Any Heir Could Force the Court Sale of an Inherited Home Left Undivided for Two Years Under a Succession Reform Signed Off on Thursday

Any heir to a house or flat that has sat in an undivided estate for two years will be able to ask a court to sell it at market value, without the agreement of the other heirs, under a decree-law the Council of Ministers approved on Thursday 22 October. The government's communiqué says the reform is meant to stop homes staying "indefinitely blocked" because heirs cannot agree.

Parliament does not vote again. The decree was approved under Lei n.º 49/2026, published on 17 August, which authorised the government to legislate on this for 180 days and fixed the limits of what it may do. The decree-law's own text has not yet been published, so the detail below comes from that authorisation law.

How the forced sale would work

• Who can ask: any heir, the surviving spouse entitled to half of the couple's common property, or an executor given powers to divide the estate.
• When: two years after the death, or at any time once an inventory (the formal procedure for dividing an estate when heirs disagree) has been requested. It is ruled out where the heirs have signed an agreement to keep the estate undivided, or where the estate is insolvent.
• What is protected: the family home over which the surviving spouse has a preferential right cannot be sold without that spouse's express consent, and the same goes for homes carrying a surviving unmarried partner's rights. Where an heir is a minor, incapacitated or absent, the Public Prosecutor's consent and a judge's authorisation are needed.
• Price: if no one objects, the sale goes ahead at the price the applicant proposed. If the heirs disagree, the court sets the base price from valuations, ordering a fresh one where two diverge by more than 20 percent.
• Sale: preferably by electronic auction, with the price allowed to fall if auctions fail. Every heir keeps the right to buy the property at the price actually achieved, ahead of other preference rights.

Other changes

The authorisation also cuts the time an heir has to accept an inheritance from ten years to two. Today, Article 2059 of the Civil Code allows ten years from the moment the heir learns of it. A person making a will could name an executor with powers to administer and divide the estate and send disputes to arbitration. Engaged couples could waive their rights to inherit from each other in a prenuptial agreement. As a rule, the new regime applies to every estate already open and not yet divided when it takes effect.

What heirs should do now

Nothing changes until the decree is promulgated by the President and published in the Diário da República. Under the Civil Code today, any co-heir may demand a division at any time, and heirs may agree to keep an estate undivided for up to five years, renewable. Where everyone agrees, the division is done at a registry office or a notary; otherwise it goes to inventory.

Immigrants who share an inherited property in Portugal, including those living abroad, should check whether they have formally accepted the inheritance, since the shorter two-year limit would apply to estates still open. Make sure whoever manages the estate has a current address for you, because a sale application would be brought against the other heirs. If you want to keep a property in the family, an agreement to keep the estate undivided, or a division agreed now, avoids a forced sale. Free legal consultations for immigrants are available in 17 councils.