While clearing an apartment, the family finds a signed, undated note: ‘I leave the house to my daughter.’ Another folder holds an earlier notarial document. Nobody should select the convenient version and hide the other. Preserve both and establish their meaning.
The examples are illustrative. Sources checked on 16 September 2026. This article concerns Polish law and records.
Handwritten means written by the testator’s own hand
A holographic will should be entirely handwritten, signed and dated by the testator. A computer printout with a handwritten signature does not meet this form’s requirements. Calling a document a ‘will’ does not cure its defects.
An absent date does not always invalidate it. The Code allows an exception where the absence does not cause the specified doubts, including about capacity, contents or the relationship between several wills. An undated note must therefore be assessed in context.
Basis: [1] art. 949
Read several documents together
A new will does not invariably make the entire earlier will irrelevant. If the new document does not revoke the previous one, only provisions that cannot be reconciled are revoked. Wording, sequence and circumstances matter.
A notarial will does not simply ‘outrank’ a handwritten one. There is no such automatic hierarchy. Awareness, freedom of decision, mistake or threat may also require examination.
Basis: [1] art. 945–950
A discovered will must be submitted
A person holding a will must, after learning of the testator’s death, submit it to the succession court unless it has been submitted to a notary. Preserve the original: annotations, altered dates or highlighting do not help its assessment.
Information may also be sought through the notarial procedure in the Notarial Register of Wills. It does not automatically contain every handwritten will, so an absent entry does not prove that none exists.
‘The house to my daughter’ may require interpretation
Naming an asset does not always show whether the beneficiary is an heir, an ordinary legatee or the beneficiary of a vindicatory legacy. The wording, estate composition and relevant formal requirements matter. A vindicatory legacy, for example, requires a notarial will.
Before dividing the estate, clarify the document’s effects as well as authenticity. Claims to a reserved share may arise separately. Simply omitting a relative is not equivalent to effective statutory disinheritance.
What to prepare
- Originals of all wills and revocations found.
- Information about when and how they were made.
- Details of any notary or court receiving them.
- An asset list to help interpret the dispositions.
Remember
Preserve every document and submit it through the proper procedure. Do not judge a will only by its title, signature or paper.
Sources and references
Official legislation, judgments and institutional materials. The relevant sources are identified below each section.
- Polish Civil Code — consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2026, item 795 — opens a new windowart. 949; art. 945–950; art. 948, 961, 968, 981¹, 991 and 1008–1009
- Polish Code of Civil Procedure — consolidated text, 2026, item 468 — opens a new windowart. 646–649
- Polish National Council of Notaries — succession and wills registers — opens a new windowRelevant guidance and reasoning