The first step you need to take to conduct an inheritance case is to identify the people who will be inherited. Determining who will inherit is not enough. It is necessary to confirm this fact in an appropriate, legally prescribed form. A document confirming a person’s right to inheritance property is necessary in the following situations:
- – when the heir wants to withdraw funds accumulated on the testator’s account from the bank;
- – when selling real estate belonging to the estate, to present it to the notary and the buyer;
- – to obtain a reserved share;
- – to re-register the inherited car at the communication office;
- – to enter the property right in the land and mortgage register of the real estate.
Application for confirmation of acquisition of an inheritance
The document, which in the vast majority of cases is obtained by heirs, is a court decision confirming the acquisition of inheritance.
The first step necessary to obtain this document is to submit an application for a declaration of acquisition of inheritance. This is a letter which will cause the inheritance proceedings to be initiated by the court. The application for a declaration of inheritance is, in principle, submitted to the court in the district where the testator was last resident. An application for a declaration of acquisition of an inheritance may be made in person or by proxy. It should be remembered that the application for the confirmation of the purchase of an inheritance should contain the data of all persons who could be considered as potential heirs. However, if the person submitting the application for a declaration of inheritance does not know the personal data of potential heirs, this does not stop the court proceedings. In one application for an inheritance purchase, you can apply for an inheritance acquisition from several people. An application for confirmation of purchase of an inheritance is subject to a fee of PLN 105 for one testator.
In the course of proceedings, the court determines the extent of the heir’s rights, i.e. explains whether the successor after the testator has been acquired in whole or in part, and whether there are one or several heirs.
The court, when issuing a decision confirming the purchase of an inheritance, also indicates the basis on which the inheritance was acquired (will or statutory inheritance).
Certificate of Inheritance
Another document confirming the rights to succession is an inheritance certificate. It is a document drawn up by a notary public, in which it is indicated who inherits what, and who after whom.
The notary public before which the inheritance certificate is concluded places this document in the register kept by the National Notary Council. After this action, the testator may use the act of confirmation of inheritance before all offices and institutions to prove that he is the legitimate heir.
Such a document can only be prepared by a notary public. The good news is that any notary public can prepare a certificate of inheritance regardless of where the heirs and testator are domiciled. This is undoubtedly an advantage of this procedure in relation to the confirmation of the acquisition of inheritance, which can only be carried out in the competent court.
To prepare a certificate of succession, all heirs must appear with a notary public and, most importantly, they must agree on all matters relating to this act.
Any dispute in this respect excludes the possibility of preparing an inheritance certificate, and the heirs have to submit an application for confirmation of the acquisition of inheritance.
Another condition is that when making a deed, all notaries who are members of the statutory and testamentary heirs must be present at the drafting of the act. The above condition must be met regardless of the fact that in the given case only one of the persons present will inherit the entire estate.
An inheritance and gift tax is also an important issue. It should be remembered that after obtaining formal confirmation of the acquisition of the right to inheritance through inheritance, one should analyze the issues of the obligation to pay tax on the inheritance acquired. There are many exemptions in the regulations, but a thorough analysis is possible only on the basis of a specific case.
