In connection with the frequent taking of loans today, we can face the situation of the so-called unwanted inheritance that includes only debts or exceeds the value of the assets left behind. Often the family of the deceased is not even aware that he left behind debts falling into the estate or does not realize their height.
The statutory and testamentary heir should, within 6 months of becoming aware of the title of his or her appointment to the estate, make a statement whether the estate is accepted or rejected. After 6 months, in the absence of a response from the heir, the inheritance is accepted by law.
The six-month time limit for the heir to be filed cannot be extended. An heir who, under the influence of an error or threat made a defective statement or did not make any statement within this period, may evade legal consequences and make a valid statement effectively – however, this applies only in exceptional cases.
In a decision of the Supreme Court of November 26, 2019, the court considered the situation of two adult children who wanted to reject the inheritance of their deceased father. The decline consisted of debts of 250,000. zł. They did it after the deadline, because they were not aware of the existence of such a high debt – they only knew about part of it. In this case, rejection of an inheritance requires court approval.
It must be proved before the court that it was actually acting under the influence of error or threat. It is not possible to explain yourself by not knowing the law.
In the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, it is assumed that a legally relevant error as to the subject of the estate may be said when the lack of knowledge about the actual state of the estate is not the result of a lack of diligence on the part of the heir in determining it, when „the error is justified by the circumstances of the case”. The assessment in this regard should be made on the basis of the circumstances of the particular case and take into account the average, rather not very high, legal awareness of the public.
The Supreme Court accepted the position of the applicant children. He stated that from the point of view of the decision to accept or reject an inheritance, knowledge of the whole of inheritance debts and their size may be important, and knowledge of only some of them, especially if they are covered by inheritance assets, does not justify the expectation that the heir „prophylactically” will reject the inheritance.