Polish lawyer / Inheriting in Poland
Inheriting in Poland when you live in Australia
When a parent or relative dies in Poland, heirs in Australia often do not need to travel. Radek Dajer, a Polish-speaking lawyer and notary in Frankston, prepares and notarises your declarations and powers of attorney, and handles any estate in Victoria.
What we help with
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An estate in Poland, heirs in Australia
A Polish court or notary usually deals with the estate of someone who lived in Poland, under Polish law, even if the heirs live in Australia. The heirs have to decide whether to accept or refuse the inheritance, prove that they are heirs, and deal with Polish tax before property can be transferred or sold.
We advise on Australian and Victorian law, and we prepare, explain in Polish and notarise the documents heirs in Victoria need to sign. Advice on Polish law comes from a lawyer or notary in Poland, and we work with them. If the person who died also had assets in Victoria, we can apply here for a grant of probate or letters of administration.
Act quickly
The 6-month deadline to accept or refuse an inheritance in Poland runs from the day you learned of the death or other facts that make you an heir, even if you live in Australia.
What heirs in Australia need to know
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
An heir can accept the inheritance without limit, accept it with the benefit of inventory, or refuse it (art 1012 of the Polish Civil Code).
- Six months: the declaration can be made within 6 months from the day the heir learned of the ground for inheriting. For deaths since 18 October 2015, an heir who makes no declaration in time is treated as having accepted with the benefit of inventory (art 1015).
- Final: a declaration cannot be revoked, and a conditional declaration is void (art 1018).
- Refusing: an heir who refuses is treated as if they had not survived the deceased. Where there is no will, their children may then inherit in their place, and each child must decide whether to accept or refuse. An inheritance cannot be refused in favour of a particular person.
- From Australia: the declaration can be made in writing with an officially certified signature. It must reach the Polish succession court before the 6 months end, so allow time for translation and post. A notary in Australia can certify your signature, and DFAT then adds an apostille. Check with the Polish court first that it will accept the declaration in this form.
Before property can be transferred or sold, the heirs must prove their rights in Poland.
- Court or notary: the court confirms the acquisition of the inheritance (stwierdzenie nabycia spadku), or a notary draws up a notarial certificate of inheritance (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia) (art 1025 of the Polish Civil Code).
- Six months: neither can generally be issued within 6 months of the death, unless all known heirs have already made their declarations (art 1026).
- At a notary: all interested people generally take part, and the notary cannot issue the certificate if there is any doubt about the heirs or the applicable law.
- In court: a party living outside Poland and the EU who has no attorney in Poland must appoint an agent for service in Poland, a person there who receives court papers for them. Otherwise, court papers are left in the file and treated as served (art 11355 of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure).
Inheriting property located in Poland is subject to Polish inheritance tax, whatever the heir’s nationality.
- Close family exemption: a spouse, children, grandchildren and other descendants, parents, grandparents and other ascendants, stepchildren, siblings and step-parents can be exempt if they notify the tax office on form SD-Z2 within 6 months, generally counted from the court decision becoming final, the notarial certificate being registered or a European Certificate of Succession being issued.
- The citizenship condition: the exemption applies only if, at the time of the inheritance, the heir held Polish, EU or EEA citizenship, or lived in Poland, the EU or the EEA. An heir who is only an Australian citizen and lives in Australia does not qualify (art 4 of the Polish Inheritance and Gift Tax Act).
- Assets outside Poland: an heir who is a Polish citizen, or who lives permanently in Poland, can also owe Polish inheritance tax on assets outside Poland, including in Australia (art 2 of the Polish Inheritance and Gift Tax Act). Close family may still be exempt if they notify the Polish tax office on form SD-Z2 in time, so check this early.
- Missed deadline: since 7 January 2026, the tax office can restore a missed SD-Z2 deadline if the heir shows the delay was not their fault. The request must be made within 7 days after the cause of the delay ends, together with the SD-Z2. This does not help where the deadline had already passed before 7 January 2026.
- Australian tax: ask your accountant how the inheritance, and any later sale, is treated in Australia.
If the person who died also owned property or money in Victoria, an Australian grant may be needed.
- Probate or administration: a grant of probate, or letters of administration where there is no will, from the Supreme Court of Victoria. Applications are filed online.
- Advertising: the intended application is advertised online through the Supreme Court’s RedCrest-Probate system before it is filed.
- Family provision claims: must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant of probate or letters of administration.
Step by step
An inheritance in Poland, step by step
What heirs in Victoria usually need to do. We explain each step in Polish or in English.
01
Find out what there is
Gather the death certificate, any will, and what you know about the property, accounts and debts in Poland. Debts matter when deciding whether to accept.
02
Decide within 6 months
Decide whether to accept, accept with the benefit of inventory or refuse, within 6 months of learning of the facts that make you an heir.
03
Sign your declaration
Sign the declaration, or a power of attorney for someone in Poland, before a notary in Australia. We explain it in Polish and notarise it at our Frankston office.
04
Confirm the heirs
A Polish court or notary confirms who the heirs are. An attorney in Poland can act for you.
05
Tax and transfer
Notify the Polish tax office within the deadline if the exemption applies, then transfer or sell the property.
How we work
Visit our Frankston office
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, by appointment
Notarial appointments
In person at our office, by appointment. Bring your passport or other photo identification.
By train
A short walk from Frankston station, at the end of the Frankston line from Melbourne.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Often not. A declaration can be made in writing with an officially certified signature, and a power of attorney lets someone in Poland act for you. Ask the Polish court or notary which documents from Australia they accept. We can contact them for you.
Accepting with the benefit of inventory limits an heir’s liability for the debts to the value of the assets in the inventory, and refusing the inheritance avoids them. If no declaration is made within 6 months, the heir is treated as having accepted with the benefit of inventory.
Often, yes. Under Polish law, since 15 November 2023, court permission is not needed where the child inherits only because a parent refused, the parents act together or one acts with the other’s consent, and the parents’ other children also refuse. In other cases, court permission is needed. If your child lives in Australia, the law and the court that decide whether permission is needed can depend on where the child lives, so ask the Polish court or a lawyer in Poland before you sign. We can contact them for you and prepare the declaration for signing.
Polish law recognises many foreign court decisions automatically, but whether a Victorian grant of probate can be used for property in Poland, for example in the land register, is not settled. In practice, heirs usually obtain a Polish court decision or a notarial certificate of inheritance.
No. We are an Australian firm and advise on Victorian and Australian law. We prepare and notarise documents for Poland, but their effect under Polish law is a question for a lawyer or notary in Poland, and we are happy to work with them.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language page.
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Talk to us about an inheritance in Poland
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm.