The death of the heir is not the basis for halting proceedings for division of inheritance

Where 1 of the persons entitled to the inheritance has died during the succession proceedings, The court shall be liable for the decision to get the inheritance from that person. This is simply a key aspect of the latest ultimate Court resolution, which explains how to proceed in specified a situation.

The Opole territory Court met a akin case in a case concerning the division of inheritance by parents whose applicant died during the trial. In this situation, the territory Court suspended the case until it explained who would inherit from the deceased applicant. The court then refused to proceed its conduct, arguing that the uncovering of heir K. required a thorough analysis of both the facts and legal aspects of his will, which was not simple. K. has repeatedly changed his wills, including those in which he deprived his boy of his right to keep. Furthermore, it was doubtful whether K. actually signed any paper with the notary in the last days of his life. The court was aware of the property conflict in the K. family, which further complicated the word of heirs.

According to the civilian Code (Article 680), the application for division of inheritance must contain a court order stating the acquisition of the inheritance or notarial act of the succession of the same power. If specified an act does not exist, the decision to get the inheritance shall be issued in the course of the divisional procedure, utilizing the provisions concerning the determination of the acquisition of the inheritance (Article 681 k.c.). However, this second provision is ambiguous and raises problems in practice.

The Opole territory Court, considering its refusal to proceed the case, asked the ultimate Court with a legal question, since the case law and the discipline of law did not supply a clear answer. There are 2 interpretations of Article 681: wider and narrower.

According to the first interpretation, the inheritance divided procedure always precedes the final confirmation of the acquisition of the inheritance (both judicial and notarial), so it can only apply to those who died before the division process began.

According to the second interpretation, the application for division of the inheritance includes a request for the acquisition of the inheritance, including by the heirs who died before the division. Article 681 k.p.c. besides appears to apply erstwhile a associate has died during the divided proceedings and the court should examine and settle this issue. The ultimate Court supported the second interpretation, stating that the uncovering of acquisition of inheritance under Article 681 of the Code may besides apply to heirs who died after the commencement of the division process.

In our view, from a applicable point of view, the best solution is to enable the court to conduct proceedings in order to find the acquisition of a succession from a associate who died during a divisional procedure. This is beneficial to safeguard the interests of co-legislators, to conduct the case efficiently and to velocity up its completion.

Legal basis: Resolution of the SN dated 26.10.2023, signature of act III CZP 18/23

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