>The Beraisa teaches that Beis Din does not make such an assumption, and the creditor collects equally from all of the recipients.
The brit is between the creditor shechiv mera, not between the creditor and the heirs, correct? The above statement seems to put undue burden on the inheritors otherwsie. So shouldn't the debts be paid first than the heirs get theirs afterwards? Otherwise the heirs would have to wait an unspecified amount of time before claiming and using their inheritance for any debts to clear on the inheritance. Further they would be obliged to retain the inheritance in such a way that shows that it was all they received (so that creditor does not go after the inheritors other resources to fulfill the original debt -- which they did not incur).
Kevin (Chaim Kalman) Minerley, Red Hook, NY USA
You are correct that the debt is between the creditor and the Shechiv Mera. However, the inheritors of an estate take the place of the deceased, and may use the estate until the creditor claims his debt. They do not have to wait to use the estate until they pay their debt, just as the debtor did not have to.
The onus of proof is on the creditor, and, if there is doubt, he would have to prove that any specific property was indeed part of the debtor's estate before he could claim from it.
Dov Freedman