aaron and jo

hi i wonder if you could all help,the quick story is!!My mum has asked me to find out for her what the common in law laws are in portugal.basically my mother is selling up her andmoving to portugal, her boyfriend is also planning to move over and live in a very small property.my mother is planning to invest ALOT of money into a property,her boyfriend on the other hand does not plan too,and says he has ways of living in portugal,she would like to know if the laws are the same as in the u.k, as in if your partner stays over 4 nights a week they are intitled to half of what you own,if they split up,or he dies etc as they are your common in law partner.We are desperate for advice as many factors are making us want to protect her as soon as possible.

Sibs

Hi, I might be completely wrong on this but I was under the impression that in the UK the common-law thing was a myth?

jdr

You really need proper legal advice on this subject or you could get a nasty surprise.
Also find out what the inheretance laws are with unmarried couples in Porugal as well, as in Spain they are evil, like up to 82% tax, without the neccessary paperwork to cover it.

Sibs

Hi

Here's some advice for people living in UK:
http://advicenow.org.uk/go/livingtogether/index

For Portugal, I would also say get some good legal advice and also sort out some wills.

Sarah

brodev

The above only applies to people living in England and Wales. The law in Scotland is different

langkate

I learned the hard way that common law does not exist in England. No need for gory details, but I can strongly advise that wills are drawn up and that is the only safe way to deal with financial issues. Good luck in all you do.

aaron and jo

thanks everyone for your replies,at least i can point my mum in the right direction!!

Novulus

Inheritance tax has been abolished 3 years ago in Portugal and was replaced by a stamp duty of 0.8% for close relatives and 10.8% for others

As far as I know (and I don't know that much, since I'm not a solicitor) Common in law marriages ('unioes de facto', singular -uniao de facto) in Portugal do not grant any property or inheritance rights to any surviving partner (apart from having first choice in buying the deceased's home).