mirasçılarının tereke alacaklılarına karşı sorumluluğu doğar. Ancak tereke alacaklılarına karşı olan bu sorumluluk sınırlıdır. Öncelikle, tereke alacaklıları, alacaklarının terekeden ve diğer mirasçılardan karşılanmayan kısmı için talepte bulunma hakkına sahiptir. Ayrıca, feragat edenin ve mirasçılarının tereke alacaklılarına karşı sorumluluğu, feragat için miras bırakanın ölümünden önceki beş yıl içinde miras bırakandan almış oldukları karşılığın malvarlıklarında yarattığı ve mirasın açılması anında halen mevcut zenginleşmeleri ile sınırlıdır. Sorumluluğun kapsamının belirlenmesinde, sebepsiz zenginleşme hükümleri uygulanır.

Keywords: Mirastan İvazlı Feragat Sözleşmesi, Mirastan Feragatin Hükmü, Tereke Alacaklıları, Tereke Alacaklılarının Korunması, Feragat Edenin Tereke Borçlarından Sorumluluğu

EXTENDED ABSTRACT


A renunciation of inheritance agreement is a contract between the deceased and the deceased’s presumptive heir that deals with the partial or complete renunciation of the presumptive heir’s inheritance rights.

In the event that a party waives their inheritance right by making a waiver agreement while also receiving some advantage in return for the waiver, the onerous inheritance waiver agreement comes into effect. An inheritance renunciation contract has positive aspects such as ensuring the liquidation of the presumptive heir’s inheritance rights while the heir is still alive. However, the inability of the estate to meet its debts at the time the inheritance proceedings begin may cause losses to creditors, for when the onerous waiver agreement has not yet been concluded, the agreed-upon benefit will remain in the estate instead of being used to pay the debts of the estate. However, concluding an onerous waiver agreement both eliminates the responsibility of the one waiving their inheritance from the debts of the estate and ensures that this individual still gains benefit from an estate that is unable to cover its debts.

Thus, Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code aims to eliminate this situation, which exists to the detriment of estate creditors. According to the provision, if the debts of the estate cannot be met by the estate at the time the inheritance proceedings begin and the debts are not paid by the heirs, the individual who has waived the inheritance right and that individual’s heirs become responsible to the creditors of the estate for the amount they had received within five years prior to the death of the deceased in exchange for the renunciation, as well as for the amount of wealth they receive at the time the inheritance proceedings begin.

Accordingly, the conditions for applying Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code and its results can be summarized as follows:

  • At the time the inheritance proceedings begin, the estate must be unable to meet its debts. This situation often arises due to the liabilities of the estate being greater than its assets. However, the condition should be accepted as being fulfilled when debts are not met from the estate for any reason (if the estate is performing weakly), regardless of estate’s assets being greater than its liabilities.
  • The debts that are unable to be met from the estate must also not be paid by the heirs.
  • A gain must have been left to the person who had onerously waived the inheritance in accordance with the waiver agreement and within five years prior to the death of the deceased. This acquisition can have occurred by means of transferring movable, immovable, or receivables; by giving some sum of money; and/or by paying the debts of the one waiving their inheritance rights. 
  • In the event these conditions are realized and the one who waived their inheritance is no longer alive, their heirs will become liable to the creditors of the estate.
  • These persons have limited liability to the creditors of the estate: 1) The creditors of the estate have the right to demand from these persons the part of their receivables that are unable to be met from the estate and from the heirs. 2) The responsibility of the one who waived their inheritance rights as well as of that person’s heirs to the creditors of the estate is limited to the wealth that is gained at the time the inheritance proceeding begin, as well as the wealth that person had received from the deceased for renouncing inheritance rights within the five years prior the death of the deceased. Thus, the protections provided to creditors by Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code are seen to not be absolute. This is because even if some amount was found to have been received within the five years prior to the start of the inheritance proceedings, if a gain in wealth no longer occurred based on what was received from this contract regarding the assets at the time the inheritance proceedings began, then neither the one who signed the onerous waiver nor their heirs will be liable for the debts of the estate.
  • Unjust enrichment provisions are applied when determining the context of liability. However, the issue here is not a case of unjust enrichment. Within the context of renouncing a valid contract, any received benefits must be returned as per Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code. A claim can be made against the one who renounced their inheritance rights and that individual’s heirs based on the benefits or revenues they have received and limited to the amount remaining in their hands at the time the inheritance proceedings begin. 

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APA

Gönen, D. (2023). Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors. Istanbul Law Review, 81(2), 411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


AMA

Gönen D. Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors. Istanbul Law Review. 2023;81(2):411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


ABNT

Gönen, D. Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors. Istanbul Law Review, [Publisher Location], v. 81, n. 2, p. 411-436, 2023.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Gönen, Doruk,. 2023. “Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors.” Istanbul Law Review 81, no. 2: 411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


Chicago: Humanities Style

Gönen, Doruk,. “Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors.” Istanbul Law Review 81, no. 2 (May. 2024): 411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


Harvard: Australian Style

Gönen, D 2023, 'Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors', Istanbul Law Review, vol. 81, no. 2, pp. 411-436, viewed 12 May. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Gönen, D. (2023) ‘Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors’, Istanbul Law Review, 81(2), pp. 411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004 (12 May. 2024).


MLA

Gönen, Doruk,. “Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors.” Istanbul Law Review, vol. 81, no. 2, 2023, pp. 411-436. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


Vancouver

Gönen D. Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors. Istanbul Law Review [Internet]. 12 May. 2024 [cited 12 May. 2024];81(2):411-436. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004 doi: 10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004


ISNAD

Gönen, Doruk. “Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors”. Istanbul Law Review 81/2 (May. 2024): 411-436. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0004



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Submitted31.03.2023
Accepted13.06.2023
Published Online17.10.2023

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