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Making a Will and Handling an Inheritance in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Which country's law decides who inherits, the shares Portuguese law reserves for family, how to make a will here, and what heirs pay and file after a death.

The Portugal Brief 11 min read

Making a Will and Handling an Inheritance in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You live in Portugal, or own property or money here, and want to decide who inherits it.
  • Someone has died leaving property, a bank account, or a car in Portugal, and you are an heir.
  • You are an EU or non-EU national. Your nationality matters for your will more than your visa.

Not for you if: you need to register a death or arrange a funeral. Read Funerals and Death Registration in Portugal first.

If you die while living in Portugal, Portuguese law usually decides who inherits. It reserves a third to two thirds of your estate for your spouse, children, or parents. As a foreign national, you can choose the law of your nationality in your will instead. Spouses, unmarried partners, children, and parents pay no inheritance tax. Everyone else pays 10% stamp duty on assets in Portugal. After a death, the stamp duty return is due by the end of the third month after the month of death.

Which country's law decides who inherits

If you live in Portugal when you die, the starting rule is simple. The law of the country where you last lived applies to your whole estate, wherever the assets are. This comes from an EU regulation. "Where you lived" means your habitual residence: the centre of your life, such as your home, family, and work or retirement.

For most people who have moved here, that means Portuguese law. Portuguese law has forced heirship, so you cannot leave everything to whoever you like.

You can change this. The EU rules let you choose, in your will, the law of your nationality. It works for any nationality, EU or not. British, American, Canadian, Australian, and Brazilian nationals can all use it. If you hold two nationalities, you can pick either.

The choice has limits:

  • It covers who inherits and how. It does not decide tax. Portuguese stamp duty still applies to assets in Portugal.
  • It must be clear. Write it expressly in your will, for example "I choose the law of England and Wales to govern my succession as a whole".
  • It covers your whole estate. You cannot pick one law for your Portuguese home and another for your savings.
  • It only helps if your own law gives you more freedom. Some countries, including France, Spain, and Brazil, also have forced heirship.
  • Denmark and Ireland do not apply these EU rules. If your heirs settle the estate there, your choice may not be followed.

Who must inherit under Portuguese law

If Portuguese law applies, some relatives have a reserved share (legítima) that your will cannot take away. These reserved heirs are:

  • your spouse;
  • your children, or their children in place of a child who has died;
  • your parents or grandparents, if you have no children or grandchildren.

Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, stepchildren who were not adopted, and unmarried partners are not reserved heirs. They inherit only if your will names them, or if there are no closer relatives.

The reserved share depends on who survives you:

Who survives youReserved shareShare you can leave freely
Spouse onlyOne halfOne half
Spouse and childrenTwo thirdsOne third
One child, no spouseOne halfOne half
Two or more children, no spouseTwo thirdsOne third
Spouse and parents (no children)Two thirdsOne third
Parents onlyOne halfOne half
Grandparents or further back onlyOne thirdTwo thirds
None of theseNothingEverything

Gifts you made while alive count towards these shares. If your will and your gifts together go beyond the free share, a reserved heir can ask a court to cut them back.

If you die without a will, the law sets the order. Your spouse and children inherit first. If you have no children, your spouse and parents inherit. After them come brothers and sisters and their children, then other relatives up to the fourth degree, and finally the State.

What tax heirs pay

Portugal has no inheritance tax as such. Instead, heirs pay stamp duty (Imposto do Selo) of 10% on what they inherit. Most close family pay nothing.

If you are the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent of the person who died, you are exempt. This covers money, property, shares, and cars alike.

If you are an unmarried partner, you are exempt if you lived in a de facto union (união de facto). The law recognises one after more than two years living together as a couple. Keep proof, such as a certificate from your parish council (junta de freguesia) with a signed statement from you.

If you are anyone else, such as a brother, sister, niece, nephew, stepchild, or friend, you pay 10% on the taxable value of what you receive. On a Portuguese flat with a tax value of €200,000, that is €20,000.

The tax applies to assets in Portugal, such as:

  • property in Portugal, valued at its tax value (VPT);
  • bank accounts and investments held in Portugal;
  • cars, boats, and other registered goods;
  • shares in Portuguese companies.

Assets abroad are not taxed in Portugal, but another country may tax them. For example, the UK charges its inheritance tax on worldwide assets of long-term UK residents. That status can last up to ten tax years after you leave the UK. Check with the tax authority in your home country.

Gifts during your life. Close family are also exempt from the 10% on gifts. A gift of Portuguese property also pays 0.8% stamp duty, whoever receives it. So a flat given to your child pays 0.8%, and a flat given to your niece pays 10.8%.

Selling an inherited home. A gain on the sale is taxed as income. Your starting value is the value used for the stamp duty. Take advice before you sell from an estate that has not been divided. See Selling Your House in Portugal.

Making a will in Portugal

You do not need a Portuguese will if you have a valid will elsewhere. A Portuguese will can make things faster for your heirs here, because Portuguese banks and registries can act on it without translations and apostilles.

Portugal has two ordinary forms of will:

  • Public will (testamento público). A notary writes it in the notary's own book and keeps it. This is the usual choice.
  • Sealed will (testamento cerrado). You write and sign it yourself, then a notary approves it. The contents stay private until your death.

Portuguese notaries can also approve an international will, made in the form set by an international convention that Portugal has joined.

Two things are not valid under Portuguese law:

  • a will made by two people in one document, such as a joint will for a couple;
  • a handwritten will made in Portugal with no notary involved.

The notary sets the fee. Ask for a written quote when you book. See Using a Notary and Certifying Documents in Portugal.

What to put in your will

  • A clear choice of the law of your nationality, if you want it.
  • Your heirs' full names and dates of birth, and their tax numbers (NIF) if they have them.
  • What you leave, and to whom.
  • An executor (testamenteiro), the person who carries out your will.
  • What happens if an heir dies before you.
  • How this will fits with any will you have in another country.

If you have wills in two countries

The simplest route is one will for your whole estate, with the choice of law included. If you prefer two wills, make sure neither cancels the other. Many wills begin with "I revoke all previous wills", and that line can wipe out your other will. Ask the notary or lawyer to limit it to earlier wills about the same assets.

Review your will after a marriage, a divorce, a birth, or a new nationality.

How your marriage changes what you leave

Before an estate is shared out, a married couple's joint property is split. Only the dead person's part goes into the estate. What that part is depends on your property regime:

  • Community of acquired property (comunhão de adquiridos). The default for couples married in Portugal without a prenuptial agreement. What you bought during the marriage is shared half and half. What you owned before, and what you inherited or were given, stays yours.
  • Separation of property (separação de bens). Each spouse owns only their own assets. It is compulsory if either of you was 60 or older when you married.
  • General community (comunhão geral). Everything is shared, including what you owned before.

If you married abroad, other rules may decide your property regime. Bring your marriage certificate and any prenuptial agreement when you make your will.

What to do when someone dies

These steps apply when a person dies owning something in Portugal. The order matters.

  1. Register the death within 48 hours. It is free. The funeral director usually does it for you, at a civil registry office or online.
  2. Work out who manages the estate. The law names the estate manager (cabeça de casal). First comes the surviving spouse, then the executor named in the will, then the closest relatives who are legal heirs, then heirs named in the will. Among equals, the oldest heir serves.
  3. Get a tax number for the estate. The estate manager asks the tax office (Finanças) for a NIF for the undivided estate (herança indivisa), on the Portal das Finanças.
  4. Declare the heirs (habilitação de herdeiros). This official document says who the heirs are. Banks, the land registry, and Finanças ask for it. You get it from a notary or from an inheritance desk (Balcão Heranças) at a registry office. See Getting a Declaration of Heirs (Habilitação de Herdeiros).
  5. File the stamp duty return. The estate manager files the stamp duty form (Modelo 1) on the Portal das Finanças, through the e-balcão service, or at a tax office by appointment. The deadline is the end of the third month after the month of death. If the person died on 10 June 2026, the deadline is 30 September 2026. File it even when every heir is exempt. The tax office can allow up to 60 more days if you show a good reason.
  6. Accept the inheritance. Heirs have ten years to accept, from when they learn they are heirs. You can accept simply, or with an inventory (benefício de inventário). Either way, you do not answer for the estate's debts beyond what it is worth. With a simple acceptance, you may have to prove that.
  7. Divide the estate (partilha). If the heirs agree, a notary or registry office records the division, and the property is registered in each heir's name. If they do not agree, the division goes through an inventory process. That can take a long time.

Documents for the stamp duty return

  • Death certificate.
  • ID documents and NIFs of the person who died and of every heir.
  • The will, if there is one.
  • A list of assets, on the form's annexes.
  • For bank accounts, statements showing the last 60 days of movements.

Every heir needs a Portuguese NIF. If an heir abroad does not have one, start early. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal.

What it costs

ItemCost
Public will at a notarySet by each notary; ask for a quote
Declaration of heirs at a registry office€150, plus €10 to €25 for database searches
Declaration of heirs for a married couple's estates together€50 more
Declaration of heirs plus registration of assets€375
Division plus registration of assets€375
Declaration of heirs, division, and registration together€425
Stamp duty, close family and unmarried partners€0
Stamp duty, anyone else10% of the taxable value

At the inheritance desk, registering several properties costs more, depending on how many assets go to each heir. A notary sets their own prices for the same services.

If an inherited property is stuck

Many homes sit empty because the heirs cannot agree, or one heir cannot be found. Under the current rules, a division needs every heir's agreement. Without it, the case goes to an inventory process before a notary or a court.

You may read in the news about plans to speed up these cases. Until a new law is published in the Diário da República, the official journal, and is in force, the current rules apply.

Your planning checklist

  • Decide whether you want the law of your nationality to apply, and put that choice in a will.
  • Make sure your Portuguese and foreign wills do not cancel each other.
  • If you are an unmarried couple, keep proof of more than two years living together.
  • Keep a list of your Portuguese assets: property, bank accounts, investments, and cars.
  • Keep a separate, safe note on how to reach online accounts. Do not put passwords in your will.
  • Tell your executor where your will and your list are.
  • Ask a lawyer how life insurance and pension payouts fit with the reserved shares.

When to get a lawyer

Talk to a lawyer (advogado) or a solicitor (solicitador) who handles cross-border estates if any of these apply to you:

  • You own property in Portugal.
  • You have children from more than one relationship.
  • You live with a partner but are not married.
  • You want to leave less to a child or a spouse than Portuguese law reserves.
  • You own assets, trusts, or companies in more than one country.
  • You are selling a property from an estate that has not been divided.

See What a Solicitador Does in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Inheritance rules depend on your family, your assets, and the countries involved; check your own case with a lawyer before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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