Who inherits if there is no will in Portugal?

When there is no will — or no valid one — the estate does not simply go to the closest person, or to the State by default. It is shared according to a fixed legal order. In Portugal this is called sucessão legítima (intestate succession), and it is set out in the Civil Code. If your loved one lived abroad and only owned a Portuguese property or account, the Portuguese leg can be handled remotely under a power of attorney, so you need not travel.

Does Portuguese law even apply to the estate?

Ask this first. Under the EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV, Regulation 650/2012), the law that governs the whole succession is, by default, the law of the country where the person was habitually resident when they died — not the country where the property sits. So a British or Irish national who had genuinely settled in the Algarve may have their estate governed by Portuguese intestacy rules; one who remained resident at home may not, even though they owned a Portuguese villa. Establishing which law applies is the starting point, and we deal with it before anything else.

What is the order of heirs when there is no will?

Where Portuguese law applies, Article 2133 of the Civil Code sets the order of "classes" of heirs. The estate passes to the first class that exists, and a class that inherits excludes those below it:

1. The spouse and the descendants (children; and a deceased child’s own children in their place).
2. The spouse and the ascendants (parents, then grandparents) — only if there are no descendants.
3. Siblings and their descendants — only if there is no spouse, no descendant and no ascendant.
4. Other relatives to the fourth degree (for example aunts, uncles, first cousins).
5. Finally, the Portuguese State, only if no qualifying relative exists.

How much does the surviving spouse get?

The spouse is a powerful heir in Portugal. Sharing with the children, the estate is divided in equal heads (per capita), but the spouse’s share is never less than one quarter of the estate (Art. 2139). Sharing with the deceased’s parents instead, the spouse takes two thirds and the ascendants one third (Art. 2142). With no descendants and no ascendants, the spouse inherits everything (Art. 2144). All of this is on top of the spouse’s own half-share (meação) of jointly-owned property, which is theirs already and never forms part of the estate. (A spouse who was divorced, or legally separated, at the date of death does not inherit.)

What if the couple were not married?

An unmarried partner is not an intestate heir in Portugal, however long the relationship. A long-term cohabiting partner (união de facto) has certain separate protections, especially around the family home, but they do not inherit the estate on intestacy. For unmarried couples a will is essential — see Living together but not married.

Is intestacy the same as forced heirship?

No, and the two are often confused. Intestacy (sucessão legítima) only decides who inherits when there is no will. Forced heirship (the legítima) reserves a protected share for close family even when there is a will. You can make a will, but in a Portuguese-law estate you cannot freely disinherit a spouse or child. See Who inherits under Portuguese law? and Forced heirship in Portugal, Spain, Italy and France.

Can I avoid the Portuguese intestacy rules?

Largely, yes — by planning ahead. Making a will lets you direct your estate within the limits of forced heirship, and a national of another country can usually elect the law of their nationality under Brussels IV, which can displace Portuguese intestacy and forced heirship altogether. The one thing not to do is leave it to chance: with no will, the order above applies automatically.