An inheritance in Portugal with heirs in several countries: where to start

Your father died in France, a sister lives in Toronto, a brother stayed in Portugal, and there is a house and several plots of land in the village. Nobody quite knows where to start, and the years go by.

This is one of the most common situations in Portuguese families. The good news is that it can be solved, and almost everything can be handled without the heirs having to travel. In this guide we explain, step by step, what needs to be done and in what order.

1. The first steps: the death and the Tax Office

Registering the death in Portugal. If your relative was Portuguese and died abroad, the death must also be recorded in the Portuguese civil register. Without this, most of the following steps are blocked.

Reporting to the Tax Office. The death of someone who leaves assets in Portugal must be reported to the Portuguese Tax Office (Autoridade Tributária, commonly called Finanças), together with a list of the assets. The deadline is the end of the third month after the month of death.

This duty falls to the cabeça-de-casal, the person who administers the estate, according to the order set by law. Even where the beneficiaries are exempt from stamp duty (imposto do selo), as is the case for a spouse or unmarried partner, descendants and ascendants, the assets subject to reporting must still be reported. Late filing can lead to fines.

The heirs' tax numbers. Each heir needs a Portuguese tax number (NIF). Heirs living outside Portugal may have to meet additional requirements, depending on the country where they live.

2. Which law governs the inheritance?

Many families are not aware of this: the estate of a Portuguese citizen who lived abroad may not be governed by Portuguese law, even for the house and the land in Portugal.

For deaths on or after 17 August 2015, the EU Succession Regulation generally provides that the succession is governed by the law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at the time of death. A Portuguese citizen who lived in France may therefore have their estate governed by French law.

There are exceptions, including a valid choice of the law of one of the deceased's nationalities, made in a disposition upon death. The Regulation can designate the law of a country outside the European Union, such as the United States or Canada; in those cases, renvoi and the available succession documents may also need to be examined.

This changes who inherits, in what shares and which documents are needed. That is why it should be clarified at the very start, before any division of the estate.

3. Who the heirs are and what the estate contains

Proving who the heirs are. The Portuguese declaration of heirs (habilitação de herdeiros) identifies who succeeds the deceased, but does not by itself allocate each property to a particular heir. In international situations, a European Certificate of Succession or another admissible succession document may be used, depending on the applicable law and procedure.

Finding out what exists. This is where many inheritances get stuck, especially when there is land in the village. It is common to find:

• plots recorded with the Tax Office but never registered at the Land Registry (Conservatória do Registo Predial);
• areas in the property tax record (caderneta predial) that do not match the land on the ground;
• properties still in the grandparents' names, from earlier inheritances that were never divided;
• plots the family knows "are ours", without anyone knowing exactly where they are or where they end.

To know for certain what exists, three sources have to be cross-checked: the Land Registry, the tax records and the cadastre or BUPi, the state platform for identifying rural land. This work calls for legal and technical knowledge at the same time.

Besides the properties, don't forget bank accounts, vehicles and other assets in Portugal, which are also part of the estate.

4. Divide, sell or keep?

Once the heirs have been identified and the assets are known, the family has to decide what to do. There are three main routes.

Where there is agreement, the division is done out of court, which is faster and cheaper. Where there is not, inventory proceedings (inventário) may be needed.

Our advice is clear: the longer you wait, the harder it gets. Heirs die, new generations arrive, and an inheritance shared by three siblings becomes one shared by twelve cousins.

5. How to deal with the inheritance while living abroad

Much of the process can be handled without the heirs travelling. Heirs who live abroad sign a power of attorney in the country where they live, at the Portuguese consulate or before a local notary with an apostille, and we take care of the rest.

The habilitação is based on personal declarations by the cabeça-de-casal or by three people who are legally qualified and considered credible. In the three-declarant route there are legal impediments, in particular for relatives who could legally succeed the heirs and for their spouses. We can prepare and initiate the procedure under a mandate, but this does not replace the declarations required. We confirm in advance who has to attend and the appropriate route, to avoid unnecessary trips.

At MGPS International we handle the inheritance from start to finish:

1. Diagnosis: we analyse the situation and tell you what exists, what is missing and what it will cost.
2. Documents and Tax Office: registering the death, the Tax Office report, the heirs' tax numbers, and preparing and following through the habilitação.
3. The properties: we cross-check the legal and cadastral information and, where necessary, verify it on the ground, identifying discrepancies and the right procedures to correct them.
4. The solution: division, sale or gift, with the final registration.

We talk to you by video call, WhatsApp or email, in Portuguese, French or English, and keep you informed at every stage.

Do you have an inheritance stuck in Portugal? Tell us about your situation in the initial assessment. We will reply with the concrete steps for your case and a fee proposal in stages, with no obligation.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice for any specific case.