Undivided inheritances now play a central role in estate management in Portugal, while simultaneously serving as a source of deadlock and conflict among heirs.<\/p>\n
In March 2026, the Government approved, in general terms, a set of measures aimed at reforming the system of undivided inheritances, with a significant impact on their administration, division, and conflict resolution. The objective is to resolve succession impasses, that is, to unlock vacant properties that remain off the market for decades, especially in urban centers and rural areas, according to the statement from the Council of Ministers.<\/p>\n
In this context, the Special Process for the Sale of Undivided Real Estate is created, which allows that, after two years have passed since the opening of the succession, if there is no agreement between the heirs, any of them may initiate the sale of real estate at market value, even without consensus among all the heirs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An undivided inheritance corresponds to the period between the death of the testator and the division of assets. During this period, the heirs hold an ideal share (hereditary portion), with no exclusive ownership of specific assets. The head of the estate exercises powers of mere administration, has a duty to render accounts, and represents the estate before third parties. Acts of disposition generally require the consent of the heirs.<\/p>\n
In practice, the system often leads to asset freezes, difficulties in selling assets, and increased litigation.<\/p>\n
The Government approved a decree with three main pillars:<\/p>\n
Further protection is expected for the family home and vulnerable heirs.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of this proposal, the sale price will be set based on an expert appraisal, and the sale will generally be carried out through an electronic auction. It also stipulates the mandatory express agreement for maintaining joint ownership, as well as the granting of the right of redemption to the heirs, that is, the right to acquire the property for the price at which it was sold.<\/p>\n
The decree also reinforces the powers of the head of the household, provides for the possibility of the testator defining the assets that constitute the legitimate portion (that is, the portion of assets that the testator cannot dispose of, as it is legally destined for the forced heirs), thus strengthening estate planning, and creates the figure of the executor with powers of partition. Additionally, succession arbitration is introduced as a swift means of resolving disputes, with recourse to the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n
The government's proposed law to end undivided inheritances gives more power to those who leave their wills specifying how they want their assets to be distributed.<\/p>\n
Please note that this is not yet law and has not been published in the Official Gazette. We can say at this point that the structural outlines are already defined, but technical details are still lacking.<\/p>\n
Beyond Legal advises national and international clients on the management of undivided inheritances, sharing processes and estate planning.<\/p>\n
This note is for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a lawyer for analysis of the specific case.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As heran\u00e7as indivisas assumem hoje um papel central na gest\u00e3o patrimonial em Portugal, sendo simultaneamente fonte de bloqueio e de conflito entre herdeiros. Em mar\u00e7o de 2026, o Governo aprovou, na generalidade, um conjunto de medidas destinadas a reformar o regime das heran\u00e7as indivisas, com impacto relevante na sua administra\u00e7\u00e3o, partilha e resolu\u00e7\u00e3o de conflitos. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sem-categoria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3015"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3020,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015\/revisions\/3020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondlegal.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}