Portugal · Selling · Information, not legal advice — as at 24 June 2026
Selling a house you inherited in Portugal
You can’t sell a Portuguese property until the inheritance is completed and the property is registered in the heirs' names (the habilitação de herdeiros, the stamp-duty step, and registration) — you can’t sell what the records don’t yet say is yours. Once it’s yours, the capital-gains position on a sale is often gentler than people expect: the property’s value is reset to the value at the date of death, and since 2023 only half of the gain is taxable for non-residents as well as residents. We handle both the inheritance and the sale.
Can I sell a house I inherited in Portugal?
Not until the inheritance is done. On death the property doesn’t pass automatically; until the habilitação de herdeiros is completed and the property re-registered into the heirs' names, the records still show the deceased — so you cannot sell. The succession comes first; the sale follows.
The order of events
- Complete the inheritance — the habilitação de herdeiros, the Imposto do Selo (stamp-duty) declaration within 3 months, and the change of ownership.
- Register the property into the heirs' names.
- Sell — the normal conveyancing: promissory contract (contrato-promessa), then the deed (escritura) and transfer to the buyer.
The NIF numbers, documents and powers of attorney done for the inheritance carry straight into the sale.
The capital-gains position when you sell
A sale can trigger capital-gains tax (mais-valias) — a different tax from the succession tax, and a different moment. Where we act on the sale, preparing the sale-year return for each non-resident heir is part of the work, as the succession return is. What we do not do is advise you on your wider tax position or plan around it — for that, and for the tax at home, the right person is an adviser, and we say early where one is needed. In broad terms:
- The acquisition value and date are reset to the death — so the taxable gain runs only from the date of death, not from when the deceased originally bought.
- Since 2023 every non-resident seller — UK residents included — is taxed the same way as a resident: half the gain goes into a Portuguese tax return at the progressive scale, with your worldwide income counted only to set the rate. The old flat 28% on the whole gain is gone.
- For a property held only a short time after death, in a flat market, the gain — and therefore the tax — can be small.
What if there’s more than one heir?
If several of you inherit, you become co-owners and a sale needs all of you to agree and sign. We capture everyone early, obtain a NIF for each heir, and take a power of attorney from each so the sale completes without everyone travelling. (A non-EU/UK heir may need a local tax representative for the tax office — a tax matter we will flag and point you to the right adviser for.)
Do I have to travel to Portugal to sell it?
No. With a power of attorney, our team can sign the escritura before the Portuguese notary on your behalf and deal with the buyer’s side, while you stay at home.
What other costs come with selling?
Beyond any tax: the estate agent’s fee, an energy certificate (certificado energético), clearing IMI (local property tax) and any condominium charges to completion, and discharging any mortgage. We show these separately from our own fixed fee. (See what it costs to settle an inheritance in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy.)
One firm, two legs, one fixed fee
Most families needing the Portuguese inheritance also want to sell. Done by us it’s one continuous process — a fixed fee for the succession and a fixed fee for the sale, both agreed in writing before we start. (See how we work — and who does your work.)
And when the sale completes, the price does not pass through us: it moves from the completion directly to the sellers — the heirs — the way it should. We never hold client or estate money. Why we never hold your money →