Selected judgments regarding inheritance law

Resolution of the composition of seven judges of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of April 28, 1973 - reference number III CZP 78/72

 The personal will (art. 949 of the Civil Code) contained in the testator's letter to the heir, signed in a manner specifying only the family relationship of the testator to the heir, is valid if the circumstances do not raise doubts as to the seriousness and intention of such disposition.

Resolution of the composition of seven judges of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 5 June 1992, reference number III CZP 41/92

 The testator's signature in his own will (Article 949 § 1 of the Civil Code) should be made under pain of nullity under the letter containing the disposition of property upon death.

order of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 16 April 1999, reference number II CKN 255/98

 The basis for inheritance can be a handwritten will that has gone missing. The fact of its preparation, validity and content of the ordinances must be proved in the course of the proceedings for confirmation of the acquisition of an inheritance.

order of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of November 26, 2004, reference number I CK 306/2004

 As a rule, for a manual will to be considered valid, it must be written by the testator in full handwriting, signed by him and dated, but the effect of entering the date after the testator's signature by typewriter does not invalidate this type of will.

Resolution of the Supreme Court - Civil and Administrative Chamber of 20 January 1984, III CZP 69/83

 A testamentary disposition, in which a record of the use of the property has been made, does not constitute a sufficient basis for entering this limited property right in the land and mortgage register. To make such an entry, you need a document containing a declaration of the heir burdened with the heir's appointment to the legatee, drawn up in the form of a notarial deed.

Order of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 8 January 2002, I CKN 482/2000

 The legal effects of the cancellation of a will and the cancellation of a will canceling the will are made when the inheritance is opened, except that the cancellation of the canceling will will not restore the effectiveness of the first canceled will.

Order of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 13 June 2001, II CKN 543/2000

 The determination of the heir by way of interpretation of a will is only possible if there are clear criteria in the will to determine the will of the testator in a way that is beyond doubt.

Judgment of the Court of Appeal in Warsaw of 19 August 2005, VI ACa 302/2005

 According to the content of art. 1009 of the Civil Code, the reason for disinheritance of a reserved shareholder should result from the content of the will. It does not have to be clearly stated, but the content of the will should make it possible to establish this reason. Disinheritance is ineffective if its reason is not apparent from the content of the will, even if in fact the reason for disinheritance was.

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 26 April 1999. I CKN 1107/97

The institution of recognition as unworthy is primarily based on moral considerations. The interest of persons bringing an action to declare an heir unworthy may also be of a non-pecuniary nature and result from the utmost care for the memory of the deceased person and the related desire to stigmatize the heir, who, for example, intentionally committed a serious crime against the testator.

Judgment: I CKN 1107/97

Order of the Supreme Court of 3 February 2012, I CZ 9/12

Cases for declaring an heir unworthy should be included in the category of property rights cases.

Some elements of personal rights can be seen in them, but they remain definitely in the background. This demand seeks first and foremost to pursue the property interests of the entitled person by eliminating a specific person from the circle of heirs, and thus to shape the circle of persons to whom the deceased's property rights and obligations pass.

Judgment: I CZ 9/12

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 10 May 1977. I CR 207/77

An expanding interpretation of Art. 928 § 1 point 3 of the Civil Code. The letter stating the content of the oral will is not a will, but a special means of proof. In the event of the destruction of such a letter by the heir, it is not possible to have the effect of declaring him unworthy.

Judgment: I CR 207/77

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 10 December 1999. II CKN 627/98

Other heirs' behaviors than those listed in the Civil Code as constituting grounds for considering him unworthy, even if they could be assessed negatively from the point of view of generally accepted customs, cannot constitute a sufficient basis for applying such a far-reaching sanction.

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 23 March 2016. III CSK 80/15

Offenses of psychological abuse, including on persistent and malicious limitation of contact with a minor child, which resulted in a gross violation for sad intercourse in the family and then the testator's bargain for the lives of loved ones and their own, may be the basis for declaring the heir unworthy of inheritance.

Judgment: III CSK 80/15

Judgment of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 9 January 2014. V CSK 109/13

The catalog of serious intentional crimes, the commission of which may lead to the heir being considered unworthy of inheritance, is not limited to crimes against the testator, family and guardianship. A crime against property cannot be ruled out, but it must be a deliberate and grave crime that can only be considered as one that harms the testator's foundations (e.g. burning the house, which is the testator's life center, theft of a wheelchair, as a result of which the testator is deprived) mobility options).

Judgment: V CSK 109/13

Resolution of the composition of three judges of the Supreme Court - Civil Chamber of 19 October 2018. III CZP 37/18

Forgiveness by a testator entitled to a reserved portion may also take place after he has been dispossessed in the will and does not require a testamentary form to be effective.

Judgment: III CZP 37/18