Limited inheritance is limited liability within the scope of the estate, that is to say, whether the scope of the estate is clear and unambiguous is the key to the implementation of the principle of limited inheritance, and the key to balancing the protection of the interests of the heirs and the interests of creditors, so it is necessary to ensure that the inheritance is separated from the inherent property of the heirs themselves. If the estate is mixed with the inherent property of the heirs and cannot be distinguished, it is necessary to ensure that the scope of the estate is clear, and there are usually the following situations and methods.
First, the law of obligations rule of commingled extinguishment does not apply in the case of limited inheritance. If the rights and obligations such as creditor's rights and debts between the heir and the decedent are mixed, based on the legal effect of general inheritance, once the decedent dies, the heir will generally inherit all the inheritance rights and obligations of the decedent, including the creditor's rights and debts. However, under the requirement of the principle of limited inheritance, in order to distinguish the inheritance from the inherent property of the heirs themselves, the inheritance laws of various countries around the world basically stipulate that the rules of the law of obligations of mixed extinguishment do not apply in the case of limited inheritance, such as Germany and Japan. China's Civil Code does not stipulate that in practice, some claims can be offset against each other due to confusion, and some propositions do not apply the rule of confusion and extinguishment.
Second, the separation of the estate from the inherent property of the heirs is achieved through the inventory of the estate. Whether the heir serves as the estate administrator or someone else serves as the estate administrator, it is the legal duty of the estate administrator to make an estate inventory, and when the estate is mixed with the inherent property of the heirs, it is an effective way to distinguish between the estate and the inherent property of the heirs, especially in the case where the heirs serve as the estate administrators, it is a practical way to limit the heirs to make an estate list in accordance with the law within a reasonable period of time. The German Civil Code, for example, has a similar provision. Although China's Civil Code stipulates that the estate administrator has the duty to make an estate list, it does not stipulate that the estate list is used as the basis for the heir's liability for the repayment of estate debts, but only stipulates that if the creditor's interests are damaged due to the improper production of the estate list, which is caused by the intention or gross negligence of the estate administrator, the creditor may require the estate administrator to bear the liability for damages.
Third, the estate is divided at the request of the creditors or legatees of the estate. In the event that the estate is mixed with the inherent property of the heirs and cannot be distinguished, the creditors of the estate or the legatee may apply to the court for the separation of the estate from the heirs' property within a certain period of time after the commencement of the inheritance. For example, the Japanese Civil Code has a special clause that stipulates the separation of inheritance, and the time limit here is three months.