Blog
Attorney Milena Nowicka
When may your minor child inherit a debt-encumbered estate?
In order to submit a declaration of rejection of inheritance on behalf of a child, a parent may need court approval
Rejection of inheritance on behalf of a minor child after the amendment of the regulations – what changes have been in force since 2023?
What conditions must be met in order to effectively reject an inheritance on behalf of a child without court approval?
Which cases are covered by the new regulations on parents rejecting an inheritance on behalf of a child?
What is the time limit for a minor to reject an inheritance?
How to reject an inheritance on behalf of a child after the change in regulations – before a court or a notary?
An inheritance does not necessarily mean substantial assets. Very often, quite the opposite is true – it may consist solely of debts. In order to free oneself from this problem, a declaration of rejection of inheritance must be submitted. However, if you have children, they may inherit the debt-encumbered estate in your place. The issue becomes particularly problematic if they are minors. In such a case, it is your responsibility to reject the inheritance on behalf of the child. Fortunately, the regulations have recently changed in your favour, and this procedure may now be significantly simpler.
Let us begin with a brief reminder. An heir has six months to reject an inheritance. This period is calculated from the moment the heir “learned of the basis for their appointment to the inheritance.” In simpler terms, this is the moment when they become aware that they belong to the circle of heirs.
A person who has rejected an inheritance is treated as if they had not been alive at the time the inheritance was opened. This is important because, in such a situation, the right to the inheritance usually passes to that person’s children. Rejecting the inheritance alone therefore does not guarantee that the entire family will be freed from the risk of having to repay the deceased’s debts—provided, of course, that the person rejecting the inheritance has children.
A problem arises if such children are under 18 years of age. In that case, they cannot independently reject the inheritance, as they do not have full legal capacity. Instead, the declaration must be submitted on their behalf by a parent—again within a six-month period.
Although a parent submits the declaration of rejection of inheritance on behalf of their child, this does not mean that such a waiver of inheritance from the deceased occurs without any supervision.
Since the parent is making a decision on behalf of another person (their child), there is a risk that the parent could act to the child’s detriment. For this reason, the regulations introduce the principle that a parent must obtain court approval in order to effectively reject an inheritance on behalf of a child. This is the general rule, although since 2023 there has been an exception in this regard, which will be discussed in more detail in the next section.
The general principle remains unchanged: in order to avoid situations in which parents act against the interests of minor children, the law requires that court permission be obtained in advance. In such proceedings, the parent must justify why the inheritance is being rejected and why this action is in the best interests of the child.
The previous rules governing the rejection of inheritance by parents on behalf of a child involved significant formalities in cases of debt-encumbered estates.
Typically, the process looked as follows: the parent was first called to inherit, determined that the estate was encumbered with debts, rejected it, and then had to initiate the entire procedure again—this time on behalf of their minor child and with an additional obstacle: the need to wait for the consent of the guardianship court.
For this reason, an amendment to the regulations was introduced on 15 November 2023. Under the new rules, a parent does not need the consent of the guardianship court to reject an inheritance on behalf of a minor child if the child inherits solely as a result of the parent having previously rejected the inheritance.
This does not mean that the consent of the guardianship court will no longer be required in any situation in which a debt-encumbered estate is to pass to a minor. If the child:
—then the consent of the guardianship court will still be required.
You already know that court approval is not required if you first reject the inheritance yourself and, as a result, the right to inherit passes to your minor child. However, there are several additional conditions.
First, you must hold parental authority with respect to the ability to reject the inheritance on behalf of the child.
Second, the rejection of the inheritance must take place with the consent of the other parent who also holds parental authority in this respect, or you and the other parent must act jointly.
Third, if your child has adult siblings who will also inherit, those siblings must also reject the inheritance. Otherwise, a scenario could arise in which parents reject an unencumbered inheritance so that it passes to their children, and then, acting on behalf of the minor child, submit another rejection in order for a larger share of the estate to pass to the adult siblings.
The new regulations apply only to inheritance cases in which:
If, in your case, you cannot reject the inheritance under the new rules and court approval is still required, the concept of “suspension of the time limit during the proceedings” becomes relevant. How does this work in practice?
Assume that you reject the inheritance and, two months later, apply to the guardianship court for consent to reject the inheritance on behalf of your child. At that stage, you still have four months left to submit the declaration. In order to avoid a situation in which the time limit expires before the court grants its consent, it is accepted that the time limit is suspended. It does not run for the entire duration of the proceedings before the guardianship court. Once consent to reject the inheritance is granted, the time limit resumes. You will then have the remaining four months to submit the declaration on behalf of the minor child.
Where court approval is not required, an inheritance may be rejected in two ways—before a court or before a notary. If you choose the judicial route, you must submit an application for acceptance of the declaration of rejection of inheritance.
If you intend to submit such a declaration before a notary, you must arrange an appointment at a notarial office and prepare the relevant documents. If you plan to make use of the new possibility of rejecting an inheritance without court approval, you should ensure that you have evidence showing that you previously rejected the inheritance yourself. This may be an extract from the court hearing minutes or a document issued by a notary—depending on the form in which your earlier declaration was submitted.
