Portugal · Planning ahead
Planning ahead for succession in Portugal
Four fixed-fee written opinions for people living in Portugal — or holding Portuguese assets — who want to understand their position before anything happens. Each one reviewed and signed personally by Colin Carroll.
1 · Who inherits if I die in Portugal?
The planning-ahead version of our Inheritance Entitlement opinion — the same analysis we produce after a death, applied to your situation while you are alive and can still act. You receive: which law governs your estate (Brussels IV), forced-heirship exposure, heir mapping with fractions, matrimonial-regime confirmation, a habitual-residence assessment, and recommendations.
Pricing: Standard €750 · Cross-Border €1,100 · Complex €1,650. Change-event reassessment €395.
2 · Should I make a Portuguese will?
We draft Portuguese wills coordinated with your existing planning, not in competition with it. Portugal recognises only the testamento público and the testamento cerrado; on divorce, gifts in the will to the former spouse lapse; you must attend the notary in person. Included: advice on which law governs, a correctly worded Brussels IV Article 22 choice-of-law election, coordination with your existing will, and a bilingual draft ready for execution.
The Four-Step Will Test: (1) who inherits right now; (2) your preferences mapped against the legal constraints; (3) the will draft, every clause explained; (4) the analysis re-run with your new will — before and after, side by side.
Combined fee: from €1,200 + VAT. (Notary fees €300–€500 are paid directly to the notary.)
3 · What does my marriage mean for inheritance?
Your matrimonial property regime decides what is already your spouse’s before inheritance even begins. A written opinion identifies the regime, classifies your assets as community or separate, and sets out what happens on death. Essential for mixed-nationality couples, second marriages, and anyone who married abroad.
Pricing: Standard €750 · Cross-Border €1,100.
4 · Your UK trust in Europe — does it still work?
European countries treat UK trusts very differently — Italy recognises them; Portugal tolerates them (no trust law, but distributions are taxed); France taxes them heavily; Spain looks through them. This Cross-Border Structure Advisory covers whether your structure works where you live, what it costs you, and the local alternatives. We don’t set up trusts, act as trustees, or advise on how your structure is taxed.
Pricing (ex-VAT): Add-on €800 (PT/ES) / €1,000 (FR/IT) · Standalone €1,200 (PT/ES) / €1,500 (FR/IT) · Multi-jurisdiction €2,000 (PT/ES) / €2,500 (FR/IT).
Who prepares your work
Your work is signed personally by Colin Carroll — a dual-qualified solicitor, admitted in both England and Ireland, who has lived and worked on the European continent for twenty-five years. Today he is the registered, insured lawyer with the Ordem dos Advogados (the Portuguese Bar) and the bars of Spain, Italy and France, under EU Directive 98/5/EC, with professional-indemnity insurance in each country of practice.
Related guides
Which country’s law decides who inherits — and can I choose my own?
How the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) decides the governing law, and how a choice-of-law clause works — and what it can’t do.
Read the guide →
We live together but aren’t married — what happens when one of us dies?
Why an unmarried partner is often not a legal heir across PT/ES/IT/FR — and what a will can do about it.
Read the guide →
Does my UK, US or home-country will work abroad?
When a UK or other home-country will is recognised abroad — and the forced-inheritance and Brussels IV traps to know.
Read the guide →