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One Heir Is Living in the Inherited Property and Won't Leave

One heir is living in the inherited flat, and the rest of you can neither sell it nor use it. This is one of the most common reasons a Polish estate division drags on for years: without every co-owner's agreement on price and timing, an ordinary sale simply doesn't move. It's a familiar shape of dispute to anyone who grew up around Polish family stories about who gets grandma's flat, minus the tidy ending.

What you can actually do when a co-heir is living in the property

Co-ownership through inheritance gives every heir the right to co-possess the property in proportion to their share. One person using it exclusively, without consent and without compensating the others, isn't automatically illegal, but it does create a claim for payment for the use of everyone else's share. In practice that leads to three paths: talking it out and reaching an amicable agreement, applying for a court division of the estate, or selling the whole property in a single transaction. The rules on co-ownership are set out in Poland's Civil Code.

Step by step: how we usually handle this

1. We check the land registry. Whether every heir's share is already registered, and whether the estate division is formally complete.
2. We talk to each heir separately. We find out what each side actually wants before proposing one shared figure.
3. We put forward a single offer for the whole property. Instead of pushing anyone to sell an individual share, we propose one figure for the whole thing, split proportionally in the notarial deed.
4. We close at the notary. Every heir gets their part immediately, with no need to wait for a buyer interested in a single fractional share.

We had a client with an inherited property whose case was complicated enough to need legal advice, but who put off getting it because a lawyer's fee was more than he could afford at the time. He kept delaying, afraid to act without support. We handled it so the land registry status, the settlement between heirs, and the form of the notarial deed all got sorted as part of the sale itself, without a separate lawyer paid upfront.

When it's worth calling

Selling an estate split between several heirs through a traditional agent can drag on for a year if the heirs don't agree on price or timing. One transaction, with a clear figure agreed upfront, usually closes it in a week or two. Call when the conversation between heirs has stalled, when one person avoids contact, or when the case has been sitting for months with no movement.

Honest terms if you go with a single transaction

• The price is 70-90% of market value, set for the whole property.
• Payment split proportionally to shares, written directly into the notarial deed.
• The valuation is free, ready within 2 days of contact.
• Closing happens from 4 days after every heir accepts.

If a case is stuck between several heirs and nobody wants to make the first move, call. We'll talk to each side separately and put one concrete figure on the table before the dispute settles in any further.

Straight answers

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