2026 guide for heirs who live abroad
Who pays the 10% stamp duty, the 3-month declaration everyone must file, and every step you can take without travelling to Portugal.
Get my NIF
Portugal has no inheritance tax by that name: what you inherit there is taxed by the stamp duty (imposto do selo), at 10%, and children, spouses and parents pay nothing. But every heir is caught by the paperwork, even when they live abroad and owe no tax: the death must be declared to the Portuguese tax office by the end of the third month after the month of death, and until it is, the banks keep the deceased’s money.
That declaration needs a Portuguese tax number for every heir, the NIF, so it is the first thing to start; you can get your NIF online without travelling. This guide takes you through the 8 steps from abroad, who pays what, the deadline in dates, the deceased’s bank accounts, the house and the land, and what happens when you sell. Still waiting for the certificate? See how to get a Portuguese death certificate.
Each heir’s NIF, from abroad
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Inheriting in Portugal from abroad in 6 numbers (2026)
Yes to all five? You can declare the estate and start the paperwork.
Not sure who inherits, or which country’s law applies? See which law decides, or ask us in a free call.
Get my NIF →One NIF per heir, from abroad. From €99.
Not under that name: what you inherit is taxed by the stamp duty, the imposto do selo, at 10%, on what each heir receives. Most families pay nothing:
It applies to what is in Portugal, whoever inherits and wherever they live: a house or land, money and crypto held in a Portuguese bank, a car registered there. A property counts at its tax value (the valor patrimonial tributário on its tax record), not its market price, and the deceased’s debts are deducted. Personal and household goods, life insurance and social security death grants are not taxed.
The tax office sends the bill after the declaration; it is paid by the end of the two months that follow the notice, or, above €1,000, in up to 10 instalments of at least €200, one every six months.
Even when every heir is exempt, the death must still be declared (the participação on the Modelo 1), listing every property, account and car. That is why a child who owes no tax still needs a Portuguese NIF, and still has a deadline.
Yes. The estate gets its own tax number, the NIF of the herança indivisa (it starts with a 7), and its record lists the deceased, the cabeça de casal and every heir with their NIF. The tax office’s own leaflet is plain: the declaration can only be filed once the estate’s NIF exists, and it goes in with the NIF and the ID of the deceased and of all the heirs. IRN asks for every heir’s NIF too, and the land registry records it when the house goes into your names.
Not to get the NIF. But once you have a tax relationship with Portugal, such as a house or a car in your name, an heir who lives outside the EU and the EEA has 15 days to appoint a fiscal representative or sign up for the tax office’s electronic notifications. Heirs in the EU or the EEA never have to. A non-resident cabeça de casal asks for the estate’s NIF through their representative. See what a fiscal representative does.
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The order matters: the NIFs come before the declaration, and the declaration before the bank releases anything. Most steps can be done for you, with a power of attorney.
A death in Portugal, or a Portuguese citizen’s death abroad once transcribed (by the consulate or any registry office), is in the Portuguese civil registry: order the certificate online. For anyone else who died abroad, use the foreign certificate, translated.
Order the death certificateEvery heir needs one before the estate can be declared, the cabeça de casal first. From abroad, it is the step that takes longest: start it now.
Get my NIFThe cabeça de casal runs the estate until it is divided: the surviving spouse, otherwise the executor, otherwise the closest heir. Only they can ask for the estate’s NIF, on the tax office’s portal, or through their fiscal representative if they live abroad.
The participação (Modelo 1), with the death certificate, the will if any, the NIF and ID of the deceased and every heir, and the list of what they owned in Portugal. Even if nobody owes tax.
Banco de Portugal tells heirs, free, in which banks the deceased had accounts. The banks release the money once the declaration is filed, or the tax paid.
The habilitação de herdeiros, at a notary or at IRN’s Balcão das Heranças: the document banks, registries and buyers ask for. At IRN it can include the division and the land registry, for €425.
The heirs share out the estate (the partilha) and register each property in the new owners’ names, within two months of the division: later, the registry fee doubles.
Until it is divided, the estate owes the house’s IMI, files the deceased’s last income tax return and declares any rent. Selling later? The gain is declared in the next year’s return.
File my IRSDoing it from abroad? Most steps go through a power of attorney: see without travelling to Portugal.
The declaration is due by the end of the third month after the month of death, from the cabeça de casal and from every heir who received something, exempt or not. When the cabeça de casal declares every heir, the others don’t file again.
The tax office can give up to 60 days more, only for a reason you prove. IRN’s simplified procedure (the Balcão das Heranças) should also be started by the end of that third month.
Who inherits, and in what shares, is a different question from the tax. For a death on or after 17 August 2015, the EU’s succession regulation applies the law of the country where the deceased last lived, for everything they owned, the Portuguese house included, unless their will chose the law of their nationality. Before that date, Portugal applied the law of the deceased’s nationality.
A will made abroad by a Portuguese citizen counts in Portugal only if it was made in a solemn form (before a notary, for instance). For use in other EU countries, a European Certificate of Succession proves who the heirs are; it is optional. The regulation doesn’t cover tax, and it doesn’t apply in Denmark and Ireland.
Not sure where the money is? Banco de Portugal tells heirs, free of charge, in which Portuguese banks the deceased had accounts. Ask in person or by post, with the habilitação, the tax office’s certificate naming the cabeça de casal, or, for a child, the death record and your own birth record.
Any heir can ask for the division at any time. When everyone agrees, it is done at a registry office or a notary; when they don’t, through an inventário, at a notary or in court, which the heir who starts it chooses. Until then the estate stays undivided and keeps owing its taxes. A law of August 2026 lets the Government create a court sale of a property kept undivided for more than two years; on 28 October 2026 it was not yet in force.
The estate pays the funeral and the deceased’s debts first. Heirs answer only up to the value of what they inherit.
You can refuse (the repúdio), but only the whole inheritance, with no conditions, and for good. When the estate holds a property, it is done by a deed or an authenticated document: from abroad, through a power of attorney or a Portuguese consulate. Your own children may then inherit in your place. The right to accept lapses after ten years.
A non-resident who sells a house in Portugal declares the gain in the Portuguese income tax return of the next year, between April and June. Half of the gain is taxed, at the progressive income tax rates. For an inherited house:
For the return, see our Portuguese income tax filing, with a certified accountant; to plan before you sell, book a tax consultation. Buying in Portugal instead? See buying a house in Portugal as a foreigner.
Often, yes: Portugal taxes what is in Portugal, and the country where the deceased lived, or where you live, may tax the same inheritance under its own rules. Portugal has no inheritance tax treaty with France or the Netherlands.
Inheriting in Spain as well? See our guide to inheritance tax in Spain.
The rules, amounts and fees in this guide were checked on 28 October 2026 against the law and the official portals:
This guide explains the rules; it is not legal advice for your situation. Rules and fees change: check them on the official pages before you act.
Not by that name. What you inherit in Portugal is taxed by the stamp duty (imposto do selo) at 10%, on what each heir receives, at the property’s tax value. A spouse or partner, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents are exempt; everyone else pays.
No. Children, grandchildren, the spouse or partner and parents pay no stamp duty. They must still declare the death to the tax office, within the same deadline, and each of them needs a Portuguese NIF.
Yes. The estate gets its own tax number, which lists every heir with their NIF, and the declaration to the tax office is filed with the NIF of the deceased and of every heir. IRN and the land registry ask for it too. One NIF per heir: you can get it online, from abroad.
The end of the third month after the month of death: a death on 15 March 2026 is declared by 30 June 2026. The tax office can give up to 60 days more for a reason you prove. Late or missing, the fine is €150 to €3,750, and the deceased’s money stays frozen.
The person who runs the estate until it is divided: the surviving spouse, otherwise the executor named in the will, otherwise the closest heir. Only they can ask for the estate’s NIF, and they file the declaration and the deceased’s last income tax return.
Ask Banco de Portugal: it tells heirs, free of charge, in which banks the deceased had accounts, in person or by post. The banks release the money once the declaration is filed or the stamp duty paid.
At IRN’s Balcão das Heranças, €425 for the habilitação, the division and the land registry together, plus some registry fees and any taxes; the appointment comes within 7 working days. A notary sets their own price.
Yes, most of it. Get each heir’s NIF online, and give a power of attorney, made before a notary or a Portuguese consulate, to someone who signs for you in Portugal. Foreign documents need a Portuguese translation.
Yes, but only all of it, without conditions, and for good. When there is a property, it is done by a deed or an authenticated document, which you can sign through a power of attorney or at a Portuguese consulate.
On the gain, yes: half of it is taxed at the progressive rates, declared in the next year’s return. The purchase price is the house’s tax value at the death, and the purchase date is the death, not when your parents bought it.
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Inherit in Portugal from abroad, step by step
Each heir’s NIF first, then the declaration and the deeds.
Your Portuguese NIF, without travelling.
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