Can you inherit debts along with a house in Poland?

Yes, debts pass to the heirs together with the assets. Under Article 922 of the Polish Civil Code, the property rights and obligations of the person who died pass to the heirs at the moment of death. An heir who does nothing, however, is protected by default: when the time for a declaration runs out, the law treats the inheritance as accepted with the benefit of inventory, and liability for the debts is capped at the value of what was inherited.

What counts as a debt of the estate?

More than loans and bills. Article 922 §3 adds the funeral costs, to the extent they match local custom, the costs of the inheritance proceedings, claims for a reserved share (zachowek), and the duty to carry out legacies and instructions left in the will. All of them count when you weigh what the estate is worth to you.

What are your three options?

Article 1012 gives every heir the same choice: accept the inheritance without limiting liability, accept it with the benefit of inventory, or reject it. The declaration can be made within six months of the day you learned that you are an heir (Article 1015 §1). If you make none, the inheritance counts as accepted with the benefit of inventory (Article 1015 §2).

Two rules make this decision final. A declaration cannot be withdrawn once made (Article 1018 §2), and it cannot cover part of the estate: you cannot keep the house and reject the loans (Article 1014 §3).

How far does the benefit of inventory protect you?

Under Article 1031 §2, your liability for the estate's debts is limited to the value of the estate's assets shown in an inventory. This is a limit on the amount, not a wall around the estate. From the moment of acceptance, creditors may pursue the heir's own property (Article 1030), but only up to that value.

The value is fixed in one of two documents. An inventory list (wykaz inwentarza) is prepared by the heir and filed with a court or a notary, listing assets and debts with their values on the date of death (Article 1031¹). An official inventory (spis inwentarza) is drawn up by a court bailiff; an heir can apply for it, and so can a creditor holding written evidence of the debt (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 637).

The protection falls away if an heir deliberately leaves assets out of the list or adds debts that do not exist (Article 1031 §2).

Can paying one creditor cost you the protection?

It can. Under Article 1032 §2, an heir who pays some debts of the estate while knowing, or while able with due care to find out, that other debts exist becomes liable beyond the value of the estate. The limit then becomes what the heir would have owed had every creditor been paid properly. Paying the estate's debts one at a time, before you know them all, therefore carries a real risk.

Until the estate is divided, co-heirs are also jointly liable (Article 1034 §1). A creditor may demand the whole debt from any one of them, and that heir can then claim back the others' shares.

When does rejecting the inheritance make sense?

When the debts clearly exceed the assets, or when the estate brings nothing but obligations. An heir who rejects is treated as if they had died before the person whose estate it is (Article 1020). Their share then passes to the next people in line, very often their own children. Those children have their own six months, counted from when they learn they are heirs, and a parent rejecting on behalf of a minor child must meet additional formal requirements.

How do you make the declaration from the United States?

The declaration is made before a Polish court or notary, either orally or in writing with an officially certified signature. A power of attorney to make it must also be in writing with an officially certified signature (Article 1018 §3). A Polish consul in the United States can certify a signature (Consular Law, Article 28(1)(2)), but cannot accept an inventory list (Article 30), so that document has to be filed with a court or notary in Poland.

If the six months are about to run out, it is enough to file an application with the court before the deadline (Article 1015 §1¹).

How can you find out about debts from abroad?

No public source shows every debt a person had, but two help a great deal. The National Debtors Register (Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych) shows whether the person was in bankruptcy or restructuring proceedings, and whether enforcement against them was discontinued as ineffective. The Central Information on Accounts (Centralna Informacja o Rachunkach), requested through any bank in Poland, lists bank accounts but not loans, and is available only to someone with legal title to the inheritance. Letters from banks, bailiffs, or the tax office among the papers of the deceased are worth collecting as well.

How we help

We establish what the estate contains, prepare the inventory list, and file declarations and court applications under a power of attorney, so the six-month period is kept while you stay in the United States.

This article is general information about Polish law, not legal advice about your situation. Legal basis: the Civil Code (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 795), Articles 922, 1012, 1014, 1015, 1018, 1020, 1030, 1031, 1031¹, 1032 and 1034; the Code of Civil Procedure (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 468), Article 637; the Consular Law of 25 June 2015 (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026 item 711), Articles 28 and 30. Information on the registers is as published by the Ministry of Justice and by KIR, the operator of the Central Information on Accounts, in September 2026. If you would like to know how this applies to you, describe your situation.