You found out about the testator's debt, but you didn't file a declaration of rejection of the inheritance in time? There is a chance that you will protect yourself from paying off the debt

According to Article 1019 § 2 of the Civil Code An heir who, under the influence of an error or threat, failed to submit any declaration within the deadline may avoid the legal consequences of failing to comply with the deadline in the above manner. Undoubtedly, the main feature of the error constituting the basis for the heir to avoid the legal consequences of not submitting a declaration of acceptance or rejection of the inheritance in due time is its materiality. In the resolution of 29 November 2012, II CSK 171/12, published legal database LEX no. 1294475 The Supreme Court found that, on the basis of Article 84 of the Civil Code, there are no obstacles to recognizing as a legally significant error not only an error as to the facts, but also an error as to the law – if, of course, it concerns the content of the legal act and is significant. There are no reasons to not apply Article 84 of the Civil Code in full in this respect, which does not distinguish between an error as to the law and as to the facts, and consequently allows, if the conditions provided for therein are met, to invoke both types of error. Moreover, in the same ruling, the Supreme Court noted that the effects of accepting an inheritance are not limited solely to the legal sphere of the heir, but strongly affect the legal relations of many other persons. This consideration speaks in favor of making the legal significance of an error in the scope of applying Article 1019 of the Civil Code dependent not only on the fact that it concerns the content of accepting the inheritance and is significant, but also on the fact that it is not a consequence of the heir's failure to exercise due diligence. It is further indicated that an error as to the content of a legal act may therefore constitute an error as to the title of inheritance, the person of the testator, or the subject of the inheritance.

The avoidance of the legal consequences of the lack of a declaration should take place within the time limit specified in Article 88 § 2 of the Civil Code, i.e. within one year from the discovery of the error or the cessation of the state of fear due to the threat. As indicated in the case law (Supreme Court decision of 4 April 2014 (II CSK 410/13, Legalis) – the observance of the deadline specified in Article 88 § 2 in connection with Article 1019 § 1 item 2 of the Civil Code should be decided solely by filing an application to the court before its expiry containing a request to receive such a declaration. The deadline will therefore be observed even if the receipt of a new declaration took place after the expiry of the deadline under Article 88 § 2 of the Civil Code, regardless of whether it took place at the first scheduled public session or at one of the subsequent sessions (although it was emphasized that "a properly acting court should receive the statement at the first scheduled hearing"). In this judgment it was correctly pointed out that this results from the fact that the moment of receipt of the declaration depends solely on the court (so also Księżak, Inheritance Law, 2017, Nb 489; in a different direction, resolution of the Supreme Court of 15 March 2018, III CZP 110/17, Legalis and post. Supreme Court of 12 April 2018, II CSK 485/17, Legalis).

The heir always files a motion to evade the legal consequences of the lack of a declaration before the court (Art. 1019 § 1 item 1 of the Civil Code in connection with Art. 628 of the Code of Civil Procedure), at the same time declaring whether and how he accepts the inheritance and in what manner, or whether he rejects it (Article 1019 § 2 point 2 of the Civil Code). Evading the legal consequences of a declaration of acceptance or rejection of inheritance requires court approval (art. 1019 § 3 of the Civil Code in connection with joke. 690 of the Code of Civil Procedure), it becomes effective only upon approval. As noted by the Supreme Court in the aforementioned decision of 29 November 2012, no one may be forced to acquire civil rights and obligations against their will, which was provided for by the legislator when establishing the institution of rejection of inheritance, as well as evading the legal consequences of submitting or failing to submit a declaration of will in this matter. In light of the above, if by failing to submit a declaration of rejection of inheritance on time, you acted under the influence of a material error concerning the content of the legal act – an error as to the title of inheritance, the person of the testator or the subject of the inheritance, HP Law Firm will help you effectively evade its consequences.