When a Creditor Seizes Your Pay or Bank Account in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• Your bank account has been frozen, or your employer says part of your pay is being seized.
• You have received papers from an enforcement agent (agente de execução) about a debt.
• You are employed, self-employed, or retired, and want to know what a creditor can and cannot take.

Not for you if: the debt is very old and you want to know whether it has expired. Read When a Debt Expires in Portugal first.

In Portugal, a creditor with a court judgment or another enforcement title can have your pay, pension, or bank balance seized. The seizure is called a penhora. An enforcement agent carries it out. The law protects two thirds of your net pay, with a floor of one minimum wage (€920 a month in 2026) and a ceiling of three (€2,760). In a bank account, €920 is protected in total. Some things can never be taken. You have 10 days from being notified of a seizure to object, so act at once.

How an enforcement case starts

A creditor needs an enforcement title (título executivo). The most common are:

• a court judgment;
• an order for payment (injunção) that you did not oppose;
• certain documents signed before a notary or authenticated.

The creditor chooses the enforcement agent from an official list. If the creditor does not choose, the court office appoints one at random. Enforcement agents are private professionals registered with the Order of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents (OSAE).

Before seizing, the agent has up to 20 days to find your assets. The agent can check the tax office, Social Security, and the land, commercial, and vehicle registries. From these databases, the agent may only take your identifying details and information about where your assets are. The Bank of Portugal tells the agent which banks hold your accounts.

When you are formally served, you usually have 20 days to oppose the enforcement itself, for example if you say you do not owe the debt. That is separate from objecting to a particular seizure, explained below.

If an order for payment arrives, do not ignore it. An unopposed order becomes an enforcement title. See Recovering an Unpaid Invoice in Portugal.

How much can be seized in total

A seizure is limited to what is needed to pay the debt plus the expected costs of the case. The law presumes those costs at:

• 20% of the debt, for debts up to €5,000;
• 10%, for debts above €5,000 and up to €120,000;
• 5%, above €120,000.

So a €3,000 debt supports a seizure of about €3,600, not everything you own.

Your pay and pension: the two-thirds rule

Two thirds of the net amount of these payments cannot be seized:

• wages and salaries;
• retirement pensions and other social benefits;
• insurance payments and accident compensation;
• life annuities and any regular payment you live on.

"Net" means after compulsory deductions only, such as income tax and social security. Voluntary deductions, like a private pension plan or a savings transfer, do not reduce the base.

The protection has limits at both ends:

• Ceiling: the most that is protected is three minimum wages, €2,760 a month in 2026.
• Floor: if you have no other income, at least one minimum wage, €920, is protected.

Two examples.

• Net pay of €1,200: two thirds is €800, below the floor. So €920 is protected and up to €280 can be taken.
• Net pay of €4,500: two thirds is €3,000, above the ceiling. So €2,760 is protected and up to €1,740 can be taken.

Your bank account

When a bank balance or cash is seized, one minimum wage, €920 in 2026, is protected in total. It is one amount across all your accounts, not €920 per account.

You cannot count the protection twice. If two thirds of your salary was already protected at source, you cannot then claim a further €920 when the same money reaches your account.

Money in your account that came from a payment that could not be seized keeps the same protection. For example, protected compensation does not become seizable just because it was paid into your account.

How a bank seizure works.

1. The agent sends an electronic notice to the banks. Your balance, or your share of it, is blocked from that moment, up to the overall limit.
2. The notice must identify you and state the limit in euros. Without these, it is void.
3. For a joint account, only your share is blocked. The law presumes equal shares.
4. The bank blocks accounts in this order: accounts in your name only before joint ones, joint accounts with fewer holders first, and term deposits before current accounts.
5. The bank reports back within two working days. The agent then has five days to confirm what is seized and release the rest.
6. The bank tells you about the seizure. From then on, only the agent can move the blocked money.

If you are self-employed

The same protection applies to income from self-employed work (recibos verdes), with changes:

• your net income is 75% of what you are paid, not counting VAT;
• the floor and ceiling are worked out for each month by whoever pays you.

Before paying you, your client must tell the agent the total due, the protected amount, and the amount to be seized. The agent confirms or corrects it within two working days. If the agent does not reply, your client pays you on its own calculation. A client that ignores the rules can be pursued in the case for the money it should have seized.

This version applies only in a month when you receive no salary, pension, or other regular income. If you have a salary too, the ordinary two-thirds rule applies. See Registering as Self-Employed (Recibos Verdes) in Portugal.

Child maintenance debts are different

If the debt is unpaid maintenance (alimentos), the two-thirds rule and the minimum wage floor do not apply. Only an amount equal to the full non-contributory social pension is protected, in your pay and in your bank account. That is a much lower figure. See Child Support in Portugal.

Asking the judge to reduce the seizure

If the seizure leaves you unable to cope, you can ask the judge to reduce it. The judge weighs the size and type of the debt against the needs of you and your household. The judge can:

• reduce the seizable part of your income for a period the judge thinks reasonable; or
• exempt your income from seizure completely for up to one year.

This is exceptional, and you must ask for it. It is never automatic. Support your application with evidence:

• who lives with you and who depends on you;
• your rent or mortgage;
• other essential costs, such as health or school costs.

What can never be seized

These can never be seized:

• things that cannot legally be sold or transferred;
• public property of the State and other public bodies;
• items whose seizure would be indecent, or whose resale value is too small to justify it;
• items used for public worship;
• graves;
• equipment and items that disabled people need, and items needed to treat illness;
• pets (companion animals).

Some things are protected unless certain conditions apply:

• Work tools and items you need for your job or training. They can be seized if you offer them, if the debt is for buying or repairing them, or if they are seized as part of a business.
• Essential household goods in the home where you actually live. They can be seized if the debt is for buying or repairing them.

Your home is seized last

Seizure starts with the assets easiest to turn into money and suited to the size of the debt. The creditor can say which assets it prefers, and the agent must follow that. The exceptions are a preference that breaks the law, is disproportionate, or plainly ignores the easiest-first rule.

Other property. A property that is not your permanent home, or a business, can be seized even if it is worth much more than the debt. That is allowed only if seizing other assets would probably not pay the creditor in full within six months.

Your permanent home (habitação própria permanente). The test is stricter:

• for debts of €10,000 or less, your home can be seized only if other assets would probably not pay the creditor in full within 30 months;
• for debts over €10,000, within 12 months.

This sets the order; it is not an exemption. Your home is reached last, but it can be reached. A holiday home or a flat you rent out counts as "other property". For how seized homes are sold, see Buying a Repossessed Property at Auction in Portugal.

If you are married

Two rules can affect your spouse, and both have a 20-day deadline from being served.

• Joint property seized for one spouse's debt. If the case is against one spouse only, and joint property is seized because that spouse has too little of their own, the other spouse is summoned. They have 20 days to ask for a division of the couple's property, or to prove that one has already been requested. Otherwise the seizure of joint property goes ahead.
• Creditor says the debt is joint. A creditor can argue that the debt belongs to both of you. The other spouse is summoned and has 20 days to say whether they accept this. Silence counts as acceptance. If the debt is treated as joint, the case continues against both of you.

These rules apply whatever country you married in. If you get such papers, take advice straight away.

Objecting to a seizure: 10 days

You can object to the seizure of your property (oposição à penhora) if:

• the items could not be seized at all, or not to the extent they were;
• assets that only answer for the debt as a second resort were seized first; or
• the assets seized do not answer for this debt under the law.

You must object within 10 days of being notified of the seizure. Objecting does not stop the case by itself. The case is suspended only if you provide a guarantee, and then only for the items you object to. A special protective rule applies when the objection concerns the home you actually live in.

What to do now

1. Open every letter from the court, an enforcement agent, or your bank straight away. Most rights in this area are lost by missing a deadline.
2. Check the numbers. Work out two thirds of your net pay, then apply the €920 floor and €2,760 ceiling. Check that your bank left €920 untouched.
3. Object within 10 days if something was seized that should not have been, or too much was taken.
4. Ask the judge for a reduction if you cannot cover essential costs. Bring evidence.
5. Get a lawyer, or apply for legal aid. Legal aid can pay for a lawyer and waive or spread court fees. EU citizens, and other foreigners with a valid residence permit in an EU country, can apply through Social Security. See Applying for Legal Aid in Portugal.
6. If you cannot pay your debts at all, read Declaring Personal Insolvency in Portugal.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Once an enforcement case is open, speak to a lawyer or apply for legal aid quickly.

Sources

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

• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Code of Civil Procedure (Código de Processo Civil, Lei n.º 41/2013), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=1959&tabela=leis (article 720 enforcement agent chosen by the creditor or appointed by the court office; article 728 20 days to oppose the enforcement; article 735 limit and 20, 10, and 5% cost presumption; article 736 never seizable, including companion animals; article 737 work tools and household goods; article 738 two thirds, three and one minimum wage, maintenance exception, bank balance, judge's reduction, no double protection, self-employed rules; article 739 protected money keeps protection; articles 740 and 741 spouses, 20 days, silence; article 749 20-day search and databases; article 751 order of seizure, six, 30, and 12 months; article 780 bank seizure procedure; articles 784 and 785 grounds and 10 days to object, suspension only with a guarantee), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Judicial System Organisation Act (Lei n.º 62/2013), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=1974&tabela=leis (article 44 civil court value limits of €5,000 and €30,000, which give the €5,000, €10,000, and €120,000 thresholds), checked 2 October 2026
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025, of 29 December: https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/139-2025-992879809 (2026 minimum wage of €920; carried from verified guide W2A-01, checked 30 September 2026)
• Tribunais, list of enforcement agents: https://tribunais.org.pt/Dividas/Acao-executiva/Lista-dos-agentes-de-execucao (OSAE keeps the public list; agents locate and seize assets), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Access to Law and the Courts Act (Lei n.º 34/2004), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=80&tabela=leis (article 7 who qualifies; article 16 types of legal aid; article 22 application through Social Security), checked 2 October 2026

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