# Land ownership



## wedsence (Jan 7, 2009)

I may need to remove my name from the Certidao Permanente leaving only my wife registered in order to simplify the inheritance process. 
Will this require a Portuguese solicitor and personal attendance or is there a more simple way? Would a Portuguese Will for the property be a more appropriate and cost effective way to allow for an early demise ?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You not only need to change ownership with Conservatoria but also with Finanacas.

If this is to do with inheritance then a Portuguese Will would be the easiest and probably more cost effective way, but it all depends on your circumstances, yours and your wife's, nationality, residence etc.
If you are a Resident here then you should really have a Portuguese Will to simplify inheritance, without one Probate can be complicated, more time consuming and expensive.


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## paramonte (Sep 9, 2007)

wedsence said:


> I may need to remove my name from the Certidao Permanente leaving only my wife registered in order to simplify the inheritance process.
> Will this require a Portuguese solicitor and personal attendance or is there a more simple way? Would a Portuguese Will for the property be a more appropriate and cost effective way to allow for an early demise ?


If you have a mortgage on the property it should be already registered on the Certidão, so you should first ask the bank to remove your name from the mortgage which normaly leads to a new deed with all the associated expenses AND the bank may increase your spread since the mortage default risk increases (only one person to cover the risk). Moreover, the bank may find that your income alone is not enough to cover the default risk of the mortgage, and, in this case it will not allow to change the deed, if you really want, you have to sell the property. 

I am not sure what is the precedure in case there is no mortgage but I think you can´t just remove your name from the certidão, I think you have to do a "doação" (donation) to the other co-owner for which there are taxes liabilty. Somebody corrects me if I am wrong!


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

No your right which is why a Will is probably the better solution, and is really a requirement for easy inheritance and probate.
He should also check the Escritura for how ownership is worded.


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

You would have to do the escritura and it would still be classed as a sale. If you value the property lower to reduce the cost, then when the house is eventually sold, the capital gains will be crippling. As Canoeman says, a will is the way to go.


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## paramonte (Sep 9, 2007)

And the inheritance laws from the country where the applicant is a national applies, so if you are not PT is a good thing since PT inheritance laws are somewhat strict, the sibligins and the spouse get half of the share, and the other half is for the spouse, with only about 10% (?) to be disposed as the deceased wished


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## wedsence (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks for the advice, as I expected such matters are not simple. As we are resident in England do our English Wills suffice or will these need Portuguese translation and certification?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

It is a sensible thing to have a Portuguese Will to cover your Portuguese assets, if you rely solely on your UK Will, then it should include your Portuguese assets and has to be probated in UK before anything can be started in Portugal.

A UK Will is not valid in Portugal until UK Probate has been granted.

When UK probate is granted, it can then be probated here, it would reguire an Official Translation, testating and proven to be legal in UK, along with Death Certificates etc as would any inheritors ID, they will also reguire a Fiscal number to inherit.

The good news is that if you where born British then Portugal recognizes that fact and allows you to have a Will that reflects UK law on inheritance, you do not have to follow Portuguese Law on Succession.
Portuguese law does not understand or recognize Trusts or trustees so wording of a Portuguese Will is important.


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## wedsence (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks very much for this. It would seem that a Portuguese Will is the most simple way forward as it will eliminate a more complicated process at some time in the future, assuming that obtaining probate to a Portuguese will itself is not too complicated! No doubt a Portuguese with an English property would find it even more difficult so no complaints. 
Happy Christmas to all who read this and I look forward to many visits to Portugal in the New Year.


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