Ukkram

Own a property abroad? You need to update your will - Investment Basics from Citywire Money

mfesharne

No mention of whether we need to have our UK style wills translated into Portuguese or not or if we need to register the wills with the local notary.

dmu

Hi, butting in from the France forum, no mention of French Inheritance Tax, either. It will still be applicable to all French property, and if the property is willed to some one unrelated to the deceased, they will have to pay 60% of the value of the French assets, in Taxe de Succession.
No idea whether the same applies in Spain/Portugal, but it's worth mentioning.....

bejaboz

As I understand it for Portugal, an English will is valid in PT for a UK national, but having it translated is a preferable option to ease for the executor and those who inherit, the tasks that are required.

We have English wills for our home in the UK and a version of it amended for our holiday home in PT. We did this via an online web site in the UK as it was a lower cost option. We took these wills to PT, had them checked by our advogada for any PT legal requirements, then translated and notarised. Hopefully this will make for the inevitable PT bureaucracy to be easier on our demise.

Campanula

Would be interested to look at that online website.
Having it checked by your advogada translated and notarised turned out cheaper. If you don't mind could you mention some costs and how much you saved.

bejaboz

Hi, it was last year and the link to the site is - Professional Translation Services | Absolute Translations

I'll have to look up what the translation cost was but the service was quick and everything conducted online. A translator in PT was more expensive and we also wanted a PT version of the English wills, hence opting for a UK translation which we had checked in PT and then notarised. The Notary also keeps a copy which we thought was a safeguard in the future.

There are several online sites if you search Google and I contacted three and chose from them.

Starting from scratch in PT if I recall correctly would have cost around €1500 for two wills and we'd still have wanted English versions so we could see what the PT ones included.

It's a time consuming process as we sat with the notary (no English), our advogada and a translator and the Notary reads the wills out, the translator tells you what's been read and you have to agree or amend if necessary. The translator cost €30 for her time at the Notary's. This process is necessary as the Notary is trying to ensure you understand what the will contains before you sign it and the Notary authorises it.

I'll let you know what the translation cost us for the two wills when I get home later on.

I believe there are cheaper PT options such as just a notarised will but this seems too risky for such an important document.

Campanula

Thanks

bejaboz

The cost of our two wills was just over £100.

Campanula

That seems very reasonable.

liveaboard

New EU inheritance law as of August 18, 2015; UK is not a signatory but PT is.
If you're a foreign national Portuguese resident, you can now choose whether you want your will administered under PT law, or the law of your country, even if your country is not a signatory [ie, UK].
Obviously, you need to make this choice in writing [etc, etc] before your death.
If you're a UK resident with property in Portugal, everything is still the same as before.

mfesharne

That's how I understood it's going to work but what I don't know is if we make a UK style will that relates to property here in PT, do we have to have it translated into Portuguese and do we have to register the will with a notary here......... or can we just make our UK style wills, have them witnessed etc and just put them in a safe place until needed?

bejaboz

Our PT lawyer said we could use our English wills, but recommended having them translated to ease potential problems when the wills were required. As described in my earlier post, we had the wills translated in UK and then checked by our PT lawyer before being notarised and registered in PT.

liveaboard

it's all fiendishly complicated, and everyone needs to ask a professional to advise, based on their particular circumstances.
I just wanted to point out that there is a significant recent change to the laws, so some of you may want to get an update on that advice.

scot47

"UK Inheritance Law" Sorry to burst your bubble but there is no such creature. Within the UK there are different legal jurisdictions. The Link in the original post is a disguised advertisement written by someone with a little knowledge. Dangerous.

Ukkram

I posted that. It does not concern me at all as my assets are in South Africa but I received it in my mail from a UK Investment site --CityWire. I did not comment on it at all but just posted a link as CityWire pretty much found it as important breaking news. I just re read it and failed to find advertising in any form in it.
If it was dangerous ill informed news, then I apologies on behalf of CityWire.