Who inherits without a will in Poland?

The children inherit first and the spouse's share may not be less than a quarter of the estate.

If there are no descendants, the spouse and the parents inherit by law, and the siblings come in where a parent has died. If there are no parents or siblings either, the spouse is the heir.

Descendants first. If there are none, the parents, with siblings or their descendants sharing where a parent has died. Then grandparents and their descendants. Failing those, the children of the person's spouse. Last, the municipality of the person's last residence, or the State Treasury if it cannot be found or was abroad.

The official fact sheet does not describe rights for unmarried or registered partners. Treat an unmarried partner as having no automatic right and take advice.

Descendants, the spouse and the parents (where there are no descendants) can claim a payment of a set sum of money if a will leaves them less than their protected share.

In this EU country the Succession Regulation applies to people who die after 16 August 2015: the whole estate is generally governed by the law of the country where the person had their habitual residence at death, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. A foreigner living here, or a citizen living abroad, can therefore be governed by a different law than the one described on this page.

Poland belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Poland legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Poland? →

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Poland