Hello, Question regarding a grandparent who has died in Poland and an American Grandchild (me)

I am currently being hounded by family members (many of whom probably dont have my best interest at heart), they call me because they need to "finalize" my grandfathers death and need my birth certificate and my recently deceased mothers death certificate, also they want me to grant a lawyer power of attorney so they can finish this "complicated" (their words) process up. I'm an American citizen, I know little of Polish laws regarding death. As far as I know, i was not mentioned in the will but some of these family members are saying I will receive money if i do this but when i say I dont want anything, they say "well, will you just make a letter that you renounce then".. I dont even know what is going on and to renounce what.. After I said no, I have enough. They had a lawyer call me asking for the same info. Can someone please explain is this normal for finalizing a Polish citizens death, or is this some sort of scam to screw me over somehow (impose debt on me, etc).

First of all remain calm. Don't let anyone rush you. Get all the facts straight first before taking any action. The one thing I know is that you if you are named as your grandfather's heir, you can certainly be liable for debts of the deceased so don't sign anything, send anything or give any information before you take proper legal advice. There are other people on this forum who know more about it than I do and hopefully somebody will see your post and respond.

thank you, I hope you're right. Its such a weird situation.

That is true, although you can renounce the inheritance. Surely. you should know the overall balance first.


And what if your grandfather was a multi-millionaire?

Why wouldn't they make the court to send an official message to you on the matter?

If there is a will then you should ask to see a copy of it to begin with. It wouldn't cost much to have it translated if your Polish is not fluent enough and then you could at least confirm whether you're actually mentioned or not. He may have died intestate (without leaving a will) in which case the estate is divided up amongst surviving relations and the court oversees this process. Any debts would also be divided up between you and as Ziemowit says you can renounce them but that also means renouncing any inheritance as far as I know.

I think this might be the case.

Thanks for the post.. It seems as though family members are disputing the inheritance/the will.. One untrustworthy says there is a court case but then again there isn't, it's "complicated". I rather not even get involved at this point but don't want to hurt my grandfathers wife or me neither. its such a weird situation.