When a Parent Has Died and You Do Not Know Whether There Are Debts

Once the funeral is over, take the steps below in order. At this stage, gathering information comes before rushing a decision.

• Write the date of death and the day you learned of it on a calendar, and mark the date 3 months later as your deadline.
• When you report the death at the community service center (주민센터, your local district office), apply at the same time for the Safe Inheritance One-Stop Service (안심상속 원스톱서비스, a government service that searches a deceased person's assets and debts in one application). If you have already reported the death, you can apply separately through Government24 (the government's online portal).
• Do not throw away mail from card companies, private lenders, surety insurers or courts; keep it all in one place with the envelopes.
• Check the automatic transfers from the deceased's account, and switch payment of utility bills and insurance premiums to your own account.
• Look through the deceased's text messages and notebooks for money that went out each month, money they lent, and any debts they backed as a surety, and write them down.

The following actions may be treated as disposing of the estate, which can amount to simple acceptance (단순승인). Once that happens, you cannot renounce even if you later find out the debts are larger.

• Withdrawing money from the deceased's account for living costs because you know the PIN
• Selling the deceased's car or putting it in your name
• Collecting the deposit on the home the deceased lived in and splitting it among siblings
• Collecting money from someone who owed the deceased and spending it
• Stamping a division agreement among siblings before the search is even finished

Some Safe Inheritance results, such as vehicles, come right away, but financial, national tax and pension results are processed by each agency and can take close to 20 days. When a result message arrives, print the details from that agency's website. Financial search results can no longer be viewed on the Financial Supervisory Service website once 3 months have passed from the application date. The results show loans and card debts, but money borrowed from individuals and some surety debts may not appear.

If the debts are clearly larger than the assets, consider renunciation of inheritance (상속포기). If you cannot tell which is larger, or you are worried about debts that did not show up, consider limited acceptance (한정승인). With limited acceptance, you only pay debts up to the value of what you inherited, but after acceptance you must go through a settlement process of public notice and proportional payment.

If you renounce, the debts pass to the next in line. If the spouse and children are the heirs and only the children all renounce, the spouse becomes the sole heir and nothing passes to the grandchildren; but if the spouse also renounces, the grandchildren, the deceased's parents, siblings and relatives within the fourth degree become heirs in that order. The court does not notify next-in-line family members.

That is why, in practice, a common approach is for the spouse or one child to take limited acceptance while the rest renounce. This settles the debts with the person who took limited acceptance, so they do not pass to next-in-line relatives. If a family member is a minor, the parent with parental authority acts on their behalf, but where their interests conflict, a special representative (특별대리인) may be needed.

One reason people hesitate to renounce is insurance and pensions. Death insurance where the beneficiary is set as the heirs or a specific family member, and the National Pension survivor pension and lump-sum death benefit, are generally treated not as part of the estate but as the recipient's own property, so in most cases they can be received even if you renounce. However, insurance money where the beneficiary is the deceased themselves can be part of the estate, and if the deceased had unpaid national taxes, you may have to pay them up to the amount of insurance money you received, so check the insurance policies and any unpaid tax records together.

Once you have decided, file with the family court that has jurisdiction over the deceased's last address. Submit the filing form, family relationship documents and certificate of seal impression (인감증명서), and for limited acceptance, attach a list of the estate. The filing only needs to be received within 3 months, and if the documents are in order, the written decision accepting it usually comes within 1 to 2 months.

If the search is delayed and it is hard to decide within 3 months, you can ask the family court for an extension before the period runs out. If you discover debts after the deadline, special limited acceptance (특별한정승인) remains an option, but its requirements must be proved separately, so it is much easier to settle things within the first 3 months.

If one sibling has already disposed of the deceased's property, only that sibling may be treated as having simply accepted, and as a rule this does not affect the other family members' renunciation or limited acceptance. However, if the family files together, the circumstances must be stated accurately, so check this in advance.

Jisan Law looks at the search results and collection notices with you and works out whether renunciation or limited acceptance fits, and which family member should file what. We prepare the filing and the list of the estate within the deadline, and continue on to the public notice and proportional payment after limited acceptance, and any creditor lawsuits that come in after acceptance.

If you need to use the deceased's account for funeral or hospital costs, please ask us before you act. If the deadline is near and you need to move quickly, send us a message through the chat on this page.