Inheritance of apartment in Warsaw

I am looking for help in finding out about some inheritance from my husband's grandmother who died approximately 2 years ago in Warsaw.

My mother-in-law was an only child and she came from Poland in 1971 when she married an englishman (of Polish decent), stayed and gained British citizenship. Her parents continued to live in Poland with her mother surviving until a few years ago. My husband's grandmother owned a flat in Warsaw and there is talk of a share in a large family property that has been returned from the Polish communist government.

We would assume that all property owned by my husband's grandmother would naturally be inherited by her only surviving child, my mother-in-law.

The problem is, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 10 years ago and at the time of her mother's death in Poland she was so ill that she was unable to hold any sort of conversation or deal with any inheritance matters. She is now completely bedridden and unable to talk. My father-in-law cares for her daily and as he does not speak polish he does not have the ability to resolve any inheritance problems. He does have legal power of attorney for her here in England.

I am unaware if my husband's grandmother left a will and we have no contact details for any distant relatives living in Poland.

However, my husband's grandmother had a sister who has been living in England for many years. My father-in-law is in contact with her but myself and my husband have not been in contact with her. It would appear that when the grandmother in Poland first passed away, her sister attempted to get the apartment in Warsaw passed into her name, offering my father-in-law a very minimal payment in return. From what we can gather the polish court put a stop to this and wouldn't allow it to happen. Since the courts made the decision, the sister has regularly been staying in the apartment in Warsaw so she obviously has acess to it.

My husband would now like to take the matter further to ensure that the inheritance that rightly belongs to his mother is passed down to her. Can anyone please advise what we should do next. Should we contact a polish speaking solicitor in England or an english speaking solicitor in Warsaw? Does anyone have contact details for any reputable solicitors?

Many thanks.

TomBella

Speak to a Polish lawyer (one in Poland).


The British embassy certainly used to have a list of Polish lawyers who speak English.

Yea, I sure can. You and your husband didnt give a damn about any of your family until they were long and dead, only to find out about a week ago that granny's apartment/house is worth some serious cash and now it's time to go rushing in and grab everything in sight.

So follow Harry's advice, go to a Polish lawyer, let him promise you immediate action and a swift decision in your favor, have a lot of papers pushed back and forth for years and then lose on a technicality.

You seem to have missed the bit about "my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 10 years ago and at the time of her mother's death in Poland she was so ill that she was unable to hold any sort of conversation or deal with any inheritance matters. She is now completely bedridden and unable to talk. My father-in-law cares for her daily".

Yes, I did miss that. My apologies.

How dare you! My mother-in-law visited her family on a regular basis until her illness kicked in. I joined this forum to get advice and help for my husband and his father. My husband was incredibly close to his grandmother in Poland, closer than he ever was to his british grandparents. We both work and we have 2 children in school in Engand so it is extremely difficult for us to visit Poland (not to mention the costs involved) and neither of us speak Polish and nor does my father-in-law. I dare not show this forum to my husband now as he would be too upset by your response. Any benefit from the inheritence would go straight to paying for future care for my mother-in-law! Apologies don't mean a thing if you can be that mean in the first place. I hope you feel suitably ashamed of yourself?

Thank you Harry for your response and subsequent support.

Dont worry about our extremely angry and frustrated American friend. He has a reputation for that on here, by that i mean being regularly wrong and very angry.

Happy to have helped. Here's that list of lawyers: ukinpoland.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/whenthingsgowrong/ifyouneedalawyer

If you'd like, I can ask a few lawyers I know for personal recommendations.

OK, thanks.


That would be great, thank you, and thanks for the list I will have a look through it.