Comparative Civil Procedure
Procedure & Regularity for Accuracy, True Dispute Resolution and Happiness

A Critical Analysis of the Supreme Court’s Judgment on Heirs’ Liability for Official Property Transfer and the Purchaser’s Entitlement to Contractual Penalty for Delay

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Zahra Shakeri

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran

Abstract
This article critically examines Judgment No. 96099709100047 of Branch Three of the Supreme Court of Iran concerning entitlement to a contractual penalty for delay in executing the official deed of property transfer. The principal issue is the legal effect of the seller’s death before the contractual due date and the extent of the heirs’ liability for continuing the deceased’s contractual obligations. In the case under review, the seller died before the stipulated date, while his heirs faced inheritance and tax formalities; meanwhile, the purchaser had neither paid nor deposited the outstanding balance of the purchase price. The courts rejected the claim for contractual penalty, relying on the seller’s death before the due date, the absence of an agreed new date, and the parties’ reciprocal obligations. Using a descriptive-analytical method and library research, this study concludes that attributing no delay to the seller at the original due date is defensible. However, his death did not extinguish the obligation to execute the official deed or necessarily preclude the heirs’ potential liability after legal impediments were removed. Accordingly, their liability should be assessed by distinguishing the relevant periods and examining the impediments to performance and their subsequent conduct.

Keywords

Contractual Penalty (Vejh-e Eltezam)
Official Deed of Transfer
Death of the Obligor
Heirs
Legal Successors
Subjects
Comparative Civil Procedure
Volume 2
Commemorative Volume Honoring His Excellency The Judge Hassan Ghaffarpour Maraghi President of 3rd Branch of the Supreme Court, Iran

  • Receive Date 18 September 2026
  • Accept Date 25 September 2026
  • Publish Date 25 September 2026

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