Lack of eligible beneficiaries to inherit the deceased employee’s claims is a serious problem for many employers

The Law Firm’s attorneys provided legal support to a Client who is an employer in the process of submitting the deceased employee’s receivables to a court deposit. Our actions were aimed at protecting the Client’s interests against claims by persons entitled to inherit from deceased employees and against allegations of paying receivables to an unauthorized person.

First, the Law Firm’s attorneys assisted the Client in identifying the persons entitled to inherit from the Client’s deceased employee.

Since none of the deceased employee’s family members entitled to statutory inheritance expressed an interest in claiming the estate, the Law Firm’s attorneys prepared and filed a motion with the competent court requesting permission to deposit a substantial sum of money into court deposit.

It should be noted that, pursuant to Article 63(1) § 2 of the Labor Code, property rights arising from the employment relationship pass, upon the employee’s death, in equal shares, to the spouse and other persons meeting the conditions required to receive a family pension under the provisions governing pensions from the Social Insurance Fund. Only in the absence of the persons indicated above do these rights become part of the estate.

In case of our Client’s deceased employee, the aforementioned Article 63(1)(2) of the Labor Code could not be applied, as the employee was unmarried and had no children.

For this reason, the funds remaining from our Client’s deceased employee were placed in court deposit.

Pursuant to Article 467(1) of the Civil Code, except as provided for in other provisions, a debtor may deposit the subject matter of the performance with the court if, due to circumstances beyond the debtor’s control, the debtor does not know who the creditor is or does not know the creditor’s place of residence or registered office.

It is generally accepted that the lack of information regarding the employee’s potential heirs, or the inability to contact the heirs, constitutes a legal impediment as referred to in Article 467(1) of the Civil Code, which authorizes the employer to deposit the payment with the court.

The Law Firm’s attorneys prepared the appropriate petition to the court and guided the Client through the court proceedings related to the establishment of the court deposit.