Advice regarding inheritance of Polish property.

Please can anybody advise me with a problem I am having inheriting some Polish property. The situation is this:
In May of 2006 my mother died leaving a property in Krakow to my sister & I (sole children of non-Polish citizenship). We employed solicitors in Krakow and by August 2006 all paperwork was with the judge. Nearly 2 years later the judge has still not made a decision on whether we can inherit this property. The problem seems to be this: my mother was born in Poland, emigrated to the UK in the 1960’s and became a British citizen with a British passport. The will and probate are British documents. There are no Polish documents in this case. Our solicitors have said that the judge is waiting for Polish laws to be brought in line with European laws before making a decision. Does anybody know what the current legal situation is in Poland regarding non-Polish citizens inheriting Polish estate from non-Polish owners? We may be able to arrange a meeting with the judge later on in the year. Can anybody advise us what we can do or say to influence him to make a decision? Does anybody know of other similar cases and how were these resolved?

You say your Mom left Poland in 1960's do you know why? If she left due to being displaced this would not take her Polish citizenship. You say she was born in Poland and therefore you as her child are entilted to being Polish citizen also. It all really depends on why she left Poland. If you want email me your information and I may be able to give you proper links and forms.

My family had a similar situation a couple of years back - my grandfather died in he 1970s leaving half his house to my Gran, and then she died in 2001, leaving it to my mum. My grandparents had British citizenship/passports at the time (no Polish ones - they were both naturalised in the 1950s) and they had only British wills. My Mum was a dual British/Polish national by the time she inherited and the whole thing went through pretty quickly in a court in a small Polish city. There shouldn't be any problem with a Polish court recognising a British will and it shouldn't matter whether someone was a Polish citizen or not at the time they pass away. It seems to me that the judges here operate on the basis of personal whim, but I strongly suggest you get a second legal opinion on what is holding this up and launch an appeal if you have to.

In 2007 2 members talked about inheritance taxes in Poland and appartently there is no inheritance tax if the beneficiary is not Polish.
Polanglik male
Nov 8, 07, 17:27 #1

I know that in UK inheritance tax is a burden that is now affecting most of the 'middle classes', and not the very rich for which it was originally intended. Although in many cases the 'very rich' have lawyers/accountants who can advise them how to avoid this tax !

Here in UK i believe there is a tax threshold of approx £250 000, after which the government takes 40% of the remainder. This inheritance tax is not paid by surviving spouse, but by children or other beneficiaries.

On my last visit to Poland I was told that that the inheritance laws are more beneficial in Poland to beneficiaries than they are in UK; as long as the will is disclosed within 3-6 months then very close relatives of the deceased pay little or no inheritance tax.

Has anyone got any concrete information on this matter ?

PM Member
Posts: 404
Joined: May 16, 07

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witek7205 male
Nov 8, 07, 20:37 #2

Yes.
There is no inheritance tax in Poland if beneficiaries are close family members (spouse, children, parents, siblings) and inheritance is on territory of Poland or is executed in Poland

and beneficiaries are residents of EU.
This also applies to inheritance abroad if beneficiaries are Polish citizens or permanent residents.
If you are resident or citizen of another country , law of that country also applies to you.