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What a Solicitador Does in Portugal

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

What a Portuguese solicitador can and cannot do, when you need a notary or lawyer instead, how enforcement agents fit in, and how to check a registration.

The Portugal Brief 6 min read

What a Solicitador Does in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You have been told to "see a solicitador" for a contract, a signature, or a registry task.
  • You are buying or selling property, or handling paperwork, and want to know who can do what.
  • You have received papers from an enforcement agent (agente de execução) and want to know who they are.

Not for you if: you only need a signature recognised or a copy certified. Read Using a Notary and Certifying Documents in Portugal instead.

A solicitador is a regulated legal professional in Portugal. Solicitadores draft contracts, handle paperwork at registry offices and the tax office, give legal advice, and can represent you in smaller court cases. They can also recognise signatures, certify translations, and authenticate contracts, with the same legal force as a notary. Some members of the same professional body work as enforcement agents, who collect court debts. All are registered with the Order of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents (Ordem dos Solicitadores e dos Agentes de Execução, OSAE), which keeps a free public register.

What a solicitador can do

The law reserves some work to solicitadores and lawyers, and lets solicitadores do more besides:

  • Represent you in court, within the limits set by their statute and by court procedure rules (see below).
  • Act for you in complaints or appeals against decisions of public bodies or the tax office, when you want a representative.
  • Draft contracts and prepare the steps needed to create, change, or end a legal deal, including at registry offices and notaries.
  • Negotiate the collection of debts for you.
  • Give legal advice.

A solicitador, like a lawyer, a registry officer, or a chamber of commerce, can also:

  • recognise signatures;
  • certify photocopies;
  • certify translations;
  • authenticate private documents.

These acts have the same legal force as a notary's. The solicitador must record each one in an official online system; an act that is not recorded is not valid. Fees for these acts cannot exceed the maximums in the notarial fee table.

The authenticated private document (DPA)

The documento particular autenticado (DPA, authenticated private document) is a contract you sign, which a solicitador, lawyer, notary, registry officer, or chamber of commerce then authenticates. It is the main alternative to a notarial deed.

For property, a DPA can transfer, gift, or mortgage a home with the same effect as a public deed. The professional must check that property transfer tax (IMT) and stamp duty are paid before authenticating. The document is only valid once it is deposited online. See Buying Property in Portugal as a Foreigner and Selling Your House in Portugal.

What a solicitador cannot do

  • Larger court cases and appeals. You must have a lawyer (advogado) in cases where an ordinary appeal is possible, which in the civil courts generally means claims worth more than €5,000. You also need a lawyer for every appeal and in the higher courts. Where a lawyer is not compulsory, you can represent yourself or use a solicitador.
  • Public deeds and wills. Only a notary can draw up a public will or approve a sealed will. An irrevocable power of attorney must also be a notarial public instrument. A solicitador can authenticate a DPA instead of a deed, but cannot make a public deed (escritura pública).
  • Apostilles. An apostille is issued by the Public Prosecutor's offices, not by a solicitador. See Getting an Apostille or Consular Legalisation in Portugal.

Even in a case where a lawyer is compulsory, a solicitador can file simple requests that raise no legal question.

Where you are most likely to need one

  • Buying or selling property. Drafting or checking the promissory contract, preparing powers of attorney, authenticating a DPA, and handling the land registry and tax steps.
  • Certified translations. Portugal has no sworn translators. A solicitador can certify a translation for a Portuguese office. See Getting a Certified Translation in Portugal.
  • Signatures and copies for banks, schools, landlords, and public offices.
  • Inheritance paperwork, such as gathering documents for a declaration of heirs. See Getting a Declaration of Heirs (Habilitação de Herdeiros).
  • Tax office and registry tasks, and complaints against a tax or council decision.
  • Recovering money you are owed, by negotiation or through an order for payment. See Recovering an Unpaid Invoice in Portugal.

Enforcement agents: the other side of the profession

An enforcement agent (agente de execução) is also registered with the OSAE, but does a different job. Enforcement agents carry out court debt cases. They serve papers, find a debtor's assets, seize them, and sell them. They act with public authority.

Three points matter if you are on the receiving end:

  • Who chooses the agent. The creditor picks the agent from an official list. If the creditor does not, the court office appoints one at random.
  • Whose side they are on. The agent is not the creditor's lawyer or representative, even when the creditor chose them.
  • Your deadlines. When you are served, you usually have 20 days to oppose the enforcement itself. If something is seized, you have 10 days from being notified to object to that seizure.

What a creditor can take from your pay and bank account, and what it cannot, is explained in When a Creditor Seizes Your Pay or Bank Account in Portugal.

Keep your address up to date with the tax office and, if you own property, with the land registry. Missed letters are a common reason people miss these deadlines.

Solicitador, notary, or lawyer: which do you need?

  • A public will, or approval of a sealed will: a notary.
  • A property sale, gift, or mortgage: a notary (public deed), or a solicitador, lawyer, notary, or registry officer (DPA). Compare quotes, and compare with the Casa Pronta counter at registry offices.
  • A signature, copy, translation, or authentication: a solicitador, lawyer, notary, registry office, or chamber of commerce.
  • A court case worth more than €5,000, or any appeal: a lawyer.
  • Immigration or tax disputes that need legal strategy: a lawyer; a solicitador can file administrative and tax complaints.
  • You are the debtor in an enforcement case: the enforcement agent runs the case; for your defence, use a lawyer or a solicitador where a lawyer is not compulsory.

How to find and check a solicitador

  1. Search the public register. The OSAE keeps a free public register of solicitadores and enforcement agents. Anyone can search it online.
  2. Check the professional card number (cédula profissional). Every registered solicitador has one. Ask for it and check it in the register.
  3. Ask for a written quote. Solicitadores set their own fees, within the legal maximums for certification acts. Ask for fees, VAT, registry charges, and taxes to be listed separately.
  4. Ask about language when you book, if you do not speak Portuguese well.

If you cannot afford legal help for a court case, you may qualify for legal aid, which can pay for a lawyer. See Applying for Legal Aid in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a large transaction or a court case, ask a lawyer or solicitador to check your situation before you sign or reply.

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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