Short answer. Only within limits. Article 1095 says your co-heirs warrant that a credit assigned to you as collectible was good at the time of partition, not that the debtor stays solvent forever. If the debtor was solvent then but later became insolvent, you bear that loss. And the warranty can be enforced only within five years of the partition.
What the law says
the co-heirs shall not be liable for the subsequent insolvency of the debtor of the estate, but only for his insolvency at the time the partition is made
Civil Code, Article 1095 — Assigned Credits. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The warranty of the solvency of the debtor can only be enforced during the five years following the partition.
Civil Code, Article 1095 — Assigned Credits. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Co-heirs do not warrant bad debts, if so known to, and accepted by, the distributee.
Civil Code, Article 1095 — Assigned Credits. Read the full provision →
Warranty is judged at the time of partition
When a debt owed to the estate is handed to one heir as his share, the other heirs stand behind it, but only up to a point. Article 1095 provides that the co-heirs shall not be liable for the subsequent insolvency of the debtor of the estate, but only for his insolvency at the time the partition is made. The guarantee is a snapshot taken on partition day: if the debtor could have paid then, the co-heirs have done their part. A later downturn in the debtor's fortunes is a risk that travels with the credit to the heir who received it.
A five-year limit to enforce it
Even that limited guarantee does not last indefinitely. The warranty of the solvency of the debtor can only be enforced during the five years following the partition. An heir who wants to hold the others responsible for a debtor who was already insolvent at partition must raise the claim within that five-year window. After five years the warranty lapses, and the heir who accepted the credit is left to pursue the debtor alone, whatever the outcome of that pursuit.
Known bad debts are not warranted
The guarantee also does not cover a debt everyone already knew was doubtful. Co-heirs do not warrant bad debts, if so known to, and accepted by, the distributee. If you took a questionable credit with your eyes open, you cannot later turn to your co-heirs when it proves worthless. The warranty protects an heir who reasonably believed a credit was collectible, not one who knowingly accepted a bad debt as part of his allotment.
When a written-off debt is later collected
There is a fair counterpart to these limits. If a debt was treated as bad and was not assigned to any particular heir, and it is later collected in whole or in part, the amount recovered is distributed proportionately among the heirs. So the estate does not simply lose track of a debt written off at partition: a surprise recovery is shared, just as the risk of insolvency on an assigned credit is borne by the heir who received it. The scheme keeps the give-and-take between the heirs balanced.