Getting a Declaration of Heirs (Habilitação de Herdeiros)

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• Someone has died owning a bank account, a home, a car, or shares in Portugal, and you are an heir.
• You manage the estate, or you are helping a relative who does.
• You live in Portugal or abroad. Heirs abroad can act through a power of attorney.

Not for you if: you want to plan your own will or understand who inherits and what tax they pay. Read Making a Will and Handling an Inheritance in Portugal instead.

After a death in Portugal, banks, registries, and the tax office need proof of who the heirs are. That proof is the declaration of heirs (habilitação de herdeiros). It names the heirs and confirms nobody else has a claim. You get it from a notary or from an inheritance desk (Balcão das Heranças) at a registry office. At the registry it costs €150, plus small search fees. Separately, the stamp duty return on the death is due by the end of the third month after the month of death, even if no tax is owed.

What the declaration does

The declaration of heirs is a formal statement, made before a notary or a registrar, of who has died and who the heirs are. Once you have it, the heirs can together:

• register inherited property, cars, and company shares in all their names;
• withdraw money and other assets held in the dead person's name;
• transfer rights such as shares and copyrights.

A notary's declaration has the same effect as a court ruling on who the heirs are.

It does not share out the estate. Naming the heirs and dividing the assets between them (partilha) are separate steps. Until you divide, the heirs own the estate together. You can do both at once at an inheritance desk.

Who starts the process

The estate manager (cabeça de casal) runs the estate until it is divided. The law sets who this is, in order:

1. the surviving spouse, if an heir or entitled to half of the couple's shared property;
2. the executor named in the will;
3. the closest relatives who are legal heirs;
4. the heirs named in the will.

If several people are equal, it is the one who lived with the person who died for at least a year before the death. If still equal, it is the oldest. All the heirs can agree on someone else instead.

At an inheritance desk, the estate manager, their legal representative, or someone with their power of attorney starts the process.

Where to get it

You have three main options.

An inheritance desk (Balcão das Heranças). These desks are at every civil registry office (conservatória do registo civil), some land and commercial registry offices, and some Citizen Shops (Lojas do Cidadão). You can use any desk, wherever the assets are. An appointment is always needed.

An Espaço Óbito. A registry service for families after a death, which can also do the declaration.

A notary (cartório notarial). The notary records the declaration in a public deed (escritura de habilitação de herdeiros). Either the estate manager makes the declaration, or three people the notary considers trustworthy. Those three cannot be relatives who could inherit, or the spouse of an heir. See Using a Notary and Certifying Documents in Portugal.

If you later divide the estate at an inheritance desk after a notary's declaration, bring a certificate of the notary's deed.

Step by step at an inheritance desk

1. Check you have the documents (see below).
2. Book an appointment. Book at the desk, or online through the SIGA booking portal or the sigaApp. The first meeting can be in person or by video.
3. Hand in or post the documents. If you book at the desk, you hand them in then. If you book online, you post them to the desk you chose.
4. Wait for the review. Staff check the death, the heirs, and any assets. They may ask for more documents, which you must provide at least 5 working days before your date.
5. Attend on the day. Staff set a date, usually within 7 or 10 working days of the first meeting if that suits you. Everyone who must sign attends in person, or sends someone with a power of attorney.
6. Sign. If you asked for registration, the assets are registered straight away.

Documents you need

At an inheritance desk or Espaço Óbito:

• ID documents of all the heirs;
• the tax numbers (NIF) of all the heirs;
• the estate manager's ID document;
• each heir's name, place of birth, marital status, and address;
• a list of the assets, if you want them registered or divided;
• if there is a will, a certificate of it with the death noted on it, from the notary's office where it was made;
• proof of the foreign law, if a foreign law governs the inheritance;
• death and family certificates issued abroad, translated into Portuguese.

If the death, the marriage, and the heirs' births are recorded in the Portuguese civil registry, you do not need to bring those certificates. Staff look them up and charge a small fee for each search.

At a notary:

• the death certificate;
• birth and marriage certificates proving the family links, or the foreign equivalents;
• a certificate of the will or of any gift made to take effect on death, if one exists.

Foreign documents usually need an apostille and a certified translation. Start ordering them early. See Getting a Certified Translation in Portugal.

Finding out whether there is a will

You need to know whether the person who died left a Portuguese will. Ask the registry for a certificate on the existence of a will (certidão sobre a existência de testamento). Anyone can ask once the person has died.

• Online: request it on the registry's (IRN) online service. It costs €25. Pay within 48 hours or the request is cancelled. The certificate is posted to you.
• In person: at the Central Registry Office (Conservatória dos Registos Centrais) in Lisbon.

You need the person's name, date of birth, parents' names, place of birth, and the date and place of death. You also need the registry office, year, and number of the death record. If the person died abroad, attach the death certificate, translated if needed.

What it costs

When you divide, each extra property registration costs €125 more, plus €30 or €20 for each extra asset given to each heir. These fees do not include any taxes owed.

A notary sets their own fee for the deed. Ask for a written quote.

The stamp duty return

Every death that leaves assets in Portugal needs a stamp duty return (participação de óbito, Modelo 1 do Imposto do Selo). The estate manager files it.

• Deadline: the end of the third month after the month of death. If the person died on 10 June, the deadline is 30 September.
• Extension: the tax office can allow up to 60 more days if you show a good reason.
• Who pays: spouses, unmarried partners in a recognised de facto union, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents pay nothing. Everyone else pays 10% of the taxable value of what they inherit.
• File anyway: you must file even when every heir is exempt.

The inheritance desk can file the return for you and ask for a tax number for the estate. If you start the process after the deadline, the registry tells the tax office, which can fine you. So book within the three months if you can.

Dividing the estate

Once the heirs are named, you can divide the estate. At an inheritance desk you can only divide if the estate includes at least one registered asset, such as a home, land, a car, or a share in a company. You can divide part of the estate and leave the rest for later.

When you divide, bring each heir's details (and their spouse's, if married under shared property), the list of assets with the values you agree, and how you will share them. If one heir keeps an asset and pays the others in cash, the desk arranges any property transfer tax (IMT). It can also include a bank loan and mortgage to fund that payment.

After a division, the desk can also make requests to the tax office for you. It can change your tax address, ask for your new main home to be exempt from property tax (IMI) if you qualify, and update the property tax record.

If the heirs cannot agree, the division goes through an inventory process before a notary or a court.

If an heir lives abroad

Every heir needs a Portuguese tax number (NIF). See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal. Depending on where you live, you may also need a fiscal representative.

If you cannot travel, give a power of attorney to a relative, lawyer, or solicitor in Portugal to sign for you. Allow time for the paperwork, and keep the three-month tax deadline in view.

If the death has not yet been registered, start there. See Funerals and Death Registration in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Estates with assets or heirs in several countries, or with disputes, are worth taking to a lawyer or notary.

Sources

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

• gov.pt, Fazer a habilitação de herdeiros, herança: https://www.gov.pt/servicos/fazer-a-habilitacao-de-herdeiros-heranca (what it is; who can ask; Espaço Óbito, registry notary office, and inheritance desks in registries and Citizen Shops; SIGA booking; documents by channel; 5 working days for extra documents; optional stamp duty filing and estate NIF; €150, €50 for a married couple, €10 to €25 searches; payment methods), checked 2 October 2026
• Justiça.gov.pt, Balcão Heranças: https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Balcao-Herancas (services, estate manager order, registered asset needed to divide, information to gather, €150, €375, €425, extra per-asset fees), checked 2 October 2026
• IRN, Balcão das Heranças, perguntas frequentes: https://irn.justica.gov.pt/Balcao-das-Herancas-perguntas-frequentes (who starts, three-month deadline and report to the tax office, estate manager rules and agreement, partial division, notary deed certificate, no civil registry certificates needed for Portuguese records, estate NIF, IMT, tax address and IMI requests, full fee schedule, appointment always needed, video option, documents, will certificate with death noted, 7 or 10 working days, any desk, all civil registry offices), checked 2 October 2026
• Justiça.gov.pt, Saber se existe testamento: https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Saber-se-existe-testamento (certificate on existence of a will, anyone after death, online €25, 48 hours to pay, posted, details needed, Central Registry Office), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Código do Notariado: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=457&tabela=leis (articles 82 to 87: notarial declaration by three trustworthy people or the estate manager, who cannot declare, documents, same effect as a court ruling, registrations and withdrawals), checked 2 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, leaflet "Participação do Imposto do Selo, óbito" (December 2025): https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/apoio_contribuinte/Folhetos_informativos/Documents/Folheto_Participacao_Imposto_Selo_Obito.pdf (estate manager files, deadline and 60-day extension, exempt heirs, 10% rate, file even if exempt; carried from verified guide W2B-30), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, Código do Imposto do Selo, consolidated text: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/Cod_download/Documents/CIS.pdf (article 6 exemptions, article 26 deadline, General Table item 1.2 at 10%; carried from verified guide W2B-30), checked 1 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Código Civil: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=775&tabela=leis (article 2080 estate manager order, article 2102 division by agreement or inventory; carried from verified guide W2B-30), checked 1 October 2026

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