If I do nothing, am I liable for the debts?

If you do nothing at all, you have not accepted, and you are not liable. But be careful: using or looking after the deceased's property, paying its bills or taxes can count as accepting. If you live abroad and have not touched anything, doing nothing generally means not accepting.

Can I refuse the debts but keep the flat?

No. You cannot accept part of an inheritance. What you can do is accept on the basis of an inventory: you keep the estate, and creditors can be paid only from it, not from your own assets.

If I refuse, who inherits instead?

Your share goes to the other heirs. Usually it is divided among the other heirs under the law, or under the will if the deceased left everything by will. If the will names a substitute heir for you, that person takes it. If nobody accepts, the estate passes to the state.

Can I refuse on behalf of my child?

Not on your own. Under Lithuanian law, parents need the prior permission of a court both to accept and to refuse an inheritance on behalf of a minor child. Apply early, because the court procedure has to fit within the three months, or the deadline may need to be renewed.

How long do creditors have to claim?

Creditors should make their claims within three months of the death. A court can renew that period for good reasons, but not if more than three years have passed since the death. Claims secured by a mortgage or pledge are not affected by this time limit.

I accepted and only then found out about large debts. What now?

An acceptance cannot simply be withdrawn. If the debts may exceed the value of the estate, you can ask the court to appoint an estate administrator, so that the debts are paid only from the estate. Get advice quickly.

Refusing an inheritance in Lithuania: debts and deadlines

The three-month rule

Under Lithuanian law, everything starts from the day the inheritance opens, normally the day of death. Within three months, each heir decides:

to accept, by applying to the notary or by taking over the property;
to accept on the basis of an inventory, by applying to the notary;
to refuse, by applying to the notary;
or to do nothing, which means the inheritance is not accepted.

The deadline does not wait for you to learn about the death, or for a letter from the notary. If you live abroad, act early: gathering documents and signing a power of attorney can take weeks. See inheriting property in Lithuania when you live abroad.

These rules apply when Lithuanian law governs the inheritance, which is normally the case when the deceased lived in Lithuania. If another country’s law applies, its rules on deadlines and debts apply instead. See which country’s law applies.

What accepting means for debts

Full acceptance

If you accept by applying to the notary or by taking over the property, you are liable for the deceased’s debts with all your own assets, not just what you inherited. If several heirs accept this way, creditors can claim the full amount from any of them, and the heirs then settle between themselves.

Debts include loans and credit cards, unpaid taxes, utility bills, rent, and guarantees the deceased gave for other people’s loans. A mortgage on the inherited flat stays attached to the flat.

Acceptance on the basis of an inventory

If you are not certain the estate is worth more than its debts, ask the notary to accept on the basis of an inventory (pagal turto apyrašą). Then:

The notary gives you an order to have an inventory made.
You hand it to a bailiff within two weeks. If you miss that, the order lapses and a new one is needed.
The bailiff lists the assets, their value, and all known debts and claims, normally within one month, or within three months if the estate is complicated.
You sign a declaration that the inventory is complete.

Your liability is then limited to the value of the estate. If one heir accepts on the basis of an inventory, all the heirs are treated as having done so.

The protection has a condition: honesty. If you leave out assets, hide the deceased’s debtors, add debts that do not exist, or fail to update the inventory when you learn something new, you lose the protection and become liable with all your assets.

Large debts after acceptance

If the deceased ran a sole proprietorship or farm, or if the debts may exceed the estate, an heir who has accepted can ask the district court to appoint an estate administrator. The debts are then paid only from the estate, and the court can decide on a sale or insolvency proceedings.

Refusing an inheritance

You can refuse by applying to the notary at the place where the inheritance opened, within the same three months. Rules to know:

You refuse everything. You cannot keep some assets and refuse others, or refuse with conditions.
You cannot refuse after you have applied to the notary to accept or asked for a certificate of inheritance.
If you took over the property, you can still refuse within the three months. You are then treated as having looked after the property for the other heirs.
Refusing has the same effect as never accepting. Your share goes to the other heirs.

Think about who takes your share. If every heir in the first group refuses, the next group inherits, and that can include your own children as the deceased’s grandchildren. They then face the same choice, and for minor children a court has to approve it.

Accepting from abroad

You can make all these applications through a representative with a power of attorney. In some EU countries, you can also make a declaration of acceptance or refusal before a local authority where you live. EU rules recognise it if it meets the form required there or under the law governing the inheritance. Make sure the Lithuanian notary is told within the three months, otherwise the estate may be settled without taking your declaration into account.

If you missed the deadline

A missed deadline is not always final:

With the other heirs’ consent. You can accept late without going to court if all the heirs who accepted agree.
Through the court. A court can renew the deadline if you missed it for a good reason, for example because you did not know about the death and could not have known.

In both cases you receive only what is still there, or the money from what has been sold. Delay costs you even when the deadline is renewed.

If an heir dies before accepting, their right to accept passes to their own heirs, who then have three months from that second death.

Before the three months are up

An heir who has taken over the property cannot sell or mortgage it while there are other heirs, until three months have passed or the certificate of inheritance has been issued. Until then, the property can be used only for urgent purposes: paying for the funeral and the deceased’s last medical care, supporting the deceased’s dependants, keeping a business running, paying employees, and protecting the property.

If the heirs are unknown, abroad, or not willing to act, or the deceased had large debts, the court can take steps to protect the estate. If a dispute between heirs is building up, read our guide to inheritance disputes.

Deadlines, refusing an inheritance and the deceased's debts