A claim refers to the creditor's right to demand from the debtor (monetary or non-monetary) performance arising from a certain obligation. Therefore, a claim on the creditor's side always corresponds to a debt on the debtor's side. The claim must be repaid by the end of the maturity date agreed between the creditor and the debtor, most often specified in the contract or in the invoice. Otherwise, the debtor is in default and the creditor is entitled to enforce the claim by legal means incl. staturoy and possibly contractual accessories.
The substantive legal aspects of property claims are enshrined in particular in Act No. 89/2012Coll., Civil Code.
Usually, the debt collection is dealt with by debt reminders addressed to the debtor (letters before action). Only if the debt is not paid on the basis of debt reminders, the debt settlement is handed over to the court.
If the creditor fails to exercise his right within a certain period of time, the claim is statut barred and the creditor's claim ceases. If the debtor raises a statute of limitations objection before the court, the court must grant him and the creditor is no longer entitled to enforce the claim, this does not mean that the debtor has ceased to be liable to pay the debt (this is still a so called natural obligation).