Short answer. They cannot force you to accept, but they can go around you. If your repudiation prejudices them, the Civil Code lets creditors petition the court to be authorised to accept the inheritance in your name — but only up to the amount you owe them.
What the law says
If the heir repudiates the inheritance to the prejudice of his own creditors, the latter may petition the court to authorize them to accept it in the name of the heir.
Civil Code, Article 1052 — Repudiation That Prejudices Creditors. Read the full provision →
Repudiating is not a way to shelter assets
People in debt sometimes think that if an inheritance never legally lands in their hands, it can never be taken. This provision closes that route. Repudiation remains your right — nobody can compel you to become an heir — but where the effect is to keep property from people you already owe, the law gives those creditors a way in. They do not seize anything on their own. The route is through the court: a petition asking to be authorised to accept the share in your name. So the practical reality is that a renunciation signed while you are being pursued for debt is not the clean exit it appears to be, and it may simply add a court proceeding to your problems.
The creditors take only what they are owed
This is a collection device, not a forfeiture. The acceptance benefits the creditors only to an extent sufficient to cover the amount of their credits — so a modest debt does not let a creditor swallow a large inheritance. Two consequences follow. First, the size of the debt sets the ceiling, which is why the amount actually owed, with whatever interest is properly due, is usually the first thing fought over. Second, this only helps a creditor whose claim exists and is real; the provision speaks of prejudice to his own creditors, meaning people the heir already owes, not someone hoping to be paid out of a windfall.
What happens to the excess
If the share is worth more than the debts, the surplus does not come back to you. The Code is explicit that the excess shall in no case pertain to the renouncer, and instead goes to whoever it belongs to under the ordinary rules of succession — typically the co-heirs or the next in line who would have taken had you never been an heir. That design is deliberate. It stops the manoeuvre from being used to pay debts while keeping the rest, and it means a repudiation you make for family reasons still stands as to everything beyond your creditors' claims. Once made, a repudiation is not something you can casually take back.
What this does not decide
This provision addresses one situation: an heir who repudiates while owing money. It does not tell you how the estate is settled, what your share actually is, or whether a particular debt is valid and enforceable. It also does not make repudiation wrongful in itself — an heir with no creditors, or one whose remaining assets comfortably cover his debts, is not prejudicing anyone. If you are considering renouncing while a demand or a case is pending, the honest step is to get the debt position on paper first. Nothing here promises how a court would treat any particular set of facts.