我國限定責任繼承與美國遺產清算制度之比較

Abstract

民國98年6月10日我國民法繼承編修正公布，改以繼承人對於繼承債務負有限責任為本則，惟修法倉促，存在諸多不周延之處。 在有限責任繼承制度之下，必須釐清遺產的範圍，始知責任的範圍。遺產清算的法律程序，旨在規範遺產應依循何種程序分配給利害關係人。如何釐清遺產的範圍？遺產在分配前應如何管理使用？遺產的內部關係與外部關係應如何調節？遺產應依何種程序分配？為本文探討的重點。 我國採取當然繼承主義，被繼承人死亡之瞬間，遺產之所有權當然地移轉給全體繼承人公同共有，全體繼承人承受被繼承人財產法上整體的法律地位，此包含積極遺產與消極遺產；對之，英美法系國家採取間接繼承主義（即剩餘財產交付主義），透過遺產查驗程序，由遺產代理人管理遺產並償還債務後分配遺產，受益人僅獲得積極遺產，且共同繼承人不發生遺產共有。本研究參考美國《統一繼承法典》，比較這兩種迥然不同的繼承制度，從繼承法諸多面向討論兩個制度的利弊得失，並以該討論結果，作為評析我國民法繼承編之基礎。 整體而言，美國繼承制度有關提示遺囑、通知利害關係人與短期時效之規定較我國完善，這也使得遺產範圍之明確性與遺產分配結果之安定性明顯優於我國，值得參考。然而，上述美國的遺產清算制度由於程序成本過高，對於不具爭訟性的遺產而言，形成勞費成本的浪費，且存在遺產代理人濫權之問題。近三十年來美國人民為規避遺產查驗程序，使得非查驗遺產工具激增，已嚴重侵害繼承債權人的權益，招致廣泛的批評。從而，本研究認為，面對現代社會財富型態的改變與家庭結構變遷，我國目前採行的當然繼承主義法制，應可維持。 對於我國現行繼承制度，本研究認為，在對外關係上，為保護繼承債權人之權益，應強制繼承人為通知，當繼承人知悉繼承債務存在時，更進一步要求繼承人必須開具遺產清冊陳報法院，以明遺產範圍，始得享有物之有限責任；繼承人間之連帶責任與限定責任繼承格格不入，應予刪除；美國法上短期消滅時效制度值得參考，惟短期消滅時效制度影響債權人權益甚鉅，應謹慎為之；如增訂繼承法上短期消滅時效制度，時效期間屆至前，共同繼承人不得任意清償債務，亦不得任意解消公同共有關係，如有違反，應視為繼承人拋棄限定責任繼承利益。在對內關係亦即遺產如何分配予共同繼承人及受遺贈人之層次上，繼承回復請求權之立法與實務見解不當，應予檢討。另外，改善通知制度之有效性，亦可促進遺產權利義務關係之釐清。

On June 10, 2009, Taiwan's legislator’s passed amendments to the part of the Succession in Civil Code. “Succession of Limited Liability” became the default rule of inheritance law, in replacement of “Succession of Unconditional Acceptance.” However, several problems arose during the hasty amendments. “Universal Succession” is the norm in Taiwan. The title to the decedent’s property passed to the heirs automatically and by operation of law without the need for a personal representative or probate. The heirs who take title to the decedent’s estates are responsible for paying the decedent’s creditors. Under the updated Civil Code in Taiwan, debt payment obligation of heirs is limited to the range of inherited estates only. In this sense, the procedure to clarify the range of inherited estates, as well as the rights and obligations related, is of great importance to the research of “Succession of Limited Liability.” In this thesis, a comparative study is conducted on Succession of Limited Liability in Taiwan and the Probate in the United States, with an insight into researches of scholars and the inheritance law in the United States and Taiwan. The study of the inheritance law in the United States is mainly based on Uniform Probate Code. Several issues are discussed in this thesis, such as the co-ownership of the inherited estates, the recovery of estate, non-claim statues, the protection of decedent’s creditors and notices to interested parties. In sum, this thesis aims to explore and evaluate the inheritance law in the United States and Taiwan, with an attempt to comment on the amendments mentioned above.