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Under Polish law, an heir may:

• accept the inheritance “purely” (simple acceptance),
• accept the inheritance with limited liability (acceptance with the benefit of inventory),
• or renounce the inheritance.

If you take no action, after six months from the day you learned that you are an heir, you automatically inherit with the benefit of inventory, meaning your liability for the estate’s debts is limited to the value of the estate.

This means that to accept the inheritance without limitation of liability (“outright”) or to renounce it, your decision and action are required.

It is therefore essential to determine when you learned of the decedent’s death and that you are inheriting. Every court or notary will ask you for this date. The moment of the decedent’s death itself is not decisive here.

Once you have this date, you know how much time remains for you to make a decision.

During this period, it is advisable to check whether the estate includes debts, real property, or agricultural holdings.

If your intention is to renounce the inheritance, you must, within this time, gather all the civil status records of the persons connecting you to the decedent.

Example:
If you inherit after an aunt who had no spouse, children, or living parents, you will need, moving step by step upwards from your aunt:

• her death certificate,
• her marriage certificate,
• her birth certificate,
• the death certificates of her parents,
• her parents’ marriage certificate,
• the birth certificate of your parent who was the aunt’s sibling,
• that parent’s marriage certificate,
• that parent’s death certificate,
• your own birth certificate and, if you changed your surname upon marriage, your marriage certificate.

The year 2015 is crucial. If an event (birth, marriage, death) occurred before that year and you do not know whether someone has obtained a copy of that record after 2015, you must apply to the civil registry office that originally registered the event. For example, if your aunt was born in Przemyśl in 1945, you must submit an application for a copy of her birth certificate to the Civil Registry Office in Przemyśl.

Where and how to submit the declaration

You may submit a declaration of renunciation of the inheritance before any notary public of your choice, or before the probate court having jurisdiction over the decedent’s last place of residence–by filing an application with the court.
Filing an application with the court containing a declaration of renunciation of the inheritance with a notarised signature, or submitting the declaration before a notary, results in the renunciation taking effect at the moment the application is filed or the notarial declaration is drawn up.

Important: If you are renouncing the inheritance abroad (i.e., the deceased had his or her habitual residence abroad), the decisive moment for the renunciation is, in principle, the delivery (not the sending or drafting!) of the notarial, consular, or court document concerning the renunciation to the competent foreign authority.

A foreign probate court generally requires a document in the local language. Therefore, the declaration of renunciation must be translated into the language of that court by a sworn (certified) translator.

If you reside abroad, it is possible to submit the declaration:

• before a Polish consul– you prepare the declaration yourself, then schedule an appointment at the consulate, the consul certifies your signatures, and you subsequently send the document to the probate court in Poland;
• according to local regulations– for example, in Hungary, Germany, or Austria, it is possible to submit the declaration before any notary public; however, both the documents and the declaration are submitted in German, while the probate court in Poland must receive a document in Polish. Therefore, the declaration of renunciation of the inheritance must be translated into Polish by a sworn (certified) translator.

Important: If you renounce the inheritance abroad, you generally must obtain either international copies of civil status records from the Civil Registry Office (USC) or sworn translations of those records before submitting the declaration.

Important: If the heir is a minor or incapacitated, the declaration must be submitted by the legal representatives (e.g., parents), and in some cases the consent of the guardianship court – Polish or local – will be required.

Effects and consequences

Renouncing the inheritance means giving up all assets and all debts – so you may also lose the right to any property that would otherwise pass to you. This is particularly significant in situations where you wish to inherit a specific property, or where the decedent co-owned real estate together with other family members, neighbours, or third parties.