Can a mother-in-law be sued for an inheritance in Poland?

Can a mother-in-law be sued for an inheritance in Poland?

Many of our clients are English heirs whose parents moved to Poland before they died. Very often, the testator is the father, who has remarried, this time to a Polish woman, and moved to Poland.

Generally, in such cases, there is no contact between the testator’s children from the first marriage (our clients) and the deceased father’s new family in Poland. This creates a number of factual and legal problems.

First of all, it is very common for the mother-in-law and her family to hide the deceased’s assets. There are also cases where, for unknown reasons, the deceased has transferred his home to the mother-in-law before his death.

Each case must be examined on its own merits. Under Polish law, a mother-in-law can be the subject of an inheritance action. She does not have the right to take, conceal or use all assets. In such cases, it is very useful to have a Polish bailiff involved in the case, who helps the lawyer determine the exact assets and search for them in all public registers and offices in Poland.

The transfer of assets to the mother-in-law does not preclude the acquisition of the inheritance share as part of a reserve procedure, or the imputation of a gift against the mother-in-law’s inheritance.

Our law firm always chooses the best solution for the client. It’s important to act quickly and not be put off by language barriers, cultural barriers and complicated legal rules.