We successfully represented bankruptcy trustees in a dispute over substitution of wills, which increased bankruptcy assets by approximately EUR 150 000.
A pioneering solution
Traditionally, the consent of the other party is required in order to receive money from a notarial deposit. Thus, the main issue in the dispute was whether the court could replace the necessary consent with a judgment.
The court found that if the money is not deposited in the interests of any person or for the performance of any specific obligations and the depositor has gone bankrupt, the party does not have the right to refuse to give their declaration of intention to pay the money to the bankrupt company. Consequently, the court replaced the other party’s consent with a court judgment and released the bankrupt company’s money from the notarial deposit.
Significant remedy for trustee in bankruptcy
The decision is important because the court explained how it is determined which person is entitled to claim the deposited assets in a situation where this has not been determined in the deposit contract and the depositor has gone bankrupt.
It is also an important remedy for a bankruptcy trustee in a situation where, by depositing the debtor’s money with a notary, an attempt is made to keep the money away from bankruptcy proceedings or, through depositing, to prefer one particular creditor in violation of the principle of equal treatment of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.
Our team and services
We represented the client on all matters related to contesting the claim, in all instance courts.
Our client team included partner Carri Ginter, head of our Estonian insolvency and restructuring workstream Mari Agarmaa and associate Liisa-Maria Puur.
