Separatio Bonorum
Once succession had taken place, all the assets and liabilities of the testator's estate passed to the heir. The estate of the heir and that of the deceased now merged, and the heir had to pay both his and the testator's debts out of the composite estate.
Where the heir's estate was insolvent and that of the deceased was a strong one, such fusion could prove detrimental to the creditors of the deceased estate who, after the testator's death, may have to contend with an insolvent estate (that of the heir). To safeguard the interests of such creditors, the praetor allowed them to claim a guarantee (satisdatio) from an heir perceived as unable to pay the debts of the deceased.[1128] The logical development of this remedy was an order of the praetor, upon application of the interested creditors, that the two estates should remain separate until the creditors' claims had been met. Such separation of estates (separatio bonorum) served to protect the creditors of the deceased by reserving the estate for them to the exclusion of the creditors of the heir, who might be insolvent.[1129] The estate was sold and the creditor's claims were paid out of the proceeds, while the residue was transferred to the heir. However, if the claims of the creditors exceeded the proceeds from the sale, they could not claim against the estate of the heir. The separatio bonorum had to be applied for within 5 years from the acceptance of the inheritance.5.5.3
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