Pursuant to Art. 1018 § 3 of the Civil Code, one of the ways to decline the inheritance is to submit a written declaration to the court. Such a declaration should be made in writing with an officially certified signature. The power of attorney to perform this activity must also take this form.
It is very important to remember that the deadline for submitting such a declaration is 6 months from the date on which the heir learned about the title of his appointment. Failure to submit such a declaration on time is tantamount to accepting the inheritance with the benefit of inventory.
The heir may submit a declaration to the district court competent for his place of residence or stay. The court is obliged to immediately send such a declaration with attachments to the inheritance court, i.e. the district court with territorial jurisdiction over the inheritance acquisition case, determined according to the testator’s last place of residence. Moreover, such a declaration may also be submitted directly to the inheritance court in the course of proceedings for confirmation of inheritance acquisition.
It is unacceptable to submit a declaration of rejection of inheritance provided or subject to a time limit, because then the rejection of the inheritance will be invalid.
Pursuant to Art. 641 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the declaration must include the name and surname of the testator, the date and place of his death, the place of his last residence, the title of appointment to the inheritance, the content of the submitted declaration and listing of all persons belonging to the statutory heirs known to the declarant, indication of any will even if the person making the declaration considered it invalid. In addition, data on the content and location of the indicated wills should be provided.
The declaration must be accompanied by an extract of the testator’s death certificate or a final and binding court decision declaring him deceased or confirming death, if the evidence has not already been submitted. The court is then obliged to notify all persons who, according to the declaration and the documents presented, are called to inherit about the rejection of the inheritance.
A fixed fee of PLN 50 is collected upon receipt by the court of the declaration of rejection of inheritance.
The refusal to accept a declaration of rejection of inheritance may be subject to instance control only when an appeal is examined against the decision confirming the acquisition of an inheritance.
Finally, it is worth adding that submitting a written declaration to the court is not the only way to reject an inheritance. You can also do it orally before a court or in writing before a notary or consul.