If making a claim for payment on the income and accounts of a debtor have not led to complete satisfaction of the claimant’s claim, the bailiff must make a claim for payment on the debtor’s other assets and proprietary rights pursuant to § 8 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure. The bailiff may ask you to submit a list of your assets in order to obtain information about your assets and the obligation encumbering them (e.g. balance of a mortgage). Submitting a list of assets helps the bailiff assess the probability of success of the enforcement proceedings. Submitting the data concerning the their assets is beneficial for the debtor, because it may give clarity in respect of the sale of the assets or, if there are several registered assets, helps decide which asset should be dealt with first.
The obligation to submit a list of assets on the demand of a bailiff arises from § 60 of the Code of Enforcement Proceedings, which stipulates that a debtor is required, at the request of a bailiff, to submit a list of the assets of the debtor, including obligations. A list of assets must, in addition to the existing assets, set out:
assets that a debtor has transferred to persons connected with him or her within the meaning of § 117 of the Bankruptcy Act for a charge during the year preceding commencement of the enforcement proceedings;
assets that a debtor has given as a gift during the two years preceding commencement of the enforcement proceedings.
Assets that cannot be seized must be indicated in a list of assets only if substitute seizure of property is presumed possible. Things not subject to seizure are: personal effects of a debtor and household effects, kitchenware, bedclothes, beds and other things used for domestic purposes that are essential to satisfy household needs, taking account of the amount of the debt of the debtor; at least one technical device that ensures a debtor the use of the right to receive information prescribed in subsection 44 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia; foodstuffs necessary for a debtor and their family for one month and heating material necessary for one heating period to heat the residence or, if there is no such supply by the time of enforcement and acquisition of the supply is not ensured in any other manner, a sum of money necessary for acquisition of the supply. The full list of things that cannot be seized is set out in § 66 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
If a debtor, without good reason, fails to submit a list of assets to the bailiff or fails to perform the obligation to take an oath, a court may impose compelled attendance and, if necessary, detention in respect of the person who is required to submit the list or take the oath. A debtor may be sentenced to detention for up to 30 days. Basis: § 62 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
A debtor provides a bailiff with information on the assets of the debtor, which the bailiff needs in connection with the enforcement proceedings. Third persons who are in possession of property belonging to a debtor or have proprietary obligations to the debtor are also required to provide information concerning the property of the debtor. Employees of a debtor and former employees whose employment relationship has terminated during the year preceding the commencement of the enforcement proceedings are also required to provide information. Basis: § 59 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
In order to cooperate with the bailiff, you can send us a list of assets with data concerning you on your own initiative before the demand to do so is submitted to you. You will find the form of the list of assets under For Debtor – Forms – List of Assets. You can send the list of assets to us by e-mail, ordinary mail or by delivering it yourself or leaving it in the mailbox by the door of the bailiff’s office.
