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Agreement of waiver of right of inheritance

Article 1048 of the Polish Civil Code regulates the agreement of waiver of right of inheritance. The institution in question is the only permissible exception to the prohibition of agreements concerning the inheritance of a living person regulated in the Article 1047 of the Polish Civil Code.

In the agreement of waiver of right of inheritance the future statutory heir waives his future inheritance of the deceased. As a result of the above future heirs are excluded from inheritance, and thus treated as if they did not live to see the opening of fall.

Such an agreement shall be concluded in the form of a notarial deed under pain of being declared null and void.

The agreement should specify the types of activities prohibited and the territory covered by this prohibition.

The agreement of waiver of right of inheritance may be concluded by any person belonging to the group of statutory heirs, not only by a person that, in the particular circumstances, is likely to come into an inheritance. This circle includes descendants, spouse, parents, siblings, descendants of siblings, grandparents and grandparents, descendants of the deceased.

Polish Civil Code provides that only a statutory heir, by agreement with the future testator, may renounce the inheritance, and only the inheritance of the Act (Judgement of the Supreme Court of 15 May 1972., III CZP 26/72). Therefore the testamentary heir is not entitled to exercise the above right.

The effects of the agreement of waiver of right of inheritance extends to descendants of person waiving the right to inherit (Article 1049 of the Polish Civil Code). The above relates to both – descendants living at the time of conclusion of the contract, as well as those who were born later. The contracting parties may, however, limit the effects of the agreement only to the person resigning, but for this purpose an express contractual provision is necessary.

Agreement for waiver of inheritance may be annulled by agreement concluded between the person who has renounced the inheritance, and the person after who the inheritance was renounced (Article 1050 of the Polish Civil Code). The above is the only possibility to completely nullify the effects of agreement of waiver of right of inheritance. Such an agreement shall be also concluded in the form of a notarial deed.

 


legal status: 04.01.2013

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