Ministry of Justice to Change Seniors' Property Regulations: Expert Warns of "Forfeiture"

• Upon the death of a pensioner, a escrow proceeding is conducted, which sometimes exceeds the cost of the items left behind.
• The implementation of this complicated procedure rests on the shoulders of the employees of social welfare homes.
• The Ministry of Justice has developed assumptions for a draft amendment to the Act on the Liquidation of Uncollected Deposits.

When a resident of a social welfare home dies and small amounts of money or mementos are left, the Social Welfare Home must conduct proceedings that sometimes exceed the costs of the items left behind . This happens when there are no heirs or when they do not want to incur higher legal costs than the inheritance.

The issue of deposits left by deceased residents of social welfare homes is indeed a complicated issue. It is a noticeable problem that requires changes, both at the legislative level, as well as at the level of the very method of managing social welfare organizational units.

- says legal counsel Grzegorz Rajski.

As he adds, in his opinion the most significant shortcoming of the current legal regulations is leaving the burden of sorting out inheritance cases of deceased residents at the level of social welfare homes, which, however, do not derive any real benefits from handling such cases. Any potential "inheritance" does not stay in the social welfare home, but goes to the municipality of the last place of residence or to the State Treasury.

In our Social Welfare Home, we carry out the procedure of returning the deposit to the heirs very quickly. Within a month of the resident's death, we submit a letter to the family with information about the deposit funds left in order for the family to apply for the acquisition of the inheritance. According to the Act on the Liquidation of Deposits, the heirs have 3 years to withdraw the deposit. After this period, the Social Welfare Home immediately submits an application to the court for permission to place the money in a court deposit

- explains Anna Woźniak-Margol, director of the Social Welfare Home in Browin.

As he adds, after the court proceedings are conducted, the family comes to the Social Welfare Home with a court decision to acquire the inheritance . Then, at the request of the heirs, the Social Welfare Home makes a payment to the indicated bank number. If there are no heirs, the property is transferred to the State Treasury.

- After the reform of the method of managing deposits left by deceased persons in this unit, the State Treasury and the municipality of the testators' last place of residence gained significant funds - notes attorney-at-law Grzegorz Rajski. In his opinion, the burden related to the liquidation of deposits should be transferred to entities directly interested in such cases, and not to employees of social welfare homes, who are employed to help residents in their daily functioning. All the more so because - as attorney-at-law Grzegorz Rajski reminds - the procedure related to the liquidation of deposits left by deceased residents of social welfare homes is very complicated and requires quite advanced legal knowledge. In the expert's opinion, an appropriate solution would be an intervention at the state level, which would help to arm DPSs with staff specializing in such cases. Complete exemption from the costs of the proceedings is also necessary.

Director Anna Woźniak-Margol explains that the deposit procedure costs approximately PLN 100.

We cover this cost and we have no problem with it, because it is our duty, the implementation of which we ensure. However, we have much bigger problems, such as the high cost of maintaining residents, related to staff costs, renovation costs, additional equipment, but also the increase in inflation. The high cost of maintaining causes municipalities with limited financial resources to delay referring residents to nursing homes. Another issue that nursing homes struggle with is the shortage of nurses. Of course, we are dealing with this, but these are issues that are worth considering by changing the law.

- emphasizes director Anna Woźniak-Margol.

The Ministry of Justice, in response to an interpellation on this issue by MP Katarzyna Osos, announced that the Ministry of Justice has developed the assumptions for a draft amendment to the act on the liquidation of uncollected deposits . Detailed proposals for changes will depend on the outcome of the analytical and conceptual work currently underway to prepare a draft act, which is currently at an early stage.

Attorney Rajski notes that any ideas related to the possible "forfeiture" of low-value deposits should be processed with great caution due to the protection of property rights and the right to inheritance, as defined in Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.