Where can I check whether an entrepreneur had a succession administrator?

In the deceased's business entry in the CEIDG search on biznes.gov.pl. If the entrepreneur appointed a succession administrator (zarządca sukcesyjny) during their lifetime, the administrator's details are shown there and succession management begins at the moment of death. If there is no administrator in the entry, the family has 2 months from the date of death to appoint one before a notary.

How to find the business entry

The search of CEIDG, the Polish register of sole traders, is public and free, and you do not need to log in. You can find the deceased’s business by NIP (tax identification number), REGON (statistical number) or first name and surname. The NIP appears on invoices, contracts with clients and accounting documents, so it is usually quick to establish.

In the entry, look for the succession administrator’s details. It is the same information that the bank, clients and employees see when they need to know who can formally run the business after the owner’s death.

The administrator is in the entry

The business can keep running without a break, because succession management began, as a rule, at the moment of death. Formally it is now an enterprise in the estate (przedsiębiorstwo w spadku), with the deceased’s NIP and business bank account, and employment contracts do not expire merely because the employer died. Contact the administrator and agree who notifies the bank, the accountant and the main clients.

Succession management lasts in principle up to 2 years from the death. A court may extend it for important reasons, to 5 years at most.

There is no administrator in the entry

Then time is what matters. The right to appoint an administrator after the death expires 2 months from the date of death. The administrator is appointed before a notary, with the consent of people who together hold more than 85/100 of the shares in the enterprise in the estate. An administrator appointed this way can act only from the moment of the CEIDG entry, which the notary files no later than the next working day.

For employees there is even less time. Their contracts generally expire 30 days after the employer’s death, unless someone authorised signs an agreement with them on continued employment before then.

There is no need to wait for the certificate of inheritance or for the inheritance case to end.

If it is your business

Registering an administrator in CEIDG is free and can be done online. Before that you need two documents in written form: the appointment of the administrator and their consent. The entry in the system does not replace them. Tell your family who the administrator is, where these documents are kept and what the business’s NIP is.