Monitor Prawniczy

no. 17/2022

Action for enforcement against a deceased debtor vs the enforcement fee due to a court bailiff

Michał Krakowiak
Autor jest profesorem uczelni w Katedrze Postępowania Cywilnego I WPiA Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego; ORCID: 0000-0002-6212-5517.
Abstract

The commented resolution concerns the issue of collecting a relative fee from a creditor if enforcement has been initiated against a debtor who had died before an action for enforcement was submitted to a bailiff. The author of the gloss criticizes the position of the Supreme Court that any action for enforcement filed by a creditor against a deceased debtor constitutes an evidently unmerited initiation of enforcement proceedings. Such a generalised position is unacceptable. The decisive factor should be the creditor’s knowledge at the date of submission and objective possibilities of obtaining information about the debtor’s death. A different interpretation of Art. 30 of the Act on Bailiff Costs leads to challenging the substantive right of the creditor established under the lawful enforcement title.