Enforcement of a claim from a deceased person requires a legal basis – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court

The death of a person with financial obligations does not mean that his heirs automatically become liable for the debts of the deceased person. Thus, it does not entitle creditors to obtain the data of potential heirs in order to collect the liability.

On 8 April 2026, the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation appeal of BEST Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. against the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw of 17 November 2022 on the complaints of Best S.A. and BEST III NSFIZ represented by BEST Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych with its registered office in Gdynia regarding the processing of personal data. Thus, the Supreme Administrative Court confirmed the correctness of the decision of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office of 2021.

The President of the Personal Data Protection Office issued an order to delete the applicant's personal data. The supervisory authority concluded that both the company and the fund did not have a legal basis entitling them to process the applicant's personal data in order to enforce the claim from the deceased person.

Neither the company nor the fund was entitled to independently determine the circle of heirs. It is the common court that is entitled to examine who the heir is. For this, it is necessary to conduct proceedings to determine the acquisition of the inheritance. Only the determination of the acquisition of the inheritance provided for by law would not leave any doubt, in the opinion of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, as to who acquired the inheritance and to what extent. On the other hand, the mere death of the testator does not mean that all his descendants become liable for the testator's debts. In the case in question, the President of the Personal Data Protection Office showed that both entities had no legal basis for processing the applicant's personal data and thus their actions for the repayment of the receivables were unlawful.

In complaints received by the President of the Personal Data Protection Office, there is a phenomenon of creditors directing demands to the debtors' heirs. However, the heirs accuse the creditors of lacking grounds for processing their personal data. Demands for repayment of debts are sometimes addressed to them even in a situation where they reject the inheritance.