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The death of an individual entrepreneur is a legal fact that entails the termination of legal relations. There are two ways to confirm the death of a businessman with government agencies - with the help of medical documents and by providing a court decision establishing the date of death or declaring the person dead. In this case, the status of individual entrepreneur is not inherited. It remains to figure out how the closure of an individual entrepreneur occurs in connection with the death of an entrepreneur.
Closing an individual entrepreneur due to the death of an entrepreneur
The economic activity of an individual entrepreneur may be interrupted by his death. In this case, current legislation provides for a simplified procedure for closing an individual entrepreneur . The Federal Tax Service must receive a corresponding notification of death from the registry office in which the corresponding registration entry was made.
The ineffectiveness of the work of the registry office employees may lead to the fact that tax inspectors will continue to charge tax payments and fees, as well as fines and penalties, that are obligatory for payment by an individual entrepreneur. Any delay in closing an individual entrepreneur may lead to the fact that the entrepreneur’s debts incurred after his death for taxes and fees will be transferred to the payment of his heirs.
An entrepreneur can also be declared dead by a court decision . Such a court decision can be made if nothing is known about the whereabouts of the entrepreneur for 5 years or when his disappearance is associated with the unexpected disappearance of a person under unclear circumstances that threatened his life and gives rise to the assumption of his death. The deadline for declaring an entrepreneur dead on the latest grounds is determined by current legislation within 6 months.
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If the individual entrepreneur has debt
As a rule, to close an individual entrepreneur due to death, it is enough to provide the tax authorities with a death certificate and a copy of it, although most often this is not necessary, since the tax office receives information from the registry office that the entrepreneur has died. But sometimes, for some reason, this information does not reach the tax authorities, and then relatives begin to receive notifications about the businessman’s debt from the tax office, the Pension Fund and other institutions. In this case, the relatives themselves need to carry out the procedure for closing the individual entrepreneur.
There are often situations when a businessman leaves debts after his death, and it is possible to automatically close an individual entrepreneur only if the deceased businessman has neither heirs nor property and the court cannot collect his debts from anyone. But, as a rule, an entrepreneur still has some property, which after his death goes to the state if the businessman has no heirs. In this case, the state repays the individual entrepreneur’s debt from these funds.
Sometimes the question arises: how to close an individual entrepreneur in connection with the death of a businessman, when after he died there is no inheritance left, although he has successors? Theoretically, the individual entrepreneur’s debt is paid by the heirs, but since there is no inheritance, they do not need to enter into inheritance rights, and there is no one to pay the debt.
The most common is the latter case, when after the death of an individual entrepreneur there remains property that there is someone to inherit. In these circumstances, if the size of the estate is so small that it does not cover the amount of debts that the successors will need to pay, there is no point for them to enter into inheritance rights. If the value of a businessman’s property covers his debts, it is quite profitable for the successors to enter into an inheritance, pay off the individual entrepreneur’s debts and make a profit from what remains.
Thus, if a deceased businessman has debts, then his successors, upon entering into inheritance rights, must pay them all. The heirs must remember this and, before deciding to inherit the property of this person and his business, weigh and calculate everything. It is quite likely that it may turn out that entering into an inheritance will be completely unprofitable.
Priority actions after the death of an MP.
The death of a person, unfortunately, can happen not only from old age, but also for other reasons. Sometimes this happens completely unexpectedly. Since an individual entrepreneur legally has the status of an individual, the first actions taken in the event of his death are similar to the actions in the event of the death of an ordinary citizen. Namely, it is imperative to record this unfortunate fact at the registry office and obtain there an official document confirming this - the “Death Certificate of a Citizen.” The death of an individual entrepreneur is the objective reason for the commencement of the registration procedure with government agencies for the termination of activities of this person as an entrepreneur. To begin this procedure, the “Death Certificate” must be transferred by the civil registry office to the Federal Tax Service department within a period not exceeding ten days from the date of its registration. But it is better, given the imperfections of our bureaucratic system, for the heirs themselves to do this. This will be faster and more reliable. And this is in their interests, because until the procedure for closing the individual entrepreneur begins, new charges of mandatory payments to the Federal Tax Service, Pension Fund, etc. may well arise.
Legally, the death of an individual entrepreneur is divided into presumptive and obvious. In the case of obvious death, when a citizen is identified and the fact of his death is confirmed by relevant medical documents, a “Death Certificate” is issued immediately. But sometimes it happens that there is only an assumption that a citizen has died or died. This may happen under the following circumstances:
- For five years there is no evidence that the person is alive. He doesn’t show up at home, none of his relatives have seen him, etc.
- If the entrepreneur was in a territory with active hostilities, and there is no information about him for two years or more from the moment of their cessation.
- If an entrepreneur died in any man-made disaster or during an earthquake, tsunami, etc. And there was no information about him for six months.
In such cases, the fact of the death of a citizen, in order for his heirs to carry out further legal actions, must be established and legitimized by the court.
Grounds for inheritance after an individual entrepreneur
The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides only two grounds for inheriting the property of an individual entrepreneur - by law and by the will of the testator. The legislation of the Russian Federation places the will of the testator above blood or other family ties. The testator knows better who will manage the management of his property and will be able to continue his business. That is, first the citizens appointed as heirs in the will are called to inherit, and only then the turn comes to the heirs by law.
Inheritance of property of an individual entrepreneur according to the law
According to the law, the closest relatives of the deceased person - the spouse, if he is alive, his children and parents - can claim the property of an entrepreneur. This happens if the property or part of it is not included in the will .
In the case when there is not a single heir who wants or can inherit the property of the individual entrepreneur along with the rights and obligations, it comes under the control of the state. That is, it becomes escheatable.
If there are no immediate relatives or they refuse to accept the inheritance, relatives of the next lines of inheritance (Articles 1142-1145 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The property of the testator can only be received by relatives of one of the circles. Succession moves to the next priority if none of the closer heirs agrees to accept the inherited property.
Inheritance after individual entrepreneur by will
By the will of the testator, both his relatives and non-relatives: colleagues, friends, pupils, students can become heirs. It is most logical if the testator appoints an existing individual entrepreneur as heir.
The will allows you to list several successors , indicating their shares in percentage or fractional terms, or to indicate one who will receive all the property (Article 1119 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
According to Art. 1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, provides for the existence of heirs who will receive the so-called obligatory share of property . These include disabled children, parents and the spouse of the testator. They will receive part of the deceased person's property, even if they are not named in the will. From the position of the testator, it is better to assign to such relatives a certain share of property in an amount no less than that stipulated by law . This will solve two problems: it will help to avoid difficulties when dividing the entire production (trade, any other) complex of the individual entrepreneur’s property and will show his concern for loved ones.
The manager died, what to do{q}{q}{q}
Let's first consider a situation in which an employer who is registered as an Individual Entrepreneur (IP) has died.
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In this case, on the day of the individual entrepreneur’s death, all employment relationships with him automatically terminate. This is stated in paragraph 6 of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (the employment contract is terminated if the death of the employer - an individual) occurs. But who in this case will issue the work books of the remaining employees and make final payments with them{q}
Two main points that you should definitely pay attention to: 1. All powers of attorney issued to an individual entrepreneur become invalid on the day of his death.2. You should not make any payments from the current account, for example, pay bills, pay wages, etc., these actions are illegal and the legal heirs have the right to recover these funds from the guilty parties.
All final payments must be made by the heirs. Each employee can write to the heirs with a request to calculate and pay wages for the time worked. If the heirs refuse to fulfill their obligations, then such an application should be submitted to the notary office at the place of residence of the individual entrepreneur.
If the heirs, even at the request of a notary, do not want to pay, then after 6 months from the date of death of the individual entrepreneur, you can file a lawsuit, it is advisable to make a class action. Do not forget that in accordance with current legislation, the heirs receive not only the property of the deceased, but also his debts.
The next important question is who should make an entry in the work books{q}Of course, the work book can be taken away without making a corresponding entry in it; problems with employment in a new place should not arise. Article 64 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that the absence of a record of dismissal is not a reason for refusal to hire.
What to do if the employer is an LLC.
In this situation everything is much simpler. Management of the enterprise passes to the person specified in the will, and in his absence, trust management of the organization is introduced on the basis of Article 1173 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This procedure is introduced by a notary, who concludes a trust agreement.
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Trust management of property of an individual entrepreneur
In order to continue the activities of the testator without loss, it is necessary to ensure the continuity of production processes until the successors take over their rights and can independently carry out activities. In the interests of the heirs, a so-called trustee (Article 1173 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Individual entrepreneur property management has a number of features. In this case, rights and obligations are not a single complex subject to transfer. This means that trust management can concern individual objects (cars, real estate, production equipment), but not the entire individual entrepreneur in the aggregate.
The purpose of appointing a manager is to obtain benefits from the property included in the estate. A third person with experience in managing and running a business is appointed to this position as a notary or executor of the testator . Relations with the manager and assigned tasks are regulated by agreement.
Manager is a temporary position that ceases to exist after the heirs enter into inheritance.
If there is no debt
If an entrepreneur has no debts to the state, closing an individual entrepreneur after the death of a given businessman is very simple. To do this, you only need to obtain a death certificate from the registry office, make a copy of it and take it to the tax office. It is important to remember that it is possible to close an individual entrepreneur on the basis that the entrepreneur has died only in the branch of the Federal Tax Service where he was registered. It will not be difficult to find out his address, because the name of the branch is printed on the individual entrepreneur’s registration certificate. You can find out the address by this name in any directory.
Once the tax authorities receive information that the entrepreneur has died, the liquidation of the individual entrepreneur begins.
His relatives do not need to write applications or go to other organizations, because this data from the tax office is automatically sent to all institutions that need this information. This is everything necessary to close an individual entrepreneur due to the death of an entrepreneur.
