Lisbon Appeal Court Orders the State to Repay 126,827 Euros of Savings Certificates to a Son Who Learnt of Them More Than a Decade After His Mother's Death
IGCP had treated a 2009 savings account as lost to the state. The Lisbon Court of Appeal says an heir's time limit only starts once they learn of the death and of the certificates. Since 2024, heirs of Series A and B certificates have 20 years from the death.
Lisbon's Court of Appeal (Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa) has ordered the state debt agency, IGCP, to pay 126,827.69 euros to a man who found out about his late mother's savings certificates (certificados de aforro) more than eleven years after she died. The ruling of 22 October, reported on Tuesday by Jornal de Negócios, says the time limit for heirs starts when they learn of the death and of the certificates. It does not start on the day the holder died.
The case
The saver died in May 2009, leaving certificates then worth 90,483.43 euros. Her only heir, her son, had lived abroad for more than 30 years. He learned of the account only after finding an IGCP statement, dated 1 November 2020, among her papers. He completed the heirs' deed (habilitação de herdeiros, the act naming the legal heirs) in July 2021 and asked IGCP for the balance. IGCP replied that the account had passed by prescription to the Public Debt Regularisation Fund (Fundo de Regularização da Dívida Pública) because nobody had claimed it within ten years of the death.
A lower court ruled for the son in May 2026, and three appeal judges unanimously upheld it. Under the old rules for Series A and B certificates, heirs had ten years to transfer or cash them. The judges said that a time limit punishes people who fail to act, so it cannot run before an heir is able to act. They also held that IGCP, as the party claiming the time had run out, had to prove when the heir found out, and it had not done so. Earlier rulings have split on that point.
The law has changed since
Decree-Law 79/2024, published on 30 October 2024 and in force 30 days later, gave heirs of Series A and B certificates 20 years instead of ten. It counts those 20 years "from the date of death". The same decree requires the civil registry (IRN) to send IGCP electronic notice of a holder's death. According to Lusa, via RTP, the budget secretary of state told parliament in December 2025 that certificates would be listed automatically for heirs under an agreement between IGCP, IRN and the tax authority. He said this would not cover certificates whose deadline had already passed.
What heirs should do
According to IGCP, a claim always starts at a CTT post office and has two steps:
- Statement of value: ask for a statement of the certificates held at the date of death on form Modelo 710. You need ID for the deceased and for yourself, proof of death and proof that you are an heir. The tax authority needs it for the estate's stamp duty return.
- The claim itself: hand in form Modelo 706, signed by every heir, choosing either to cash the certificates or to keep them in an heir's savings account (Conta Aforro). CTT can validate the signatures, or a registrar, notary, lawyer or solicitor can certify them. IGCP charges fees for the process.
Heirs who live abroad can act through a representative: IGCP will give account information to an heir's attorney (procurador). IGCP recommends paying the money into a single bank account that the heirs agree on and that provably belongs to one of them. To keep the certificates rather than cash them, an heir needs a Portuguese tax number (NIF) and a bank account in the euro payments area (SEPA). Our guide to savings certificates explains how the accounts work, and demand for new certificates is running far above forecast this year.
