Statutory inheritance in Poland - Lawyer in Poland

Inheritance by descendants and spouse.

The deceased's children and spouse are by law called to the succession first; they inherit in equal shares. However, the spouse's share cannot be less than one-fourth of the entire estate.§ 2. If a child of the deceased does not live to the opening of the succession, its share falls to its children in equal parts. This provision applies accordingly to successive descendants.

Inheritance by spouse, parents and siblings.

If the deceased leaves no descendants, the deceased's spouse and parents are by law called to the succession. The share of each parent who inherits concurrently with the deceased's spouse is one-fourth of the entire estate. If paternity has not been established, the share of the deceased's mother, inheriting concurrently with the deceased's spouse, is one-half of the estate. If the deceased leaves no descendants or spouse, the deceased's parents inherit the whole estate in equal parts.§ 4. If one of the deceased's parents does not live to the opening of the succession, the share which would fall to him falls to the deceased's siblings in equal parts.§ 5. If any of the deceased's siblings does not live to the opening of the succession and leaves descendants, the share which would fall to him falls to his descendants. This share is partitioned in accordance with the principles governing partition among successive descendants of the deceased.

Extension.

The share of a spouse who inherits concurrently with parents, siblings and descendants of the deceased's siblings is one-half of the estate. If the deceased leaves no descendants, parents, siblings or siblings' descendants, the entire estate falls to the deceased's spouse. If the deceased leaves no descendants, spouse, parents, siblings or siblings' descendants, the entire estate falls to the descendant's grandparents; they inherit in equal parts. If any of the deceased's grandparents does not live to the opening of the succession, the share that would fall to him falls to his descendants. This share is partitioned in accordance with the principles governing partition of the estate among the deceased's descendants.§ 3. If a grandparent who does not live to the opening of the succession leaves no descendants, the share which would fall to him falls to the remaining grandparents in equal parts. Extension. If the deceased leaves no spouse or relatives by consanguinity called to the succession by the law, the estate falls in equal parts to those children of the deceased's spouse whose parents did not live to the opening of the succession.

State Treasury inheritance.

If the deceased leaves no spouse, relatives by consanguinity or children of the deceased's spouse called to the succession by law, the estate falls to the municipality of the deceased's last place of residence as the statutory heir. If the deceased's last place of residence in the Republic of Poland cannot be established or the deceased's last place of residence is abroad, the estate falls to the State Treasury, as the statutory heir.

Judicial separation.

The provisions on calling to succession by law do not apply to a spouse of the deceased who is judicially separated from him.

Inheritance in the case of full adoption.

An adoptee inherits from his adoptive parent and from the adoptive parent's relatives by consanguinity as if he were a child of the adoptive parent, and the adoptive parent and his relatives by consanguinity inherit from the adoptee as if the adoptive parent were the adoptee's birth parent. If one of the spouses adopts the other spouse's child, the provision of § 2 does not apply to such spouse and his relatives by consanguinity, and if the adoption took place after the death of the adoptee's other parent, it does not apply either to the deceased's relatives by consanguinity whose rights and obligations arising from consanguinity were upheld in the court adoption decision.

Inheritance in the case of simple adoption.

If the effects of adoption consist only in a relationship being created between the adoptive parent and the adoptee, the following provisions apply:1) the adoptee inherits from the adoptive parent equally with the letter's children, and the adoptee's descendantsinherit from the adoptive parent on the same principles as the adoptive parent's successive descendants;2) an adoptee and his descendants do not inherit from the adoptive parent's relatives by consanguinity, and theadoptive parent's relatives by consanguinity do not inherit from the adoptee and his descendants;3) the adoptee's birth parents do not inherit from the adoptee, and instead of them the adoptive parent inheritsfrom the adoptee; the adoption does not prejudice calling to the succession based on consanguinity

Grandparents' rights.

The deceased's grandparents, if they live in poverty and cannot receive their due means of subsistence from the persons who have a statutory maintenance obligation towards them, may demand from an heir not charged with such an obligation, means of subsistence in proportion to their needs and the value of his share of the estate. An heir may satisfy this claim by paying the deceased's grandparents a sum of money corresponding to the value of one-fourth of his share in the estate.

Household objects

A spouse inheriting by law concurrently with other heirs, save for the deceased's descendants who lived with the deceased at the time of his death, may demand from the estate more than his share, household objects which he used jointly with the deceased or exclusively by himself when the deceased was alive. The provisions on legacy apply accordingly to a spouse's claims resulting therefrom. A spouse does not have the above entitlement if the spouses ceased to cohabit when the deceased was alive.

Exclusion of spouse from inheriting.

A spouse is excluded from inheriting if the deceased had filed for divorce or judicial separation through a fault on the spouse's part, and this request was justified. A spouse is excluded from inheriting by a court decision. Exclusion may be demanded by any of the remaining statutory heirs called to the succession concurrently with the spouse; a court action may be brought within six months of the day on which the heir learns of the opening of the succession and not later than one year from the opening of the succession.