Keep an estate-inventory debt and an ordinary debt apart

Not every debt in the estate is of the same kind. Debts the deceased already had, such as a mortgage or a loan, were already open on the date of death. Costs that arise because of the death, such as the funeral bill and costs of the winding-up, come later. In conversations about the division those groups are treated differently. You do not invent the precise order of priority and the consequences on acceptance under the benefit of inventory. You see to it that the administration separates the groups; the notary classifies an item when that is asked. A label per line is enough; an order you thought up yourself is not.

Make two lists, or one list with a clear label per line. On one side the debts that existed on the date of death, with the balance according to the creditor. On the other side the funeral and the costs of winding up the estate inventory, such as a valuation. Put with each line the creditor, the amount, the date and the document. An energy bill for the period before the death belongs with the old debts insofar as it relates to that. A bill for the period afterwards can belong with preservation of the estate; the invoice itself shows the period.

An heir who has accepted under the benefit of inventory has an interest in a clean separation of those items. You do not have to explain the legal consequence as if you were applying the statute. You do supply the list to the notary. Ask which items belong on which list and change a label if the notary moves an item. Note the date of that correction; a silent shift makes the account implausible. Even if the final total stays the same, it must be visible why an item changed lists. Keep the earlier version or a note of the change.

Pay a debt only once it is clear that you are authorised to do so. With a large creditor you ask the notary before you settle that one and leave another waiting. That weighing is not a tick in the software. An unpaid debt stays visible; a paid debt gets the date and the proof. A debt that is disputed gets the status dispute and a reference to the note. You do not remove it because the family finds it unpleasant or because the letter is disagreeable. The creditor stays in view until the payment or the dispute stands on paper.

Interest or collection costs that accrue after the death you note apart from the principal as soon as the creditor specifies them. Do not invent interest, and ask for a specification up to the date of your letter. Some creditors freeze the claim after a report, others do not; their letter is the source. In Ervazo the amount and the letter stay together. The program does not pay the debt and does not rank the creditors in a statutory order. That order is a legal question; the list is the material with which the notary can answer it.

This is an administrative checklist, not legal advice. The notary, the bank or the body concerned decides what this file needs and in which order. Ervazo keeps the tasks, the letters and the recorded values. The program does not send the letters, does not pay any debts and does not file a return. For each step, note the date, the person and the document you have received. What is still missing stays an open task. A ticked line means only that the administration has been updated. Do not put a rank number on a debt on the basis of a general impression.