Portuguese inheritance law decides who receives your assets after your death, and it can apply to you even if you aren’t a Portuguese national.
If you live in Portugal, it usually applies to your estate as a whole, unless you’ve chosen the law of your nationality in your will. If you live elsewhere and own property in Portugal, your heirs will still deal with Portuguese notaries, land registries, and the tax authority to transfer it.
The rules come from the Portuguese Civil Code. Their best-known feature is forced heirship: Your spouse, children, and in some cases your parents are entitled to a fixed share of your estate, whatever your will says. You can leave the rest, known as the disposable portion, to anyone you choose.
Portugal doesn’t have an inheritance tax as such. Instead, a 10% Stamp Duty (Imposto do Selo) applies to some heirs, while close family members are exempt.
In this article, we’ll explain how foreign wills work, define letters of wishes, and examine Portugal’s law of succession.
Portuguese Inheritance Law: Key Takeaways
The Inheritance Law in Portugal
Portuguese inheritance law is set out in Book V of the Civil Code. It usually applies to the estates of people who were habitually resident in Portugal when they died, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. It sets the order in which relatives inherit and reserves a share of the estate for the close family.
Portuguese law defines two types of succession: legal and voluntary.
- Legal succession is set by law. It covers forced heirship, which applies whether or not there’s a will, and intestate succession, which applies to any part of the estate that a will doesn’t validly cover.
- Voluntary succession is set by you, through a will or, in limited cases such as a prenuptial agreement, a succession contract.
When there’s no will, your estate passes to your relatives in a fixed order, starting with your spouse and descendants. Biological and adopted children are treated equally.
Forced heirs can only lose their reserved share in narrow cases listed in the Civil Code, such as being convicted of a serious crime against you or your close family, or refusing you financial support without good reason. You can disinherit an heir on one of these grounds in your will, and the heir can challenge that decision in court.
Portugal has no probate process like the one in the US or UK. Heirs are usually confirmed through a notarial deed called a habilitação de herdeiros, and the estate is then divided through a partilha, either by agreement or through an inventory process (inventário) if the heirs can’t agree. Cross-border estates add another layer, since more than one country’s succession rules and taxes may apply.
Who is eligible to inherit under Portugal’s Law of Succession?
Portugal’s succession law outlines the rules for distributing a deceased person’s estate. It determines how assets are inherited, either through a will (testate succession) or in the absence of a will (intestate succession).
Which rules apply to you depends on two things: Whether Portuguese law governs your estate, and which family members survive you.
Forced heirship rules
Forced heirs (herdeiros legitimários) are your spouse, your descendants, and your ascendants. Ascendants, such as your parents, only become forced heirs if you have no children or other descendants. A spouse who was divorced or legally separated from you when you died doesn’t inherit.
Your estate is split into two parts. The reserved portion (legítima) must go to your forced heirs. The disposable portion (quota disponível) is yours to leave to anyone through your will.
Spouses who marry under the separation of property regime can also give up each other’s forced heir status in their prenuptial agreement. This can suit couples with children from earlier relationships, since it lets each spouse leave more of their estate to those children.
Intestate succession
If you die without a valid will, or your will only covers part of your estate, the rest passes under intestate succession. The Civil Code calls your relatives in this order:
- Your spouse and descendants
- Your spouse and ascendants, if you have no descendants
- Your siblings and their descendants
- Other relatives up to the fourth degree, such as cousins
- The Portuguese State
Each class only inherits if no one in the class before it survives you. Within a class, closer relatives take priority over more distant ones, and relatives of the same degree share equally. If one of your children or siblings died before you, their descendants take their place.
Your spouse and children share the estate equally, but your spouse’s share can’t be less than one-quarter. With four or more children, your spouse receives one-quarter and the children split the remaining three-quarters.
If you leave a spouse and ascendants but no descendants, your spouse receives two-thirds and your ascendants share one-third. If you leave a spouse and no descendants or ascendants, your spouse inherits the whole estate.
Applicable law for foreign nationals
Since 17 August 2015, the EU Succession Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, known as Brussels IV) has decided which country’s law governs an estate with links to Portugal. It applies whatever your nationality.
By default, the law of the country where you were habitually resident when you died governs your whole estate, including property in other countries. If you live in Portugal, that means Portuguese forced heirship applies to you, whether you’re Portuguese, American, British, or any other nationality.
You can change this by choosing the law of your nationality in your will. If you hold more than one nationality, you can choose any of them. The choice must be made expressly, in a will or in a declaration made in the same form. If your nationality’s law gives you more freedom over who inherits, this choice lets your will follow those rules.
Even when a foreign law governs your succession, your heirs still deal with Portuguese notaries, registries, and the tax authority to transfer any assets in Portugal.
If you live outside the EU and own assets in Portugal, the Regulation still applies when those assets are dealt with in Portugal. The law of your country of residence, including its own conflict-of-law rules, can still affect which law applies in the end. Advice in both countries can confirm the outcome for your estate.
Foreign Wills in Portugal
A will made outside Portugal can be recognized in Portugal, and you don’t need Portuguese citizenship or a Portuguese will for this. Whether it’s valid depends on the formal rules it followed. Who inherits under it depends on which country’s law governs your succession. If that law is Portuguese, forced heirship still applies to your estate.
Types of wills in Portugal
If you make a will in Portugal, it will usually take one of two forms:
- Public will (testamento público): A notary writes it in the notary’s own book, in front of two witnesses, and the original stays with the notary.
- Closed will (testamento cerrado): You write and sign it yourself, or someone writes it at your request, and a notary then approves it. Without that approval, it’s void. Once approved, you can keep it, deposit it with a notary, or give it to someone you trust.
Portuguese law also recognizes the international will, a standard format that can be made in front of an authorized person.
How a foreign will is recognized
A will made in another country is valid in form in Portugal if it meets the formal rules of one of these:
- The country where you signed it
- A country of which you were a national
- The country where you were domiciled or habitually resident
- For real estate, the country where the property is located
To use a foreign will in Portugal, your heirs will usually need to have it authenticated. If the will comes from a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, this means an apostille. If not, it needs consular legalization. The will also needs a certified translation into Portuguese. A notary in Portugal can then rely on it to confirm your heirs and transfer your Portuguese assets.
What a foreign will can and can’t change
A valid foreign will doesn’t always take effect exactly as written. The outcome depends on your situation:
- You live in Portugal, and your will doesn’t choose a law: Portuguese law governs your whole estate. Your will is valid, but any gifts that eat into your forced heirs’ reserved share are reduced until that share is covered.
- You live in Portugal, and your will chooses the law of your nationality: That law governs your estate, including your assets in Portugal. If it has no forced heirship, your will can be followed as written.
- You live outside Portugal and own assets there: The law of your country of residence, or the law you chose, usually governs. Portuguese procedures still apply to transferring those assets.
If your estate includes assets in several countries, each country may apply its own procedures and taxes, and your heirs may need advisors in each. If you have wills in more than one country, each one should be worded so it doesn’t revoke the others. Heirs dealing with assets in other EU countries can use a European Certificate of Succession to prove their status across borders.
Portugal’s Power of Attorney
A Portuguese Power of Attorney (procuração) authorizes someone to act for you in Portugal on specific legal, financial, or administrative matters. It’s useful if you live abroad and can’t handle these matters in person.
A Power of Attorney can’t be used to make your will. Portuguese law treats a will as a personal act, so you must make it yourself. As a general rule, a Power of Attorney also ends when you die.
After a death, the heirs can each grant their own Power of Attorney to someone in Portugal. That person can then handle tasks such as confirming the heirs before a notary, filing the Stamp Duty return, and updating property registrations. If the person managing the estate lives outside Portugal, they can also deal with the tax authority through a tax representative.
A Power of Attorney signed abroad usually needs to be notarized, then apostilled or legalized, and translated into Portuguese before Portuguese authorities will accept it.
What is a Letter of Wishes in Portugal?
A Letter of Wishes is an informal document that sits alongside your will and explains how you’d like certain matters handled after your death. Portuguese law doesn’t recognize it as a formal legal document, so it isn’t binding. It can guide your executor and family, but it can’t decide who inherits your assets.
Letters of wishes are common in the UK and other countries with English-style legal systems, where they’re often used alongside a will or trust. If you move to Portugal with an existing estate plan, you may already have one.
Not legally binding: A Letter of Wishes has no legal force in Portugal. The people you address it to, such as your executor (testamenteiro) or your family, don’t have to follow it.
A supplement to your will: Anything that affects who inherits your assets needs to be in the will itself. A Portuguese will can only refer to a separate document if that document is authentic, or you wrote and signed it with a date no later than the will. Otherwise, the provision that depends on it is void. A letter written separately can’t change how your estate is divided.
Guidance for your executor and family: A Letter of Wishes works well for personal matters, such as:
- How to share belongings with sentimental value
- Who should care for your pets
- Your funeral preferences
- Why you made certain choices in your will
If you want to name a guardian for your minor children, do it in your will, where the nomination has legal effect.
Trusts: Portugal has no general trust law of its own. A Letter of Wishes addressed to trustees will usually relate to a trust set up under another country’s law. If that trust holds Portuguese assets or benefits someone living in Portugal, it raises separate legal and tax questions.
Keeping it consistent: If your letter and your will say different things, your family is more likely to disagree about what you intended. Sign and date the letter, review it whenever you change your will, and make sure your executor knows where to find it.
Inheritance Tax in Portugal
Portugal doesn’t have an inheritance tax. Instead, heirs who receive assets located in Portugal may pay Stamp Duty (Imposto do Selo) at 10%.
Spouses, unmarried partners, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents are exempt, but the estate must still be declared to the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority (AT).
Stamp Duty is charged on the value of what each beneficiary receives. Whether you pay depends on your relationship to the person who died:
- Exempt: Spouse or unmarried partner in a de facto union (união de facto), children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents
- 10% Stamp Duty: Siblings, nieces and nephews, other relatives, friends, and anyone else who inherits under a will
Stamp Duty applies to assets located in Portugal, such as real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and shares in Portuguese companies. For real estate, it’s usually calculated on the property’s taxable value (valor patrimonial tributário, or VPT) as recorded by the tax authority.
Debts and charges that existed at the time of death and are secured on the inherited assets can be deducted, as can taxes that arose before the death. Funeral costs can’t be deducted.
The additional 0.8% Stamp Duty on property applies only to gifts made during a person’s lifetime. It doesn’t apply to inheritances.
If you’re a national or tax resident of another country, that country may also tax the same assets under its own rules. An advisor in each country can confirm whether your heirs would owe tax in both and whether any relief is available.
Filing duties and deadlines
After a death, the head of the estate (cabeça de casal) manages the estate until it’s divided among the heirs. This is often the surviving spouse.
The head of the estate must report the death and the estate’s assets to the tax authority whenever the deceased owned assets in Portugal, even if every heir is exempt from Stamp Duty.
The process has two steps. First, the head of the estate applies for a tax number for the undivided estate (NIF de herança indivisa) through the Portal das Finanças, listing the deceased and all the heirs. If the head of the estate lives outside Portugal, a tax representative can submit this application on their behalf.
Second, the head of the estate files the Stamp Duty return (Modelo 1) by the end of the third month after the month of death. For a death in January, for example, the deadline is 30 April. The return can be filed online or at a tax office by appointment, and it needs:
- The death certificate
- The deceased’s tax number (NIF) and identity document
- The tax number (NIF) and identity document of each heir or beneficiary
- The will, if there is one
- A list of the estate’s assets and debts
The tax authority then calculates any Stamp Duty due, and the head of the estate is responsible for paying it. Filing late can lead to fines.
Some tax duties continue until the estate is divided. The head of the estate pays the annual municipal property tax (IMI) on any property the estate holds. If the combined taxable value of the estate’s residential property and building land exceeds €600,000, the Additional IMI (AIMI) also applies.
To have that value split among the heirs and taxed in their individual names, the head of the estate files a declaration in March, and each heir confirms their share in April. Any rental income, interest, or capital gains the estate earns are declared by each heir, in proportion to their share, on their own income tax return.
Why Work with Global Citizen Solutions?
- Specialist expertise in Portugal residency planning
- Trusted by 15,000+ clients worldwide
- Over a decade of advisory expertise
- Dedicated relationship manager
- Transparent fees and guidance
- Support beyond approval
