Guide
A Polish inheritance seen from the United States
What happens to property in Poland after a relative dies, which deadlines matter, and which steps can be handled without traveling.
In this guide
If a member of your family died in Poland and left property behind - an apartment, a plot of land, a share in a farm, money in a bank account - the right to that property passes to the heirs at the moment of death, automatically. Nobody has to apply for anything in order to become an heir. The difficulty lies elsewhere: to do anything at all with that property, you need a document that proves it. That document is exactly what families in the United States usually do not have.
Key points
- You become an heir automatically, at the moment of death - but without official confirmation you cannot sell real estate or collect money from a bank.
- Confirmation comes by one of two routes: through a court, or before a notary. Which one is open to you depends mostly on whether the heirs agree.
- Disclaiming an inheritance - when the estate turns out to be mostly debt - has a short statutory deadline. Once it passes, the effects generally cannot be undone.
- Close family can be fully exempt from Polish inheritance tax, but the exemption has to be claimed within a deadline.
- Nearly every step can be handled in Poland by the lawyer you authorize. Traveling is the exception, not the rule.
What exactly do I inherit in Poland?
You do not inherit individual objects. You inherit the deceased person's financial position as a whole - which matters, because the debts travel with the apartment.
All of the property rights and obligations of the person who died: ownership of real estate and possessions, money in accounts, shares in companies, but also loans, mortgages, and arrears. Strictly personal entitlements, such as a right to a pension or to maintenance payments, do not pass to the heirs.
If the estate includes real estate, sooner or later you will meet the Polish register that records its legal status.
A public register kept by a court for every property in Poland. It records who the owner is, the size of the plot, and whether the property carries a mortgage or somebody else's right. The closest American equivalent is a county land register - except that an entry in the Polish register is presumed to be true and protects a buyer who relies on it.
As long as the register still shows the name of the person who died, the property cannot be sold or mortgaged. This is the single most common reason families abroad contact us many years after a death: the house is standing, somebody is paying the property tax, and yet formally nobody owns it.
Who inherits when there is no will?
Where there is no will, the order of inheritance is set by statute, not by what the family considers fair. As a general rule the spouse and the children of the deceased come first. If a child did not outlive the parent, that child's share passes to their own children - which is how grandchildren and great-grandchildren living abroad become parties to a Polish proceeding, often without knowing it. Only where there are no descendants at all do parents, siblings, and more distant relatives come into play.
A will drawn up in the United States is not automatically void in Poland, but it does have to be assessed - both as to its form and as to which country's law governs the succession as a whole. We check that question first, because the answer determines everything that follows.
A grandmother died in Poland in 2004 without leaving a will. She had three children; two emigrated to Chicago and one stayed in Poland, living in the family house. Two of those three siblings have since died as well. Today there are eleven heirs, living in three countries, and most of them have never seen the house. The matter can be resolved - but it requires identifying everyone entitled and assembling civil-status records covering two generations.
Two routes to confirming your rights: court or notary
Polish law offers two documents with identical legal force. A court issues the first; a notary issues the second.
A court order stating who inherits and in what shares. It requires an application and a proceeding, but this route is always available - including when the heirs disagree, when not all of them are known, or when one of them refuses to take part.
A document drawn up by a notary with the same effect as a court order. It is usually faster, but it is only possible when every heir is known, in agreement, and taking part in person - a representative cannot stand in for them, though they need not all attend at the same time. A single objection closes this route.
In practice the choice is rarely a matter of preference. The shape of the family decides it: when relatives are scattered across several countries and no longer in contact, the court route is the realistic one.
Is there a point where it becomes too late?
Confirming inheritance rights is not itself subject to a time bar - a death from thirty years ago can still be dealt with, and we do it regularly. The passage of time has two real consequences, though. First, there is less evidence: witnesses die, documents are lost, and each new generation multiplies the number of people who must be included. Second, and more seriously, some decisions carry short statutory deadlines of their own.
That applies above all to disclaiming an inheritance. If the person who died left debts, an heir may reject the estate - but only within a deadline that runs from the day they learned they were called to inherit. The period is short, and missing it usually cannot be reversed. If you suspect the estate carries liabilities, this is the first thing to check, ahead of everything else.
Will I pay inheritance tax in Poland?
Poland levies a tax on inheritances and gifts, and the rate depends on how closely you were related. Immediate family - a spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings - can qualify for a full exemption. The exemption is not automatic, however: it has to be reported to the competent Polish tax office within a statutory deadline. Miss that deadline and the inheritance is taxed under the general rules, close relative or not.
What happens on the American side is a separate question. Polish tax and your U.S. filing obligations are two different systems - we leave the second to your tax advisor in the United States, including any reporting on foreign assets and accounts, and we are glad to supply the documents they need.
What can we handle without you traveling to Poland?
In practice, most of it. The proceeding is conducted in Poland by the lawyer you authorize, and you are kept informed at each step. There is no single power of attorney that covers everything, though - the act decides the form:
- court proceedings to confirm inheritance rights or to divide an estate: an ordinary written power of attorney for the proceedings, signed by you;
- accepting or rejecting an inheritance through a representative: a written power of attorney with an officially certified signature;
- an agreement dividing an estate that contains real estate, and a sale of real estate: a power of attorney in the form of a notarial deed.
A representative cannot stand in for you where the law asks for your own statement - the assurance given to the court about the circle of heirs is such a statement, and it carries criminal liability. Documents signed in the United States usually need an apostille and a sworn translation, and how far those requirements go depends on the act and on the office that will receive the document. Our guide on powers of attorney signed in the U.S. goes through the wording.
A certificate that allows a document issued in one country to be recognized in another; for American documents it is issued by the Secretary of State of the state concerned. Poland and the United States are both parties to the 1961 Hague Convention, so a document bearing an apostille does not need consular legalization. A sworn translation into Polish is usually required as well.
Polish civil-status records - birth, marriage, and death certificates - are something we normally obtain on your behalf, without involving you in correspondence with Polish offices. Your part usually comes down to three things: describing the family situation, sending us whatever documents you already have, and signing a power of attorney. We handle the rest on the ground.
This article is general information about how the process works in Poland. It is not legal advice for your particular matter - the right approach depends on your documents and circumstances, so it is worth discussing your situation individually before you decide anything.
