Heir doubts inheriting Slovakia childhood home will be worth the trouble

Businessinsider spoke with Katarina Polonska, a 36-year-old Vancouver-based relationship scientist who lives in Canada and is set to inherit her two-bedroom, one-bath childhood home in Slovakia.

Polonska said the apartment is old and needs extensive work — she estimates the property is worth maybe $80,000 CAD and that selling would require renovations her mother, who lives in England, is reluctant to fund. She and her husband worry about managing renovations or viewings from abroad; Polonska said renovations could cost 30,000 or 50,000 euros (about $35,245 or $58,742) and that the place is not rentable as-is, unless marketed as a historical relic. Her husband faces a similar situation with a Barbados house his mother inherited but never lived in, and he has said he would prefer to sell and distribute the proceeds.

They have discussed renovating and possibly using the Slovakia home as a personal getaway, but both work and the roughly 20-hour journey make timing uncertain. Polonska said parents should have clearer conversations with children about whether heirs actually want property or would prefer cash, and noted the home will only pass to her after her mother dies; beyond that, decisions about sale, renovation, or keeping the house remain unresolved.

Key Topics

Business, Katarina Polonska, Slovakia, Barbados, Vancouver, Inheritance