Last Will (Testament) - Lawyer in Poland

Exclusive disposition.

No disposition mortis causa can be made otherwise than by a will (testament).

No joint wills.

A will may contain dispositions of only one testator.

Revocation. A testator may at any time revoke the whole will or any provisions thereof.

Testamentary capacity.

A will may be made and revoked only by a person who has full capacity for legal acts. A will cannot be made or revoked by a representative.

Defects in declaration of intent.

A will is invalid if it was made:1) in a state precluding conscious or free decision making and expression of intent;2) under the influence of an error, justifying the supposition that if the testator had not acted under the influenceof an error, he would not have made a will of that content;3) under the influence of a threat.§ 2. The invalidity of a will for the above reasons cannot be relied on after three years have passed from the day on which the person having an interest therein learns of the cause of invalidity, and in any case after ten years have passed from the opening of the succession.

Revocation manner.

A will may be revoked either by the testator making a new will or, with the intention of revoking the will, the testator destroying the will or depriving it of the features which make it valid, or lastly by altering the will in a way indicating that he intended to revoke its provisions.

Expansion. If a testator made a new will and did not state therein that he had revoked the previous will, only those provisions of the previous will which are contradictory to the new will are revoked.

Interpretation.

A will should be interpreted in such a manner so as to ensure that the testator's intentions are realized to the fullest extent possible.If a will can be interpreted in various ways, the interpretation allowing the testator's dispositions to remain in force and giving them reasonable meaning should be applied