No Payment for Debt over the Property Inherited

If someone request for the approval of qualified acceptance of heritage, which means that he or she will pay one`s inherited debt within the limit of inherited property, he or she doesn`t have to pay as much money as the debt exceeds the property from now on. One can request the approval within 3 months since he or she realized that the property of dead parents are less than the debt of them.

Previously, in case that one does not request the approval of qualified acceptance of heritage or give up the heritage within 3 months after the death date of parents, he or she was liable for the whole debt inherited regardless of one`s realization of the fact that debt exceeds property. But there have been legal confusions since The Constitutional Court sentenced it unconstitutional in 98 because of the lack of alternative law.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of National Assembly decided the revised civil law bill contains such things on 18th. And the bill altered the extinctive prescription of claim for the restoration of inheritance, if there were trespasses on inheritance by a false inheritor, from `10 years from the beginning of inheritance` to `10 years from the trespass on inheritance`.

And LJC passed the revised personal reference law bill, which reduces the retention of the reference contract that is required to one`s relatives when one applies for a work, and reduces the responsibility of guarantee into the case of the loss from the employee`s intention or terrible mistake.

And the revised tobacco enterprise law bill was passed in LJC, which obliges that the list of harmful component such as tar and nicotine and its content in each cigarette should be noticed on the surface of every cigarette box and in advertisement. It is just a recommendation in the present Enforcement Ordinance to show the harmful components on the cigarette box.

The revised bill provides that it will be fined up to 10 million won or one year imprisonment as well as correction orders such as restriction of import and sale when there is no notice of ingredients and its content, or the content exceeds allowable error.

Jong-Koo Yoon jkmas@donga.com