Fundacja rodzinna ustanawiana w testamencie

Abstrakt

The family foundation represents a major transformation of Polish inheritance law. It is a far-reaching instrument of succession planning, enabling the transfer of assets for many generations ahead. The family foundation is presented as the functional equivalent of the institution of a trust widely used in common law systems. It is even argued that if a trust mortis causa was established in a will (made under foreign law), and the effects of the will were evaluated from the perspective of Polish law (Article 21 of Regulation 650/2012), such a trust could be considered a declaration of the establishment of a family foundation (Article 21(1) of the Family Foundations Act). At the same time, Polish inheritance law is averse to far-reaching trusts. This is manifested in the prohibitions and restrictions provided, among others, in Article 962, Article 964, and Article 981(3) of the Civil Code. An internal inconsistency arises in this regard, since the fundamental inadmissibility of trusteeship mortis causa in the general law of succession is overridden by the family foundation, which allows for full and essentially unlimited trusteeship in succession after the death of its founder. This is particularly evident when one considers the position of other European legal systems, which, instead, seek to balance these mortis causa fiduciary institutions.

The purpose of this text is to present the most important legal problems associated with the formation of a family foundation established by a last will (testament), which arise from the interpretation of the law.