A donation from 10 years ago and a retainer – a key decision of the ultimate Court

The ultimate Court has decided: donations made more than 10 years before the heir's death do not number as a retainer if he is not the heir. Find out what this means to your family!

A dispute about a pet – a donation to a granddaughter and the claims of sons

The calculation of the safekeeping does not take into account donations made more than 10 years after the beginning of the inheritance – specified a key resolution was adopted by the civilian Chamber of the ultimate Court. The decision was made regarding the dispute between the sons of the late Leokadia J. and her granddaughter, who received property in the form of a donation from her grandmother.

The case afraid claims for the benefit of PLN 26 600. 1 of the sons of the deceased argued that the parent had not left a will, and he and his brothers were left out of the inheritance. Meanwhile, while inactive alive, Leokadia J. passed on the property ( 95% of her estate) to 2 grandchildren.

Purpose of the institution of retention – protection of loved ones

As SN justice Prof. Paweł Grzegorczyk explained, the institution to charge donations in the calculation of the maintenance is aimed at prevention of situations in which eligible persons would lose their protection as a consequence of the succession in life. The point is that donations should not lower the value of inheritance, which should come to the nearest.

The granddaughter who received the donation, however, claimed that the property should not be included in the inheritance because:

• The donation was made more than 10 years before Grandma died,
• The property was loaded Lifetime service of the apartment,
• The building required renovation and the economical buildings needed demolition.

District Court Decision and Appeal

The territory Court dismissed the action, considering that the granddaughter is not an heiressBecause her parent (daughter of the deceased) was surviving at the time of her grandmother's death, who inherited from the law. As a result, the donation was not included in the inheritance.

The plaintiff appealed, alleging violation of the civilian Code provisions, including:

• Article 1000 kc – by excluding the granddaughter from the work to pay the retainer,
• Article 944 kc – by accepting that only donations from the past 10 years are settled,
• Article 5 kc – by abuse of the law and harming sons.

Position of the ultimate Court

The territory Court in Piotrków Trybunalski asked the SN whether ‘recipient’ within the meaning of Article 994(1) kc is only the actual heir, or potential heir (e.g. a granddaughter who would inherit if her parent could not inherit).

The earlier case law was inconsistent:

• Court of Appeal in Gdańsk (V Aca 456/19) considered that donations from 10 years ago do not number if the recipient is not an heir.
• Court of Appeal in Katowice (I ACa 605/13) stated that a donation to a grandson does not include a inheritance if the heir is his father.
• Court of Appeal in Warsaw (I ACa 36/13) pointed out that it was the object of the donation, the date of its performance and the position of the gifted.

Eventually Supreme Court (III CZP 3/24) confirmedthat donations from more than 10 years ago do not include the storage, unless the talented individual belongs to the heirs or persons entitled to keep.

Summary – what does this mean for heirs?

• Donations made more than 10 years before death are not included in the calculation of the storage, unless the heir is given.
• If the donation was sent to a individual outside the ellipse of heirs (e.g. a granddaughter while her parent is alive), not cleared.
• The heirs should pay attention to the date of donations – those decades ago may be outside the scope of claims.

In case of doubt, it is worth consulting a lawyer to avoid unnecessary disputes.

The information on the website is simply a description of the legal position at the date of publication and is not a legal advice on an individual case. The legal position of publication may change. The law firm is not liable for utilizing an alert to solve legal problems.

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