Interview for the Inteligência Financeira portal. Read the full text
In some situations during the inheritance process, relatives may come across bills to be paid by the deceased person. And then the question arises: what happens to debts when a person dies? Do direct heirs have to bear the debts?
To resolve this and other doubts of its readers, Inteligência Financeira spoke with specialists in the field who explained everything about the subject.
When a person passes away, their debts are not automatically extinguished. They become part of the estate, which is the set of assets, rights, and obligations left by the deceased.
Third parties may not have access to the checking account, nor to investments. In other words, no type of financial transaction is permitted. This, in fact, may be considered a crime.
The deceased’s bank accounts are not usually blocked automatically. Therefore, it is necessary to inform the bank of the account holder’s death.
It is worth knowing, therefore, that the checking account is personal.
“And in order to have access, it is necessary to open the probate proceeding, in which there is an estate administrator who will be responsible for managing the estate. However, financial transactions will depend on judicial authorization,” states Alberto Feitosa, a civil law attorney at Lassori Advogados.
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