Introduction

Issues related to inheritance disputes continue to fuel Cameroonian legal news. Indeed, upon the death of an individual, several relatives of the deceased, including people to whom the deceased was indebted before his death, engage in a hunt for assets in the open estate. In their quest, they sometimes unfairly attract the heirs before the courts, due to the latter’s ignorance of their right of option. This is the option offered to the heir to decide whether or not to bear the debts of an estate. He can accept purely and simply, or under benefit of inventory, or renounce the succession.

The Heir opts for Pure and Simple Acceptance of the Estate 

Mainly based on the idea of ​​the continuation of the person of the deceased and the replacement of the deceased by a person still living, the pure and simple acceptance of the succession only consolidates on the head of the heir, a priority that the latter had acquired by right by the sole fact of death. It acquires the assets and liabilities of the deceased person. This substitution of person allows the creditor to pursue the heir to be paid, even beyond what he received in the succession of the predeceased.

The Heir opts for Acceptance under Benefit of Inventory of the Estate

Beneficial acceptance makes the heir a simple successor to the property. He pays the debts only within the limits of the assets of the succession. This option protects the heir because creditors can only pursue their reimbursement on the estate assets. In the event of insufficiency of the latter, they cannot seize the heir’s personal assets, unlike pure and simple acceptance where this possibility is offered to them. Intermediate part of the three options, it is only possible if the heir has completed the formalities of declaration to the Registry and establishment of an inventory. Furthermore, the heir must have neither purely and simply accepted nor renounced the estate.

The Heir opts to Renunciate the Estate 

The law allows the heir to renounce the estate, if he does not wish to be pursued by the persons to whom its author was indebted. This is the act by which the successor (potential heir) repudiates the right to become a successor. In such circumstances, he is deemed never to have accepted the estate. This option is more serious than acceptance under benefit of inventory for the creditors of the estate; these having in principle no means of being reimbursed. Because by the effect of the renunciation, the heir is considered as a stranger to the succession. But by placing oneself on the side of the heir, it is more beneficial for him because just as there are no more rights, he is also discharged from all debts of the succession, with a few exceptions (funeral expenses, etc.). Given its particularity, this party is also subject for its validity to strict conditions of declaration to the Registry and establishment of an inventory.

Conclusion

We realize that mastery of the right of option in inheritance matters is fundamental for both heirs and creditors. Improving access to information should allow them to be better informed about the room for manoeuvre that they each have for securing their respective rights.

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