Inheriting an Estate in Poland From Australia

Inheriting in Poland from Australia turns on one deadline: an heir has six months from learning of the inheritance to accept or reject it, by a statement filed with the Polish inheritance court. A Polish consul in Australia can certify your signature on that statement, but cannot represent you in the case. For that, you need a lawyer in Poland.

Key takeaways

• There are three statements: rejecting the inheritance, accepting it outright, or accepting it with the benefit of inventory, limiting liability for debts to the estate's assets.
• The statement must reach the inheritance court, the court of the deceased's last place of residence, within six months of learning that you could accept or reject.
• If you make no statement in time, you are treated as accepting with the benefit of inventory.
• The Polish consul can certify your signature on the statement, in person, but cannot accept a power of attorney or act in the case for you.
• Since 15 November 2023, a parent who has rejected an inheritance can often reject it for a minor child without court permission, if both parents agree.

What are the three choices?

The Polish Embassy in Australia's page on inheritance statements explains what each statement means:

Statement	Effect
Rejecting the inheritance	No liability for the estate's debts, and no claim to its assets. You are treated as if you had not survived the deceased, and your own heirs step into your place.
Accepting outright	Full liability for the estate's debts, and a claim to the assets in proportion to your share.
Accepting with the benefit of inventory	Liability for the estate's debts only up to the value of the assets.
No statement within the deadline	Treated as acceptance with the benefit of inventory, under the amended Civil Code.

The consequence of rejection is the one families most often miss: rejecting passes your share to your children, who then face the same choice. If the aim is to keep an indebted estate out of the family, their statements are needed too.

What is the six-month deadline?

The embassy's page says that for the statement to be effective, you must present it to the inheritance court, the court of the deceased's last place of residence, within six months from the day you learned that you could accept or reject the inheritance. The date runs from what you knew, not from the date of death, but it is safest to treat it as running from when you heard of the death and your place as an heir.

Keep evidence of the dates: the email or letter that told you, the date of your consular appointment, and the courier tracking for the certified statement. If a question arises later about whether you acted in time, those records are what your Polish lawyer will rely on. Book the consular appointment as soon as you have decided, since appointments can be some way off and international post adds more time.

What can the Polish consul do?

The embassy's general page on inheritance matters is direct about the limits. Under the Consular Law of 2015, the consul acts in inheritance matters only to protect the rights of the State Treasury. The consul has no legal power to accept a power of attorney, or to represent a Polish citizen, or to take any step in running an inheritance case on their behalf; nor does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. What the consul can do is certify your signature on a statement of acceptance or rejection that you have prepared, which you then file with the court.

For everything else, the embassy suggests contacting a law firm in Poland, or a lawyer in Australia, and points to its list of advocates, notaries and translators. A lawyer who understands both systems is especially useful where the deceased lived in Australia.

How do you have the signature certified at the consulate?

The embassy's page on inheritance statements sets out the procedure:

1. Prepare the statement, rejecting, accepting outright, or accepting with the benefit of inventory. The embassy publishes sample forms, which it says may be adapted.
2. Book an appointment through the e-konsulat system at the consular office covering where you live.
3. Attend in person with a valid passport or identity card, and sign the statement in front of the consul.
4. Collect the certified statement in person, or ask for it to be posted, at your cost.
5. File it with the inheritance court in Poland within the six months, directly or through your Polish lawyer.

The embassy says the signature is certified during the visit. There is a consular fee; we do not quote it here. If the consul refuses, a decision is issued that can be challenged within seven days to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Rejecting for your children

The embassy explains a change that took effect on 15 November 2023. Under the amended Family and Guardianship Code, where a child is called to inherit because a parent rejected the inheritance, that parent can reject it on the child's behalf without court permission, if the other parent with parental responsibility agrees or they act jointly. Court permission is still needed in some cases, in particular where the parents do not agree, or where the parents' other descendants, such as an adult sibling of the child, have not also rejected.

A statement rejecting for a child must include specific declarations, including about parental responsibility, the other parent's consent and prior rejections, and, when signed with an officially certified signature such as the consul's, a clause stating that the signer is aware of criminal liability for a false statement. One statement can cover more than one child. The embassy's sample forms include versions for one parent and for both parents.

Can you use an Australian notary instead?

The consulate's certification is the route the embassy describes, and it needs no further step for use in Poland. If you cannot reach a Polish consular office, ask your Polish lawyer or the inheritance court whether it will accept a statement whose signature is certified by an Australian notary public, with a DFAT apostille. Poland is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention; check the HCCH status table on the day. A document in English will also need a Polish translation by a sworn translator, and in Australia a NAATI translation can be certified by the consul. In Australia, only DFAT issues apostilles. Our guide to apostilles for Poland explains DFAT's step.

The same applies to a power of attorney for a Polish lawyer to handle the court case: the consul cannot act for you, but the lawyer can, and will tell you how the power of attorney should be signed from Australia.

Which Australian documents will the Polish court need?

If the deceased died in Australia, the Polish court will usually need the Australian death certificate, apostilled by DFAT and translated into Polish, and often birth or marriage certificates showing how the heirs are related. The Polish Embassy's guidance on civil status documents follows the same pattern: the original Australian certificate with an apostille, and a Polish translation certified by the consul if a NAATI translator prepared it. If the death has not been registered in Poland, your Polish lawyer may also recommend transcribing the Australian death certificate into the Polish civil register.

Before you book the consulate

A short checklist, worked through with your Polish lawyer, keeps the six months safe:

An illustration

This is an illustration, not a real case. A woman in Adelaide learns in March that her late father's flat in Gdańsk carries a large unpaid mortgage. On her Polish lawyer's advice, she decides to reject. She books the Polish consulate through e-konsulat, and at the same appointment she and her husband sign, jointly, a statement rejecting on behalf of their two young children as well, with the required declarations and the criminal liability clause. The consul certifies the signatures, and her lawyer files both statements with the court in Gdańsk well before September.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Missing the six months because the statement was signed but not filed with the court.
• Rejecting without thinking about your children, who then inherit in your place.
• Expecting the consul to represent you; only a lawyer can.
• Signing before the appointment, when the signature must be made in front of the consul.
• Leaving out the criminal liability clause in a statement rejecting for a child.
• Doing nothing and assuming the estate passes you by; silence means acceptance with the benefit of inventory.

In short

Inheriting in Poland from Australia means deciding, within six months of learning of the inheritance, whether to reject it, accept it outright, or accept it with the benefit of inventory, and getting the statement to the inheritance court in time. The Polish consul can certify your signature, in person, but cannot represent you; a lawyer in Poland runs the case. Since November 2023, parents who reject can often reject for their children without court permission. See our guide to overseas inheritance documents, and our NAATI translation service for Polish translations.

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If your Polish lawyer has asked for a signed document from Australia, send us what they asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.