Division of joint property of spouses and division of inheritance

Legal guide

ATTENTION!
automatic translation from Polish

Division in court

Division of joint property or inheritance department is usually carried out in court when there is a conflict between the parties. However, it is worth remembering that even if there is no dispute, it is worth considering conducting a division in court due to low costs. The court fee in a division case, if there is no dispute, is PLN 300 (in a dispute regarding the division of joint property, PLN 1,000 and in a dispute, a division of inheritance PLN 500).

Common rules for the division of inheritance and division of joint property

  1. General principles

    The court division of the estate should cover the entire estate. However, for important reasons it may be limited to part of the estate. At the request of two or more heirs, the court may assign them succession proceedings in whole or in part in such a way as to grant them certain object or certain objects belonging to the estate as joint ownership in certain fractional parts.

  2. a request to court

    In the application for the division of the inheritance, reference should be made to the confirmation of the acquisition of the inheritance or a registered inheritance certificate and inventory, as well as which testator has made wills, where they were submitted and where they are. If the inventory has not been prepared, indicate in the application the property to be the subject of the department. If the estate includes real estate, evidence must be provided that the property was owned by the testator.

  3. Examination of heirs

    Co-heirs should provide the court with their age, profession, family status and details of their earnings and assets, as well as the earnings and assets of the spouse, explain how they have benefited from the inheritance so far, as well as provide other circumstances that may affect the decision, what each of the co-heirs will receive from the inheritance.

  4. Course of proceedings

    At the request of a department participant, reported no later than at the first hearing, the court of succession may refer the case to the district court in whose district the estate or a significant part thereof is located, or to the district court in which all co-heirs live.

    In the proceedings themselves, the court determines the composition and value of the estate subject to distribution.

    In the event of a dispute over the existence of the right to request a division of the estate, as well as in the event of a dispute between the co-heirs as to whether a certain item belongs to the estate, the court of succession may issue a preliminary order.

    In the division proceedings, the court also decides on the existence of ordinary provisions regarding items or rights belonging to the inheritance, as well as on mutual claims between the co-heirs due to possession of individual inheritance items, collected benefits and other income, made on the decline in expenditure and paid inheritance debts.

    In the course of the proceedings, the court should urge the parties to agree on the division, indicating to them ways that could lead to it. When all parties submit a joint application as to the method of division, the court will issue a decision corresponding to the content of the application, if the proposed way of dividing the property into parts should be marked on the plan drawn up in accordance with the rules applicable to the marking of real estate in the land and mortgage register, and the division does not contradict the law or the principles social co-existence, nor does it grossly infringe the interests of authorized persons.

    If there is no consistent application for the division of property, and there are conditions for division in kind, the court shall divide it into parts corresponding to the value of the shares of the co-owners taking into account all circumstances in accordance with the socio-economic interest. The differences in value are offset by cash surcharges. The court may also order the sale of individual assets at auction

  5. Decision coming into force

    As soon as the decision granting the existing co-owners part or one of them all the property is transferred to the participants indicated in the decision. If, as a result of the division, all or part of the thing falls to the co-owner who does not own the thing or part of it, the court, in the decision on the abolition of joint ownership, will also decide on its release or emptying by the other co-owners of the premises on the property, specifying the date of issue things or emptying rooms. The deadline for the release of real estate that is part of a farm or part of it, or the emptying of rooms on it, is determined taking into account the socio-economic interest.

Special rules regarding the division of property:

In the case of the division of joint property after the termination of joint property between spouses, the court of the location of the property is competent, and if the community ceased by the death of one of the spouses - the court of succession.

In proceedings regarding the division of joint property after the termination of joint ownership May the disagreement between spouses, the court also decides on the demand to determine unequal shares of the spouses in the joint property and what expenses, expenses and other benefits from the joint property in favor of personal property or vice versa are refundable. In the event of a dispute regarding the determination of unequal shares in the joint property, the court may decide in that matter by a preliminary order.


legal aid
The Law Office of Piotr Stączek Advocate

Wąwozowa 11, piętro 3, 02-796 Warszawa tel: 881 209 300 Fax: +48 22 448 09 97 www.staczek.com