Polish inheritance case support
Full support for international inheritance cases involving Polish property or assets – gathering every required document, arranging certified translations and liaising with Polish notaries.
- All required Polish records gathered in one case
- Certified translations arranged
- Direct contact with Polish notaries
- Handled entirely in English
Request this document
Tell us what you need and we will come back to you within one business day with the exact price and timeline.
What we need from you
- Who died, when and where
- What assets are in Poland
- Who the heirs are and where they live
- Whether there is a will
- Any Polish documents you already hold
How Polish inheritance works
Polish succession is governed by the Civil Code. Where there is no will, the estate passes in a statutory order: spouse and children first, then parents, siblings and their descendants. A will may change the shares, but close relatives retain a claim to a reserved portion (zachowek).
Inheritance is not automatic in the paperwork sense. Until a court confirms who the heirs are, or a notary issues a deed of certification of succession, nothing can be sold, transferred or registered.
Two routes: court or notary
A notarial deed of certification of succession is faster, but requires all heirs to appear together before the same notary and to agree. A court declaration of acquisition of inheritance takes longer but works when heirs are scattered, unknown or in dispute — which is the normal situation for families spread across several countries.
Most international cases go through the court. Heirs abroad do not usually need to travel; a power of attorney is enough.
The deadline that catches people out
An heir has six months from learning of the inheritance to accept it, accept it with limited liability, or reject it. Missing the deadline now means acceptance with limited liability rather than unlimited — but the position was different before 2015, and older cases are judged by the rules in force at the time.
Where the estate may carry debts, this deadline matters a great deal, and it is worth establishing the date the clock started before anything else.
Documents the case needs
The deceased’s death certificate and their last place of residence in Poland; birth and marriage records establishing each heir’s relationship; the will if one exists; and evidence of the assets — land register extracts, cadastral documents, bank confirmations.
Foreign documents need apostilles and sworn translations. Gathering this set for a family spread across three countries is the part that takes the time, and it is what we take off your hands.
What can go wrong
The most common obstacle is a property still registered to someone who died forty years ago, with an intervening generation that also died without any succession proceedings. Each generation has to be resolved in turn before the current heirs can be entered in the register. It is slow, but it is a known procedure with a known end point — and we can tell you at the start roughly how many steps it will take.
From your request to the document in your hand
You deal with us, we deal with Polish bureaucracy.
Send us the details
Tell us what you need and who the record concerns. Five minutes, in English.
We contact the authority
Our specialists deal with the relevant Polish office, registry or archive on your behalf.
Certified and legalised
We obtain the certified document and, if you asked for it, apostille and sworn translation.
Delivered to your door
Original by tracked courier, digital scan the moment it is issued.
Before you order
Do all heirs have to travel to Poland?
Usually not. Most steps can be handled by power of attorney.
What if we do not know what property exists?
We can search land and cadastral registers to establish what is held in the deceased’s name.
How long does the whole case take?
Simple cases a few months; contested or multi-property estates considerably longer.