Inheritance debts are liabilities of the testator that arose before his death and those related directly to his death. The provisions of the Civil Code address the issue of heirs’ liability for inheritance debts.
Under Art. 1034 § 2 of the Civil Code, the heirs are liable for the inheritance debts in relation to the size of the shares from the moment of the division of the inheritance. The result of the division of the inheritance is the cessation of joint and several liability between the heirs. From then on, each heir is liable for debts in proportion to their share in the estate.
In the decision of 20 September 2000 (file no. I CKN 295/00), the Supreme Court indicated that the subject of the inheritance division may only be assets, while the division of debts is effected by operation of law, in accordance with the division of assets. In accordance with the jurisprudence of courts, the subjective scope of the heirs’ liability is determined on the basis of a legally valid decision on the acquisition of an inheritance, a registered certificate of inheritance or a European certificate of succession. This means that the objective and subjective scope of liability for the debts of the succession is determined on the day of opening the inheritance.
Otherwise, the scope of responsibility towards heirs and legatees is determined by Art. 10342 of the Civil Code. According to its wording, from the moment of the division of the inheritance, the heirs and persons for whom the recovery entries have been made, are liable for the debts of the inheritance in proportion to the value of the benefits received by them. In this situation, the liability is determined in relation to the contribution and not the share in the inheritance. In the case law of courts it is emphasized that the provision of Art. 10342 of the Civil Code does not apply to the proportional distribution of liability in the relationship between heirs, but only in the relationship between legatees and heirs.
According to the linguistic interpretation of Art. 1034 § 2 of the Civil Code the distribution of inheritance debts is therefore proportional to the size of the heirs’ share in the inheritance, while pursuant to Art. 10342 of the Civil Code, the distribution of debts takes place in proportion to the values received by the heirs and legatees of the benefits. This interpretation, however, raises doubts due to inconsistent jurisprudence and a different position of the doctrine.
Courts, as a rule, apply the linguistic interpretation of the commented provisions, assuming that the legatee is responsible for the inheritance debts jointly with the heirs following the division of the estate in proportion to the gain obtained (such as the District Court in Olsztyn of July 3, 2017, reference number X Ns 1762/16).
In the judgment of May 30, 2017, file ref. II Ca 1527/16 The District Court in Szczecin decided that pursuant to Art. 1034 2 of the Civil Code from the moment of the division of the inheritance, the heirs and persons for whom the vindication entries have been made are liable for the inheritance debts in proportion to the value of the benefits received by them (similarly the District Court in Kamienna Góra in the judgment of January 25, 2019, file no. IC 786 / 17). However, these judgments were made in the factual state in which there were no legatees, only heirs.
According to the position of the District Court in Szczecin of December 27, 2018, file ref. II Ca 553/18, the creditor should therefore show the proportion in which the debtor is responsible for the inheritance debt according to the gain received. In such a case, it is necessary to show the value of the acquisitions of all beneficiaries of the inheritance, so both the heirs and legatees, and only on this basis it is possible to determine the proportion in which they are responsible for the inheritance debts.
It needs to be indicated that the legal doctrine, as a rule, does not accept a linguistic interpretation of Art. 10342. It also rejects the rule lex posterior derogat legi anteriori, which means that a provision introduced later derogates from the earlier one. According to this principle, Art. 10342 in favor of the division of liability for inheritance debts in proportion to the value of the benefits received should apply to the situation of legatees and heirs, as it was introduced only in 2011.
According to the interpretation of some of the doctrine, „one should support the interpretation according to which Art. 10342 concerns only the distribution of liability between the legatees and all heirs, while art. 1034 § 2, and therefore the heirs after the division will always be liable in proportion to their share in the estate, and not the benefit obtained from the division „(P. Księżak, Record of debt collection, pp. 182-183).
On the other hand, according to G. Gorczyński, „misreading of the concept of value of the gain referred to in Art. 10342 of the Civil Code, some authors argue that this provision applies only to the division of liability for inheritance debts between the legatees and all heirs. As for the r placing this responsibility only on heirs, the proper basis is to remain Art. 1034 § 2 of the Civil Code, which means that after the division of the inheritance, the heirs will be responsible for the inheritance debts in proportion to their share in the inheritance, and not according to the increments obtained at the division of the inheritance „(G. Gorczyński, Code of Civil Law, Comment. Volume I, ed. Magdalena Habdas, Mariusz Fras).
The courts have not yet made an in-depth analysis of the relationship between these two provisions, which may be done by the Supreme Court in the future. How the court will determine the liability of the legatees and heirs to creditors for inheritance debts will be of major importance in a situation where the division of the estate is divided differently than in the proceedings for confirming the acquisition of inheritance.