Succession opens with the death of the deceased.

Unless it is otherwise provided for in this Code, an heir assumes all the rights and obligations pertaining to the estate of the decedent at the time of the commencement of the succession, except those rights and obligations which exclusively belong to the decedent.
An heir’s obligations to the debts of the decedent are limited to the extent of the property acquired from the estate.

If an heir receives gifts in property (assets) from the decedent within two years prior to the opening of succession, the assets shall be deemed as estate.
If property mentioned in the preceding paragraph is transferred or lose, the value of the property in question shall be calculated as when it was given.

A person who had been financially provided by the deceased before the latter's death shall be allocated a certain portion of the deceased's property by the family council, taking into consideration the extent of maintenance he used to receive and other relationships with the deceased.

Expenses relating to the management and partition of the deceased's property and the execution of the will are to be paid out of that property except those that have been incurred by the faults of the heir.

Where there are several heirs, the whole of the deceased's property is, before its partition, owned in common by the heirs.

In regard to the property in common provided by the preceding Article, the heirs may elect a person among themselves for its management.

Heirs shall be jointly liable for the debts of the decedent but liabilities are limited to the extent of the property acquired from the estate.
Among the heirs, each heir is liable for the decedent’s debts based upon their relative share of the total estate, unless otherwise provided by law or agreed upon by the heirs.

Heirs’ rights and obligations towards the decedent shall not be extinguished by virtue of the succession.

（Repealed）

An heir shall report to the court along with an inventory of the property of the decedent within three months after becoming aware of his or her right to the inheritance.
In regard to the three-month period in the preceding Paragraph, the court, if necessary, may extend the duration for filing an inventory report upon a petition of the heir.
If one of the heirs, based on Paragraph 1, has submitted an inventory of the property to the court, all other heirs are considered as if they have submitted an inventory of the property to the court.

A creditor may request the court to order the heirs to submit within three months an inventory of the property.
When a court is aware of creditors taking proceedings or other actions against heirs to request for payment of debt resulting from succession, the court may order heirs of the decedent submit within three months an inventory of the property.
The provisions of the preceding article paragraph 2 and 3 apply mutatis mutandis to the case provided in the preceding paragraph 1 and 2.

Where the heir submits an inventory report to the court in accordance with the preceding two Articles, the court shall give public notice according to the procedure of public summons, calling upon the creditors of the decedent to present their claims within a specified period of time.
The specified period of time provided by the preceding Paragraph shall not be less than three months.

An heir shall not, within the specified period of time provided by the preceding Article, make repayment to any of the deceased's creditors.

Upon the expiration of the specified period of time provided in Article 1157, an heir shall make repayment out of the deceased's property to such creditors as have presented their claims within the said period of time and to other creditors who are known to him in proportion to the amounts of their respective claims, but the rights of the preferential creditors must not be injured.
An heir shall, from the opening of the succession, make payments according to paragraph 1, even the debts are not yet due.
The debts that are not yet due in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to have matured when the succession begins. If there is no interest, the amount of the debt shall be deducted the legal interest from the expiration of a certain period stipulated in Article 1157 to the maturity.

Until an heir has performed his obligations in accordance with the preceding Article, he shall not hand over any legacy to a legatee.

An heir who has caused damages to the creditors of the deceased by acting contrary to Article 1158 to Article 1160 is liable to make compensation.
A person who has suffered damages as provided in the preceding Paragraph may claim reimbursement from such a creditor or a legatee who has improperly received repayments of the amount one has received improperly.
An heir shall not claim from the creditors or legatees the amount which they have received improperly.

Any creditor of the deceased who has failed to present one's claims within the specified period of time provided in Article 1157, and were also unknown to the heir, may exercise his right only upon such part of the deceased's property as remains after all other legal repayments.

An heir, who does not report to the court an inventory of the property of the decedent according to Articles 1156 and 1156-1, shall make repayment out of the decedent's property to the decedent’s creditors’ all rights in proportion to the amounts of their respective claims, but the rights of the preferential creditors must not be injured.
Until the preceding heir has performed his obligations in accordance with the preceding paragraph he shall not hand over any legacy to a legatee.
An heir shall, from the opening of the succession, make payments according to paragraph 1, even the debts are not yet due.
The debts that are not yet due in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to have matured when the succession begins. If there is no interest, the legal interest from the time of repayment to the time of maturity shall be deducted from the amount of the debt.

For a violation of Article 1162-1 by an heir, the creditors of the decedent may exercise their rights upon the part which shall be performed but not yet performed.
The heir’s obligations to the preceding creditors’ debts which shall be performed but not yet performed are not limited to the extent of the property acquired from the estate. This shall not apply to heirs who are persons of no or limited in capacity.
An heir who has caused damages to the creditors of the deceased by acting contrary to Article 1162-1 is liable to make compensation.
A person who has suffered damages as provided in the preceding Paragraph may claim reimbursement from such a creditor or a legatee who has improperly received repayments of the amount one has received improperly.
An heir shall not claim from the creditors or legatees the amount which they have received improperly.

In any of the following cases, an heir shall be disqualified to claim the benefit provided by Article 1148, Paragraph 2:
(1) Where the heir has grossly concealed the decedent’s property;
(2) Where the heir grossly falsifies entries in the inventory report of the decedent’s property;
(3) Where the heir has disposed of the decedent’s property with the intention of fraudulently infringing upon the rights of the deceased's creditors; or

An heir may at any time demand the partition of the inheritance unless it is otherwise provided by law or agreed upon by contract.

Where the will of the deceased has determined, or asked a third person to determine the method of partition of the inheritance, the method so determined shall be followed.
Where a will prohibits the partition of the deceased's property, the effect of such prohibition is limited to ten years.

Where one of the heirs is an unborn child, partition of the deceased's property by the other heirs shall not take place unless the entitled portion of such child has been reserved.
In regard to such partition of inheritance, the mother acts as agent of the unborn child.

(Repealed)

After the partition of the inheritance each heir bears, in proportion to the share he has acquired, the same obligation of warranty as that of a seller in regard to the property that the other heirs have acquired by the partition.

After the partition of the inheritance each heir is, in regard to claims acquired by other heirs consequent upon the partition, bound to warrant, in proportion to the share he has acquired, the solvency of the debtor at the time of the partition.
Where a claim provided by the preceding Paragraph is subject to a condition precedent or where the time of performance of the obligation is not yet due, each heir is bound to warrant the solvency of the debtor at the time when the obligation is to be performed.

Where one of the heirs bound for warranty under the two preceding Articles is insolvent and cannot make reimbursement for the amount he undertakes, the part which he is unable to reimburse is borne by the heir, who has the claim for reimbursement, and the other heirs respectively in proportion to the shares they have acquired. But if the inability to reimburse was caused by the fault of the claimant, he is barred to demand the others to divide up such burden.

If after the partition of the deceased's property, the creditors have consented to the assignment of the deceased's repayment liability to one heir or to its division among the heirs, each heir is thus released from their joint liability.
The heirs are released from their joint liability at the expiration of five years from the time of the partition of the inheritance, or, if the date of performance comes after the partition, from that date.

If one of the heirs is in debts with the deceased, the amount of the debt shall at the time of partition of the inheritance, be deducted from that heir's entitled portion.

If one of the heirs has, before the opening of succession, received gifts in property from the deceased for the purpose of concluding a marriage, separation from home, or carrying on trade, the value of such gifts shall be added to the inheritable property at the opening of the succession, thus constituting together the property of the succession. But this does not apply where the deceased has made a contrary declaration of intention at the time of giving.
The value of such gifts as provided in the preceding Paragraph shall, at the time of the partition of inheritance, be deducted from the entitled portion of the heir in question.
The value of a gift in question shall be calculated as when it was given.

An heir may waive his or her right to an inheritance.
Such waiver provided by the preceding Paragraph must be asserted by a written declaration to the court within three months after becoming aware of his or her right to the inheritance.
After the waiver of inheritance, he or she shall notify in writing the person who is entitled to succeed the inheritance due to his or her waiver unless such a notification is impractical.

Waiver of inheritance takes effect retroactively at the opening of the succession.

Where one of the first priority heirs as provided in Article 1138 waives his or her right to the inheritance, his or her entitled portion shall accrue to those other heirs whose rights to the inheritance accrued concurrently with him or her.
Where one of the second, third or forth priority heirs waives his or her right to the inheritance, his or her entitled portion shall accrue to the other heirs of the same priority.
Where all the heirs in the same priority as the decedent’s spouse waive their rights to the inheritance and there is no heir in the subsequent priority, their entitled portions shall accrue to the spouse.
Where the spouse waives his or her right to the inheritance, the entitled portion shall accrue to those other heirs whose rights to the inheritance accrued concurrently with him or her.
For heirs of first priority, if all those closest in degree of relationship to the decedent waive their right to the inheritance, the lineal descendants by blood to heirs of first priority in the next degree of relationship shall inherit.
Where all preceding order of priority waive their right to the inheritance, the heirs who are next in order shall inherit their entitled portions. If it is not certain whether or not there is an heir in the next order of priority or all the heirs in the fourth order waive their right to the inheritance, the relevant provisions in this law regulating unacknowledged succession shall apply.
Where a person, who becomes an heir due to the waiver of other heirs, waives his or her right to the inheritance, such waiver must be conducted within three months after becoming aware of his or her right to the inheritance

A heir who has waived the right to inheritance shall continue to manage the property of the deceased with the same degree of caution as managing his own property before other heir(s) or manager(s) begin to take over the management.

Where, upon the opening of the succession, it is not clear whether or not there is an heir, the family council shall appoint a manager for the property of the deceased within one month, and report to the court the opening of the succession and the appointment of the manager.

Upon report of the family council pursuant to the preceding Article, the court shall give public notice in accordance with the procedures of public summons, calling upon the heirs to acknowledge the succession within a period of not less than six months.
In the absence of a family council, or where the family council fails to appoint a manager for the property of the deceased within the time specified in the preceding Article, any interested party or public prosecutor may apply to the court for appointment of a manager for the property of the deceased, and then the court shall give public summons pursuant to the preceding Paragraph.

The court may, where it is not clear whether there is an heir upon the opening of the succession, and prior to the appointment of a manager for the property of the deceased, adopt necessary measures to preserve the property upon application of an interested party or a public prosecutor.

The functions of a manager for the property of the deceased are as follows:
(1) To draw up an inventory of the property of the deceased;
(2) To take such measures as are necessary for the preservation of the property of the deceased;
(3) To request the court to give public notice in accordance with the procedure of public summons, fixing a period of time not less than one year and ordering the creditors and legatees of the deceased to make within such period a statement of their claims or a declaration as to whether they are willing to accept the legacies. Where the creditors and legatees of the deceased are already known to the manager, they shall be notified respectively;
(4) To settle claims, and to deliver legacies;
(5) To hand over the property in cases where the succession has been acknowledged by an heir or the property accrues to the Treasury.
The manager shall draw up the inventory of the deceased's property provided in Subparagraph 1 of the preceding Paragraph within three months after coming into office. The settlement of claims under Subparagraph 4 shall precede the delivery of legacies. Where it is necessary for settling claims or delivering legacies, the manager may sell the deceased's property with the consent of the family council.

The manager shall, at the request of the family council, the creditors or legatees of the deceased, make a report on or given an explanation for the deceased's property.

The manager for the property of the deceased shall not settle any obligation with creditor(s) of the deceased nor deliver any legacy to legatee(s) of the deceased before expiration of the period provided in Subparagraph 3 of Paragraph 1 of Article 1179.

Creditors or legatees of the deceased who fail to make such statement or declaration as provided in Subparagraph 3 of Paragraph 1 of Article 1179 may exercise their right only upon such part of the deceased's property as remains over.

A manager for the property is entitled to remuneration, the amount of which shall be determined by the court in consideration of his or her relation with the deceased, management challenges and any other relevant circumstances. The court may order the applicant to pay in advance if necessary.

Where an heir acknowledges the succession within the period provided in Article 1178, the manager, in regard to acts done by him in the course of performing his functions before such acknowledgement by the heir, is legally deemed to have been the agent of the heir.

Where no heir acknowledges the succession, on the expiration of the period provided in Article 1178, such part of the property of the deceased as remains over after the settlement of claims and the delivery of legacies accrues to the Treasury.