Buying a Polish Property with a Life Interest (dożywocie) or Right of Residence

You have found a flat at a good price, but the księga wieczysta (the Polish land and mortgage register) shows an entry for dożywocie (a lifetime maintenance/life-interest arrangement) in favour of an older person, or a right of residence for someone who is not the owner. This is a common situation when a property changes hands after a family arrangement, or when a flat is sold after someone had previously "reserved" the right to live there for life. Before you sign anything, it is worth understanding exactly what such an entry means for you as the future owner — and whether it disappears once the owner changes.

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. How a specific dożywocie or right-of-residence entry affects a given transaction depends on the wording of the underlying agreement, the land register entry itself, and the facts of the case — we cannot guarantee any outcome or any particular price reduction. If you need advice or representation, the matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer. Twoja Sprawa helps you organise the documents for that assessment.

Key points

Dożywocie is an agreement under which the buyer of a property undertakes to provide the seller with lifetime maintenance — housing, food, care in the event of illness — in exchange for the transfer of ownership.
A personal right of residence (służebność osobista mieszkania) is a separate right in rem — it entitles one specific, named individual to use all or part of a property, regardless of who owns it.
Both encumbrances attach to the property itself, not just to the seller — if you buy a flat with such an entry, you generally take it on together with the encumbrance.
The land and mortgage register entry is key — it lets you check the encumbrance before you sign anything.
An encumbrance usually lowers the market value of a property — the stronger the right of the beneficiary (e.g. exclusive use of the whole flat), the greater the effect on the transaction price.
Converting dożywocie into a cash annuity, or terminating the dożywocie agreement, is only possible in limited, specific circumstances.

What is a dożywocie agreement (Article 908 et seq. of the Civil Code)

A dożywocie agreement is a distinctive construct of Polish civil law: the seller transfers ownership of a property to the buyer, and in exchange the buyer undertakes to provide the seller with lifetime maintenance — usually including housing, food, clothing, and, in the event of illness, care and nursing as well. It is therefore more than a straightforward sale — the buyer takes on a long-term, personal obligation towards the lifetime beneficiary (dożywotnik).

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Dożywocie is used both within families (for example, a parent transfers a flat to a child in exchange for care in old age) and between unrelated parties. If you buy a property from someone who previously took on dożywocie obligations, you need to bear in mind that the obligations towards the lifetime beneficiary may pass together with the property.

Personal right of residence — how it differs from dożywocie

A personal right of residence is narrower than dożywocie: it entitles one specific person to use the property (in whole or in part) on the terms set out in the agreement establishing the right, without any additional obligations on the owner's part such as providing food or care.

This distinction matters when planning a purchase: with dożywocie, the buyer (or their successor) may have active obligations towards the beneficiary — care, food, assistance — whereas with a right of residence, the owner's obligation is usually limited to tolerating the beneficiary's use of the property, without further personal benefits.

In both cases, a buyer should read the land register entry carefully and, where possible, the original agreement (the akt notarialny, or notarial deed — a formal deed executed before a notariusz, a civil-law notary; note this is a different role from a UK notary public) under which the encumbrance was created.

How dożywocie and a right of residence affect value and use of the property

A property encumbered with dożywocie or a right of residence is usually harder to sell and to let — the buyer cannot fully and freely use the flat while the beneficiary continues to exercise their right. In practice this can mean:

you cannot move into part or all of the flat yourself while the third party's right continues,
your options for letting the property (or part of it) to others are limited,
a lower market price compared with a similar unencumbered property — how much lower depends on the scope of the right and how long the encumbrance is expected to last, and there is no single formula for calculating it — it is worth commissioning a valuation from a qualified property valuer before agreeing a price.

The key question for a buyer is: do you plan to move into the property straight away, or are you treating the purchase as a future investment, accepting that full use of the flat will only be possible once the encumbrance ends? This assumption should be clearly reflected in the price and the terms of the agreement.

Checking the land and mortgage register before you buy

Before signing anything, check the legal status of the property in the księga wieczysta via the free e-KW portal (ekw.ms.gov.pl). Encumbrances such as dożywocie and rights of residence are entered in the relevant section of the register.

What is worth doing in practice:

Obtain a current printout of the land register and read it in full, not just the ownership section.
Check that the dożywocie or right-of-residence entry actually relates to this specific property, rather than, for example, an adjoining plot that has been separated out.
Establish in whose favour the encumbrance was created — name, surname, and if possible the age of the beneficiary, where this can be established from the documents.
Ask the seller for the original agreement (the notarial deed) under which the encumbrance arose.
Ask the notary before signing the deed how this particular entry will affect your position as the new owner.

The statutory warranty of the public reliability of the land and mortgage registers (rękojmia wiary publicznej ksiąg wieczystych) generally protects a good-faith buyer where the content of the register does not match the true legal position — but it does not remove the need to read every entry carefully before buying and, importantly, it does not "clear" encumbrances that are already disclosed in the register.

Does dożywocie or a right of residence end when the property is sold

This is one of the most common questions buyers ask: does a change of owner "wipe" the register clean of such entries? As a general rule, rights in rem entered in the land register attach to the property, not solely to the current owner — they do not disappear automatically on sale. Removing the entry from the register may require a separate step (for example, the beneficiary's consent, their death, or a court order). Before buying, it is therefore worth establishing with a notary what the actual factual situation is and whether the encumbrance is expected to end.

Common mistakes when buying a property with this kind of encumbrance

Focusing only on the ownership section of the register and overlooking the encumbrances section — that is where the dożywocie or right-of-residence entry is recorded.
Assuming the encumbrance will "just disappear" after the purchase, without checking on what basis it could actually end.
Not getting a valuation of the encumbrance's effect on price — buying blind, without consulting a valuer or a notary.
Not reading the original dożywocie agreement or the deed establishing the right of residence — the register entry itself is often very brief.
Skipping a conversation with the beneficiary (where possible) — this can give you a much better sense of the real situation.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a flat where someone with dożywocie rights is living?

Yes, but you need to bear in mind that the encumbrance usually remains attached to the property. It is worth establishing the scope of the beneficiary's rights and getting advice from a notary or lawyer on the consequences for you as the new owner.

Should the price of a property with dożywocie or a right of residence be lower?

Usually yes, because your freedom to use the property is restricted — but the exact size of the reduction depends on the circumstances and cannot be stated as a fixed figure without an individual valuation.

Can dożywocie be terminated if the relationship between the parties breaks down?

Polish law provides certain mechanisms for varying or terminating a dożywocie agreement in specific circumstances, but the precise conditions require separate legal analysis.

How do I check whether a property has a registered right of residence?

The primary source is a current printout of the land and mortgage register from the free e-KW portal, read in full. It is also worth asking the seller for the document under which the right of residence was created and checking the entry with a notary.

Need help with this?

If you are considering buying a property encumbered with dożywocie or a right of residence, it is worth first organising the documentation — the KW printout, the original agreement creating the encumbrance, and your thinking on price. Twoja Sprawa helps you organise these documents for further review by a lawyer.

Last checked: 11 July 2026.