상속포기와 채권자취소권

The renunciation of inheritance as a subject of the right of revocation by the creditors of a successor

Under the article 1005 of Korean Civil Code, the deceased's rights and obligations are transferred to heirs at the time of the commencement of inheritance. It means that the heir must be liable for all duties and debts inherited at first, thereby might be less favorable to heirs. To protect them, It is stipulated that heirs may have the right to renunciate the succession. Then, the renunciation of inheritance can be annulled by the creditors when its intention is only to avoid the civil execution? The answer is not drawn from the attribution system of a inherited estate or the characteristics of a renunciation of succession automatically, and neither does Korean Civil Code have any express provision on this issue. There are competing claims on this subject, where the common view on this seems to be negative considering the respect of a personal decision of successor and its 'highly personal' nature. On the other hand, the others argue that the renunciation of inheritance also has a nature as a property right. And, the Supreme Court recently held that the renunciation of succession cannot be annulled by the creditors of a successor. When the renunciation of inheritance is discussed, no one can deny the personal freedom to decide whether to accept the succession or not is really important. Because, it is related to a purpose of the renunciation system. However, regarding the issue of this paper, the renunciation of succession and the revocation by a creditor, it is not enough only to focus on the successor's right to decide. The reason is the creditor's right of revocation is also relevant to this issue. When harmonization is needed or conflict exists between the two other legal system(renunciation of inheritance & revocation by a creditor), it is required to make every endeavor to bring an appropriate interpretation. Under the thorough examination of the bifurcated views and a series of decisions of the Supreme Court concerning annulment of so-called 'personal act (family status-related juristic act)', such as the partition of inheritance property by mutual consent among co-successors or the division of property in divorce beyond appropriate extent, I came up with the conclusion that a renunciation of inheritance may be the subject of the right of revocation only in case by the successor's creditors. A annulment by the inheritance obligee (the deceased's creditor) is impermissible, considering it is against the purpose of the renunciation of succession-system.