What Inheritance Includes in Lithuania: Rights, Property, and Obligations
Inheritance is the transfer of a deceased person’s property rights, obligations, and certain personal non-property rights to their heirs by law or will.
According to the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the scope of inheritance includes not only the deceased’s tangible rights, owned property, or intellectual property rights, but also debt obligations to creditors. Thus, when accepting an inheritance, one accepts both assets and debts.
The scope of liability for the deceased’s debts depends on the method of inheritance acceptance.
An heir who has accepted the inheritance by taking possession of the property or by submitting a declaration to a notary is liable for the deceased’s debts with all their assets. This means that if the deceased’s debts exceed the value of the inherited assets, the heir must cover the excess with their own property (unlimited liability).
If several heirs accept the inheritance through possession or notarial declaration, they are jointly and severally liable for the deceased’s debts with all their assets.
To avoid being personally liable with all their assets for the deceased’s debts, the inheritance can be accepted based on an inventory drawn up by a bailiff. If even one heir accepts the inheritance via inventory, all other heirs are deemed to have done the same.
To accept inheritance via inventory, the heir must file a request with a notary in the location where the inheritance is opened. Upon receiving the request, the notary immediately issues an enforcement order for the inventory to be drawn up. This order is executed under the procedure established by the Lithuanian Code of Civil Procedure. The heir must submit the enforcement order to any bailiff operating in the area of the inheritance within two weeks. If not submitted in time, the order becomes void, and any heir may apply for a new one.
The heir must provide the necessary information for the preparation of the inventory. If, after the inventory is made, the heir discovers property, claims, or debts that were not included, they must promptly apply to the notary for a new enforcement order to amend the inventory.
The property inventory must include:
- a complete list of all items included in the inheritance, indicating their value and the circumstances necessary for assessing it;
- all known debt-related rights and obligations of the deceased, specifying the creditors and debtors.
It is important to note that if the heir, when providing information to the bailiff preparing the inventory conceals part of the deceased’s assets or debts, lists a non-existent debt, fails to provide all the necessary data for the inventory, or does not amend the inventory upon discovering missing information, then the heir becomes liable for the deceased’s debts with all their assets. In contrast, if the inheritance is accepted based on a bailiff-drafted inventory, the heir is only liable with the inherited property (limited liability).
The deceased’s creditor also has the right to request the preparation of the inventory, especially if accurate information about the debtor’s estate is important for them.
Article 5.53 of the Lithuanian Civil Code, which regulates inheritance acceptance via inventory, does not specify whether heirs are jointly or subsidiarily liable—it only defines the boundaries of liability limited to inherited property. In court practice, Article 6.10 of the Civil Code is also applied, which states that passive joint liability is not inherited—unless otherwise specified by law or contract, joint obligations are divided after the debtor’s death. Therefore, heirs are not considered jointly liable and are subject to partial (several) liability rules.
Other cases where the heir is only liable with inherited property:
If the inheritance includes a sole proprietorship, a farm, or the deceased’s debts may exceed the value of the estate, the heir may petition the local court at the place of inheritance to appoint an estate administrator or initiate auction or bankruptcy proceedings. In this case, the debts are paid only from the estate.
If the deceased had an obligation to pay maintenance to a former spouse or children, this obligation passes to the heirs, but only within the limits of the inherited estate.