Article 466 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates the borrower's obligation to repay the debt as follows:
1. If the borrowed asset is money, the borrower must repay the full amount when due; if the asset is a physical object, the borrower must return an object of the same type, quantity, and quality, unless otherwise agreed upon.
2. If the borrower is unable to return the borrowed item, they may repay with money equivalent to the value of the borrowed item at the time and place of repayment, if the lender agrees.
3. The place of repayment is the residence or registered office of the lender, unless otherwise agreed.
4. In the case of an interest-free loan, if the borrower fails to repay the debt or repays it incompletely when due, the lender has the right to demand payment of interest at the interest rate stipulated in Clause 2, Article 468 of this Code on the overdue amount corresponding to the period of delay, unless otherwise agreed or stipulated by law.
Furthermore, Article 615 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates the fulfillment of financial obligations left behind by the deceased as follows:
1. Heirs are responsible for fulfilling the deceased's financial obligations within the scope of their estate, unless otherwise agreed upon.
2. If the inheritance has not yet been divided, the financial obligations left by the deceased shall be fulfilled by the administrator of the inheritance according to the agreement of the heirs, within the scope of the inheritance left by the deceased.
3. If the inheritance has already been divided, each heir shall fulfill the deceased's financial obligations proportionally, but not exceeding the share they have received, unless otherwise agreed upon.
4. In cases where the heir is not an individual receiving the inheritance according to the will, they must still fulfill the deceased's financial obligations as if they were an individual heir.
Therefore, when a borrower dies, their heirs are responsible for fulfilling the financial obligations within the scope of the deceased's estate, unless otherwise agreed upon. This only applies to those inheriting the estate. (The financial obligation here refers to the debt incurred during the deceased's lifetime. Therefore, upon their death, the deceased's estate must be used to settle that debt.)
Note that heirs are only responsible for fulfilling the deceased's obligations within the scope of the estate (unless otherwise agreed upon), and are not responsible for fulfilling anything beyond that. In other words, if the deceased's debts exceed the value of the estate, the surviving heirs are not obligated to pay the difference.
Heirs have the right to accept or refuse an inheritance as stipulated in Article 620 of the Civil Code, except in cases where the refusal of the inheritance is intended to evade the fulfillment of their financial obligations to others. If they accept the inheritance, they will have to pay off all debts left by the deceased.
In this case, the children will inherit the estate left by their parents and will therefore be obligated to repay the debt.
MH (compiled)
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