Privacy Policy

Effective date: 6 November 2026

Carroll Law ("we", "our", "the firm") is a private-client legal practice established in Portugal, advising on cross-border succession and inheritance matters across Portugal, Spain, Italy and France. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how we use it, and your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Portuguese data-protection law.

1. Who we are (data controller)

The data controller is Carroll Law, principal Colin Carroll, EU lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados (Portuguese Bar), cédula n.º 90162L, email office@carrolllaw.eu, postal address Apartado 35, EC Ericeira, 2659-909 Ericeira, Portugal.

2. What personal data we collect

Please do not send health or other sensitive details unless we ask for them. When you contact us through the website we collect your name, email, country of residence and/or the country where the property or death is located, the information in the free-text field, and optionally your phone number. When you browse, our host and any analytics collect your IP (anonymised where possible), browser/OS, the pages you visit, and cookies (see the Cookie Policy). We do not collect special-category data through the website.

3. Lawful basis for processing

We rely on steps you ask us to take before a contract (responding to your enquiry — GDPR art. 6(1)(b)), performance of a contract (your engagement), legal obligation (anti-money-laundering under Portuguese Law 83/2017, tax and bar record-keeping), and legitimate interests (basic analytics and security).

4. How we use your data

To respond to your enquiry (normally within one working day), send a fixed-fee quote and engagement letter, perform our services, comply with legal and regulatory obligations, maintain records (including for our insurer), and improve the website in aggregate. We do not sell, rent or share your data for marketing.

5. Who we share data with

Only with processors bound by a data-processing agreement (website host, email, case-management and e-signature providers, and the AI language-model providers described in section 9), the Ordem dos Advogados, the Portuguese tax authority where required, and local notaries, other professionals and banks strictly as needed for your matter. Transfers outside the EEA rely on Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. How long we keep your data

• Contact-form submissions that did not lead to instruction — 12 months.
• Matter files — duration of the matter plus statutory retention; closed files 10 years.
• AML records — 7 years; accounting/tax records — 10 years.

7. Your rights under GDPR

Access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent. To exercise any right, email office@carrolllaw.eu; we respond within one month. You may complain to the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD) at www.cnpd.pt.

8. Cookies, security & changes

We use TLS encryption; matter systems are encrypted at rest. Cookies are covered in our Cookie Policy. We may update this policy; the effective date shows the latest version.

9. Artificial intelligence

We use artificial-intelligence tools from third-party technology providers to help read documents, prepare drafts, carry out research and check calculations. These tools support the lawyer's work; they do not replace it. Every opinion and every letter is read, verified and signed by Colin Carroll, and no decision about you is taken by automated means alone. Our engagement letter explains this to every client and refers to this policy, and How we use AI sets it out in full.