Selling an inherited home in Portugal in 2026: heirs, partition and taxes

Inheriting a home in Portugal and deciding to sell it looks simple, but the steps must be taken in order: establish who the heirs are, report the estate to the tax office, put the land registry in order and only then sell. Each step has its own deadlines and costs, and one heir who disagrees can stop the process.

This guide explains the rules in force in November 2026, for estates without a will and with heirs who agree, which is the most common case. Where there is a will, a minor heir or a dispute, the process has details that call for a lawyer or a notary.

Summary

Step	What it is	Deadline or cost
Declaration of heirs	States who inherits	€150 at an IRN counter
Reporting to the tax office	Reports the estate for Stamp Duty	By the end of the 3rd month after the month of death
Stamp Duty	10% of the tax value	Exempt: spouse, children, grandchildren and parents
Land registry	Home registered in the heirs’ names	Done with the declaration or before the sale
Partition	Divides the assets among the heirs	By agreement or by inventory
Sale	Before partition, all heirs sign; afterwards, whoever received the home	Agency fee, energy certificate and the usual documents
Income tax	Each heir’s capital gain	Basis: tax value at the date of death

1. Declaration of heirs

The habilitação de herdeiros is the document that declares who the heirs of the deceased are. Without it, nobody can prove to the notary, the bank or the buyer that they are entitled to sell the home.

It is requested by the cabeça de casal, the person who manages the estate until the partition. As a rule this is the surviving spouse, if they are an heir or entitled to half of the couple’s assets. The heirs can agree on someone else.

It is done in person at one of these places:

• a notary’s office (cartório notarial);
• an Espaço Óbito;
• an IRN Heranças counter, in land registry offices and Citizen Shops.

You can book online through the Siga portal or app, but the act itself is in person. At IRN counters you need the ID documents and tax numbers (NIF) of all heirs, a list of the deceased’s assets and, where applicable, the partition agreement. A notary will ask for the death certificate, the marriage certificate, the heirs’ birth certificates and the will, if there is one.

What it costs at IRN counters

Service	Cost
Simple declaration of heirs	€150
Declaration with registration and partition of assets	€425 base fee
Per property, company quota or shareholding	€30
Per registration of a property acquisition	€25
If the heirs are married to each other	Plus €50
Searches of IRN databases	€10 to €25

Taxes are not included. gov.pt says the process is not compulsory, but it should start by the end of the third month after the death. If it starts later, IRN informs the tax office, which may impose a fine.

2. Reporting to the tax office and Stamp Duty

The estate must be reported to the tax office by the cabeça de casal by the end of the third month after the month of death. This duty applies even when nobody pays tax: the exemption for close family does not remove the duty to report.

The tax is Stamp Duty at 10% on the free transfer. For property, the basis is the tax value (VPT) in the property register at the date of death, not the market value.

The following are exempt:

• the spouse or unmarried partner;
• descendants, such as children and grandchildren;
• ascendants, such as parents and grandparents.

Other heirs, such as siblings, nephews and nieces or cousins, pay the 10%. For example, on a home with a VPT of €120,000 left to a nephew, the tax would be €12,000. The figure is for illustration only.

3. The home while the estate is undivided

Until the partition, the home belongs to the undivided estate (herança indivisa), meaning all the heirs jointly, without any of them owning a specific part of it.

• In the tax register, the property is listed in the name of the estate, with the cabeça de casal, and the tax office gives the estate its own tax number.
• IMI is owed by the undivided estate, represented by the cabeça de casal, and bills arrive in the estate’s name. Our guide to IMI property tax explains how it is calculated.
• In the land registry, the heirs can register the home in all their names “jointly and without determination of shares”, on the basis of the declaration of heirs. This registration is not compulsory by law, but to sell, the home must as a rule be registered in the name of whoever is selling. At IRN counters it can be done at the same time as the declaration. Check with the notary or the registry what is missing in your case before booking the deed.

In August 2026, Law 49/2026 was published, giving the Government 180 days to create a regime allowing homes in undivided estates to be sold at the request of a single heir. Until that regime is approved, the rules in this guide apply.

4. Selling before or after the partition

There are two ways to sell an inherited home.

Selling before the partition

The law says rights over the estate can only be exercised jointly by all the heirs. So all of them must agree to the sale and sign the deed, in person or by power of attorney. The price goes into the estate and is divided among the heirs according to their shares.

This is the quickest route when everyone wants to sell, and it avoids doing a partition only to sell afterwards.

Selling after the partition

In the partition, the heirs decide who gets each asset. If the home goes to a single heir, that heir becomes the sole owner and can sell alone. If one heir receives more than their share, they pay the others the difference, known as tornas, and IMT (property transfer tax) may be due on that excess.

The partition can be done:

• by agreement, at a notary’s office or an IRN Heranças counter;
• by inventory (inventário), when there is no agreement, at a notary’s office or in court.

What if one heir does not want to sell?

Before the partition, the home cannot be sold without everyone’s agreement. The options are:

• Buy out the heir who does not want to sell, or negotiate the partition so the home goes to whoever wants to sell it.
• Sell a share of the estate. An heir can sell their share in the estate. If they sell it to someone who is not an heir, the other heirs have a right of first refusal.
• Request an inventory, so the partition is made even without agreement.

5. Documents for the sale

On top of the usual documents for a sale, you need the estate documents:

• the declaration of heirs;
• the land registry certificate (certidão permanente), ideally with the home already in the heirs’ names;
• an up-to-date tax record (caderneta predial);
• proof that the estate was reported to the tax office and, if due, that Stamp Duty was paid;
• the partition deed, if the sale takes place afterwards;
• a valid energy certificate, compulsory to advertise and sell;
• the condominium charges statement, for a flat.

If the home is let and the lease has been in place for more than two years, the tenant has a right of first refusal. The heirs send them the price and terms by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, and the tenant has 30 days to reply. The sale does not end the lease: the buyer becomes the landlord.

6. Income tax on the capital gain

When the home sells for more than its acquisition value, there is a capital gain, which is subject to income tax (IRS). For an inherited home, specific rules apply:

• Acquisition value: the value that was, or would have been, used for Stamp Duty. In other words, the VPT at the date of death, even if the heirs were exempt.
• Acquisition date: the date of death, not the date the deceased bought the home.
• Inflation adjustment: if more than 24 months passed between the death and the sale, the acquisition value is updated by the currency devaluation coefficient published each year.
• Expenses that reduce the gain: improvement works carried out in the last 12 years, with invoices, and the necessary costs of selling, such as the agency fee and the energy certificate.
• Half the gain: for residents, only 50% is added to other income and taxed at their income tax rate.
• Each heir declares their own share in Annex G of their income tax return for the year of the sale.

Deaths before 1989

Gains on property acquired before 1 January 1989 are not subject to income tax. As the acquisition date of an inheritance is the date of death, what matters is when the owner died, not when they bought the home. In a case decided by the Tax Authority, the home had been bought before 1989 but the owner died later, so the heirs’ sale was taxable.

Worked example

The figures are for illustration only and do not include the devaluation coefficient, which would reduce the gain. Three siblings inherit a home in equal shares. The VPT at the date of death was €100,000 and they sell for €300,000, with €10,000 of deductible expenses.

	Amount
Sale price	€300,000
Acquisition value (VPT at the date of death)	€100,000
Deductible expenses	€10,000
Total gain	€190,000
Each sibling’s share (1/3)	€63,333
Amount added to each sibling’s income (50%)	€31,667

Each sibling pays income tax on €31,667, at the rate resulting from all their income that year. Because the VPT is usually well below the market price, the gain on an inherited home can be large. Do the numbers before you put the home on the market.

Ways to exclude the gain from tax

• Reinvesting in a permanent home. This only applies if the inherited home was the permanent home of the heir selling it, with their tax address there in the previous 12 months. It is rare in an inheritance, but it happens, for example when a son or daughter lived with their parents.
• Reinvesting in homes let at moderate rents. Created by Decree-Law 97/2026, it applies to sales of homes, not only permanent homes, between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2029. The sale value, less any loan repaid, must be reinvested in housing in Portugal between 24 months before and 36 months after the sale. The home must be let as a residence within 6 months, at a rent of up to €2,300 a month, for at least 36 months in the first 5 years, and cannot be sold in that period.

Our guide to capital gains tax when selling property in Portugal explains these rules in detail, including the position of non-resident sellers.

How we help

When we work with you on selling an inherited home, we check the estate and property documents before marketing, coordinate with the notary so all heirs can sign, and handle the rights of first refusal and the energy certificate through to completion. Find out more about how we sell your home.

This guide is general information and does not replace legal or tax advice. Every estate has its own details: always check with a lawyer, the notary or a certified accountant before you sign.