How to Identify All the Heirs Before Dividing a Polish Estate

Parents pass away, leaving a house and some savings, and the family starts asking who actually has a right to the estate — because some of the cousins moved abroad years ago and nobody has been in touch with them since. Before anyone starts dividing up the assets, you need certainty about who the heirs actually are. Leaving out even one person from the circle of heirs can later unravel the entire division of the estate — which is why this is the first, and most important, step in the whole process.

This material is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Establishing the full circle of heirs — especially where family live abroad, there have been earlier marriages, or family relationships are uncertain — depends on the specific circumstances and documents of each family, and the outcome cannot be guaranteed in advance. The matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer or the notary handling the case. Twoja Sprawa is an information and coordination platform, not a law firm — it does not provide legal advice or representation; it helps you organise the documents and prepare for the conversation with a notary or the court.

Key points

• Identifying the heirs is a precondition for dividing the estate — until it is clear who inherits, and in what share, the assets cannot lawfully be divided.
• The formal confirmation of who the heirs are is the "stwierdzenie nabycia spadku" (confirmation of inheritance) — obtained either from a civil-law notary (as a notarial deed of succession certification, akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia, "APD") or from a district court (sąd rejonowy).
• Without a will, statutory inheritance applies — the order in which groups of relatives inherit is set out in Articles 931 et seq. of the Polish Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny, "KC").
• Where part of the family lives abroad, they need to be identified and properly notified of the proceedings — otherwise the division of the estate can later be challenged.
• A notary will refuse to issue an APD if the heirs do not agree on who is entitled, or if documents are missing — in that case the matter goes to court instead.
• Leaving an heir out of the division of the estate is a serious legal risk — the omitted person can later challenge the division that was carried out.

Why the heirs must be identified before the estate can be divided

Dividing an estate (dział spadku) means converting abstract shares in the estate into specific assets allocated to each person — the house to one heir, the savings to another, a balancing payment to a third. To do that, you first need to know with certainty who has a share in the estate and how large that share is.

These are two separate stages: confirmation of inheritance (via a notary or the court) establishes the circle of heirs and the size of their shares, while division of the estate only then splits specific assets between the heirs who have already been confirmed.

Trying to carry out a division before the heirs have been formally confirmed is risky — even if the family agrees, informally, on who inherits, every institution involved (a bank, the land and mortgage register court, the tax office) will require a document confirming the inheritance before it recognises any division that has been carried out.

Statutory heirs — who inherits when there is no will

If the deceased left no valid will, who inherits is decided by statutory inheritance rules set out in the Polish Civil Code (Articles 931 et seq. KC). The law splits potential heirs into groups that inherit in a set order — the next group only comes into play once there is nobody left in the group before it.

In the first instance, the deceased's children (including adopted children and children born outside marriage) and the surviving spouse are called to inherit. If there are no children and no spouse, the deceased's parents and siblings come next, followed by grandparents and their descendants. Only if no heir can be identified in any of these groups does the estate pass to the local municipality (gmina).

A few situations worth bearing in mind when establishing the circle of heirs:

• Children born outside marriage and adopted children inherit on exactly the same footing as children born within a marriage.
• An unmarried partner (konkubent) does not inherit under the statutory rules — they can only inherit if they were named in a will.
• A divorced spouse has no statutory right to inherit from their former spouse.
• It is also worth checking whether there has been a renunciation of inheritance, a disclaimer of the estate, or a declaration of unworthiness to inherit — each of these can change who ultimately falls within the circle of heirs.

The precise calculation of each person's share in a given family situation * — the exact wording and calculation of shares under statutory inheritance per the current version of Articles 931–935 KC for non-standard family situations, e.g. a child who died before the deceased, or a second marriage with children from two relationships* should be confirmed by a notary or lawyer on the basis of the full set of civil-status documents.

Confirmation of inheritance — notarial (APD) or court route

Formal confirmation of who the heirs are can be obtained via two routes.

The notarial route — the deed of succession certification (APD). All the heirs attend together at a civil-law notary's office (notariusz — note this is not the same role as a UK notary public) with a full set of documents: the deceased's death certificate, the will (if one exists), identity documents, and civil-status records proving the family relationship (birth certificates, marriage certificates). The notary checks whether the circle of heirs and their shares have been correctly established, then draws up the APD — a notarial deed (akt notarialny) that can then be used, among other things, to update the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) or to deal with a bank. The condition for this route is that all the heirs must agree on who is entitled to inherit — if there is a dispute, or documents proving the family relationship are missing, the notary will refuse to draw up the deed.

The court route — proceedings for confirmation of inheritance. Where a notary cannot issue an APD (because there is a dispute, documents are missing, the whereabouts of some heirs are unknown, or there is a suspicion of heirs who cannot be conclusively identified), the matter is decided by the district court with jurisdiction over the deceased's last place of residence. The court examines the evidence and, where necessary, orders further steps in relation to unknown or unreachable heirs before issuing its ruling * — the exact procedure and legal basis for proceedings concerning unknown heirs in an inheritance case; confirm the current procedural rules*.

When part of the family lives abroad — how to identify and notify them

This is one of the most common reasons the division of an estate gets delayed. Family who emigrated decades ago can be hard to locate, and without their participation (or at least formal notification), the proceedings for confirmation of inheritance can stall.

Practical steps usually needed:

1. Gather civil-status documents — birth certificates, marriage certificates and, where possible, current address details for family members abroad.
2. Check the PESEL/residency registers, if the person previously lived in Poland — these may contain their last known address. (PESEL is the Polish national identification number system.)
3. Get in touch through the rest of the family — often the quickest way to establish where relatives abroad are now living.
4. Consider a power of attorney — if a relative abroad wants to take part in the case but cannot travel, they can appoint an attorney to represent them in the Polish inheritance proceedings.
5. If, despite reasonable efforts, the whereabouts still cannot be established — the court has procedural tools for this situation * — the precise legal basis and procedure for dealing with an heir whose whereabouts are unknown; confirm the current procedural rules*.

If a relative lived or died abroad, an additional question can arise as to which country's law governs the inheritance in their case — that issue goes beyond the division of the estate itself and needs its own separate analysis.

What happens if an heir turns out to have been left out after the division

This is exactly the risk that a properly established circle of heirs is meant to prevent. If, despite careful proceedings, it later emerges that there was an heir who was left out — for example, a child born outside marriage that the family did not know about, or a relative living abroad who was never notified — that omitted person can challenge both the confirmation of inheritance and the division of the estate that was carried out without them * — the scope and procedure for challenging a division of the estate carried out while omitting an heir, and the applicable time limits for doing so*.

For that reason, before a family proceeds with a consensual division of the estate at a notary's office, it is worth first having a final court ruling or an APD in hand, rather than relying solely on the family's own understanding of "who definitely inherits."

Frequently asked questions

Can I go ahead with dividing the estate if I don't yet have confirmation of inheritance?

This should not be done. Until the circle of heirs and their shares have been formally confirmed (whether by a notary or by the court), there is no legal basis for dividing specific assets between those people.

What if we don't know the address of one of the heirs living abroad?

Reasonable steps need to be taken to establish it (civil-status documents, contact through the family, and possibly the relevant registers). If, despite those efforts, the whereabouts cannot be established, the matter usually goes to court, which has the appropriate procedural tools for this situation.

Does the notary check on their own whether the circle of heirs is complete?

The notary examines the documents and statements submitted by the parties but does not carry out an independent investigation — responsibility for accurately disclosing everyone entitled to inherit rests mainly with the heirs who come forward. If there is any doubt, it is safer to take the matter to court instead.

Can an unmarried partner be recognised as an heir?

Not under the statutory inheritance rules alone — Polish law does not give an unmarried partner (konkubent) any entitlement to inherit on that basis. An unmarried partner can only inherit if they were named in a valid will.

Need help with this?

If your family is starting inheritance proceedings and some relatives live abroad, or there is uncertainty over the full circle of heirs, it is worth organising the documentation before visiting a notary or filing an application with the court. See also the related guides from this topic area: Division of the estate — what it is and how it works (in Polish), Court-supervised division of the estate — when and how (in Polish), and How to sort out a cross-border inheritance remotely from the UK (in Polish).

Content last checked: July 2026.