Inheritance in Bulgaria passes assets and liabilities together. You inherit the flat and the debts attached to the estate as one thing. If you do not want the debts, you cannot keep the property and refuse them. It is all or nothing.
That single rule is behind most of the mistakes foreign heirs make.
What this covers
At the start. The certificate of heirs, which is issued in Bulgaria and is needed for almost everything that follows. Establishing what the estate actually contains: property, accounts, shares in companies, obligations.
The decision. Accepting the estate, renouncing it, or accepting it under inventory. These three are not the same and are not chosen on instinct. They are chosen after advice, because two of them are difficult to undo.
When there are debts. There are ways not to answer for the deceased’s obligations with your own assets, but they depend on acting in the right order.
Between heirs. Voluntary and judicial partition. Contested wills. The reserved share, which limits what a will can do.
From abroad. Heirs in different countries, tracing assets, recognition of foreign documents, and which law applies where more than one country is involved.
When to instruct a lawyer
When any of the following is true: an heir lives outside Bulgaria, there is any suspicion of debts, the heirs disagree, the paperwork on the property is unclear, or a Bulgarian institution has written to you and you cannot read it.
When you probably do not need me. Two heirs, on good terms, one flat, and you are certain there are no debts. A notary can handle that.
One thing people get wrong
You can accept an inheritance without signing anything.
If you take money from the deceased’s account, sell something of theirs or transfer their car into your name, that counts as acceptance. Your actions show that you have taken the estate. After that, renouncing is no longer possible, and if there were debts, they are now yours as well.
So the first step after a death in Bulgaria is to do nothing on your own until it is clear what the estate contains.
A note on timing
Accepting under inventory is not open indefinitely. If you think there may be debts, this is not a conversation for several months from now.