Bankruptcy over the deceased's estate (inheritance) as a form of personal bankruptcy

Bankruptcy over the deceased's estate is one of the forms of personal bankruptcy. This institute contains a number of specifics that according to certain elements separate it from the personal bankruptcy. However, most of the rules of personal bankruptcy must apply to this form of bankruptcy, given the status of the deceased, his property and heirs. In order to be able to define the rules of personal bankruptcy in case of bankruptcy over the deceased's estate, we must start from the basic rules of inheritance law concerning the acceptance of inheritance and debts of inheritance. Also, important elements must be defined from the standpoint of the rules of the personal bankruptcy, namely the status of the deceased before death, the source of creditors' claims, the status of inheritance, as well as the possibility of conducting a special personal bankruptcy against the heir. When we talk about the status of the deceased before death, we mean that he was engaged in some economic activity as an entrepreneur or he was a member of a company that has unlimited liability where he is liable with his property for the debts of that company. Finally, the deceased could be only a consumer. The author tries to answer whether the status of the deceased before death is important for conducting bankruptcy proceedings over the deceased's estate. The paper also pays attention to the German legislation, as well as to the US legislation in this area. German Insolvency Act regulates personal bankruptcy in detail, as well as bankruptcy over the deceased's estate. In addition, the author refers to some important provisions of the Act on inheritance of Serbia, as well as of the Act on consumer's bankruptcy of Croatia.