Inheritance and Property in Brazil

What heirs have to do

Gather the family documents

You need the death certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificates of the children and any will. Foreign documents need an apostille and a sworn translation before a Brazilian notary or judge will use them.
Who: heirs. Time: start the week of the death if you can.
Get CPFs and powers of attorney

Each foreign heir needs a CPF and, if not traveling, a power of attorney for the Brazilian lawyer or a relative. The power must let them act in the inventory and, if planned, sell.
Who: each heir. Cost: low, but they take time from abroad.
Hire a Brazilian lawyer and open the inventory

A lawyer is required either way. Decide with them whether the inventory can go through a notary or must go to court. Open it inside the deadline, even if the foreign estate isn't finished.
Who: lawyer. Due: 2 months from death; state tax rules may be stricter.
Value the assets and declare ITCMD

The state's finance office sets or accepts a value for the home, usually through its own system. Each heir's share decides the rate. Challenge a value that looks wrong before you pay it.
Who: lawyer or accountant. Cost: up to 8% of each share.
Finish the deed or court order

A notary issues a partition deed, or a judge issues a formal de partilha, the formal order dividing the estate. Heirs can't register or sell until this exists.
Who: notary or court. Time: varies widely.
Register at the property registry

The document goes to the Registro de Imóveis, which records each heir's share on the matrícula. Only now can you sell or rent in your own name with a clean title.
Who: lawyer. Cost: state registry table.
Sell or keep, and move the money

If you sell, the tax on the gain and the rules for sending money abroad are the same as for any foreign seller. Keep the inventory's value, because it becomes your cost.
Who: heirs. See the selling guide.

Which court and which law

Start with the court, because that is the clear part. The Code of Civil Procedure gives Brazilian authorities alone the power to carry out the inventory and partition of assets in Brazil, even if the deceased was foreign or lived abroad (art. 23, II). A foreign judge's order dividing a Brazilian home can't be recognized in Brazil, because foreign decisions aren't homologated where Brazil has exclusive jurisdiction (art. 964). So a family with a home in Ipanema and an estate in Toronto runs two processes, one in each country.

The foreign process still matters. A foreign executor's letters or a foreign death certificate help prove facts. They just don't move title. Only a Brazilian deed or court document, registered at the Registro de Imóveis, does that.

Which law decides who inherits is less clear. The Law of Introduction to Brazilian Legal Rules (LINDB, Decree-Law 4.657/1942) points succession to the law of the deceased's country of domicile (art. 10). It also says that the law of the place where assets sit governs relations about them (art. 8). And actions about property located here belong to Brazilian courts alone (art. 12, § 1). Those articles don't fit neatly when a Canadian domiciled in Canada dies owning a home in Brazil. A Brazilian lawyer has to argue whether Canadian law decides the heirs or Brazilian forced-share rules apply, and courts may not treat every case the same.

One piece is firm. The succession of foreigners' assets in Brazil is governed by Brazilian law for the benefit of a Brazilian spouse or Brazilian children, unless the law of the deceased's domicile is more favorable to them (art. 10, § 1). And the heir's capacity to inherit follows the law of the heir's own domicile (art. 10, § 2).

Forced heirship

Where Brazilian law applies, you can't leave everything to whomever you like. Descendants, ascendants and the spouse are necessary heirs (Civil Code, art. 1.845). They are entitled by law to half the estate, called the legítima (art. 1.846), worked out after debts and funeral costs (art. 1.847). If you have necessary heirs, your will can dispose of only the other half (art. 1.789). A person may disinherit a necessary heir only on the grounds the code lists, such as physical offense or serious insult (arts. 1.814 and 1.961 to 1.963), and a will can't cut a child out.

Without a will, the order is set by article 1.829: descendants with the surviving spouse in some cases; then ascendants with the spouse; then the spouse alone; then relatives to the fourth degree (arts. 1.836 to 1.839). The spouse shares with the children unless married under full community of property or mandatory separation, or under partial community where the deceased left no separate assets. When the spouse does share, the portion equals each child's, and it can't fall below a quarter if the spouse is the parent of those heirs (art. 1.832).

That rule is easy to get wrong, because a spouse has two separate kinds of claim. The meação is the half of community property that was already the spouse's. It isn't inherited. The inheritance is what the deceased owned, and it's divided among heirs. Here is a typical case: an apartment worth R$ 2,000,000 bought during a marriage under partial community, with two children and no other assets.

R$ 2,000,000 apartment, partial community, two children, no separate assets
Person	Takes	Why
Spouse	R$ 1,000,000	Their half by the marriage regime
Child 1	R$ 500,000	Half of the inherited half
Child 2	R$ 500,000	Half of the inherited half

Couples who married abroad should ask which regime Brazil will recognize. The result may differ from what they assumed at home. Companions in a stable union have the same succession regime as spouses, following the Supreme Court in Tema 809 (2017), which struck down the older separate rule in article 1.790.

Changes may come. Bill PL 4/2025, the Civil Code reform, is before a special Senate committee, and amendments filed there debate whether the spouse stays a necessary heir. As of the committee's last entry in June 2026 it was unfinished. The rule that counts is the one in force on the date of death (art. 1.787), so don't plan on a bill.

Wills and foreign wills

A will can leave the free half to anyone. Brazil's ordinary forms are public, sealed and private (Civil Code, art. 1.862). A public will is written by a notary from your statements and read aloud before two witnesses (art. 1.864). A private one can be typed or written by you and needs to be read and signed before three witnesses (art. 1.876). A public will in São Paulo city costs R$ 2,461.46 on the 2026 notary table.

What about a will made abroad? It doesn't take effect by itself. Confirming a private will is on the list of matters reserved to Brazilian authorities (CPC, art. 23, II), and a judge must order any will to be registered and carried out (arts. 735 to 737). Your lawyer will ask for the original or a certified copy, with an apostille and sworn translation. Then come the questions about whether its form is acceptable and whether a clause breaks the forced share. A will that names one child as sole heir of a home in Brazil may face a challenge from the other child.

One option is a separate Brazilian will that covers only Brazilian assets. Raise that with lawyers in both countries, so that one will doesn't revoke the other by accident. A will has to be read with the marriage regime, because you can't bequeath the half that belongs to your spouse.

Trusts are new ground. Complementary Law 227/2026 now names them. Handing assets to a trustee is presumed not to be a taxable gift unless it is gratuitous (art. 150, V). ITCMD arises when ownership passes to the beneficiary or when the settlor dies, whichever comes first (art. 151, § 1). A home in Brazil held by a foreign trust needs its own legal advice. Don't assume that a structure that works at home also works here.

The inventory, by notary or by court

Ownership passes at the moment of death to the heirs named by law and by will (Civil Code, art. 1.784), but that's a legal idea. To sell or register, you need an inventário, the formal listing and division of the estate.

The CPC sets the timetable: open within 2 months of the death and finish within the 12 months after that, and the judge may extend either (art. 611). Where everyone is capable and agrees, a notary can handle it through a public deed; where there's a will or an incapable heir, the code sends it to court (art. 610). CNJ Resolution 35/2007, which governs notarial inventories, has changed over time on these limits, so ask the notary or lawyer what is allowed today. If all the heirs agree but must go to court, the simpler arrolamento route lets a judge approve a friendly partition without full appraisal (arts. 659 to 663).

A notary's route usually saves time, and foreign heirs can use it through a power of attorney if every heir signs. A lawyer must be there in either case. The power of attorney guide covers signing abroad.

A 2026 change matters here. CNJ Resolution 695/2026 amended article 15 of Resolution 35, so a notarial inventory deed no longer depends on proof of prior ITCMD payment. The notary records that the parties know the obligation and tells the tax office within five days, or the time set by state law. It isn't an exemption. Barbieri Advogados notes that São Paulo and Santa Catarina still ask for prior payment under their own state law, so the change may not help in those states.

Debts follow too. Unpaid IPTU and condominium dues stay on the home, and creditors can make claims against the estate. If the home is rented, a procurador's monthly tax duties don't stop while the inventory runs. Someone needs to be paying the bills in the meantime.

ITCMD and the 2026 progressive rule

ITCMD (imposto sobre transmissão causa mortis e doação) is the state tax on inheritance and gifts. Each heir pays on what that heir receives, and there are as many taxable events as there are heirs (Complementary Law 227/2026, arts. 148, § 2 and 157). The ceiling is 8%, set by Senate Resolution 9/1992. A proposal to raise it hasn't passed.

Constitutional Amendment 132/2023 made ITCMD progressive by the value of the share, the bequest or the gift. Complementary Law 227/2026, of 13 January 2026, sets national rules in articles 146 to 164:

Base. Market value on the date of death (art. 152), with the deceased's debts deductible (§ 1).
Rates. Progressive by each heir's share, up to the Senate's ceiling (art. 156). Each band applies only to the slice within it (§ 2). The rate is the one in force at death (§ 1), as Súmula 112 of the Supreme Court already held.
Company shares. Unlisted shares and quotas can't be valued below net equity at market value plus goodwill (art. 154, II). This takes aim at family holdings carrying a home at its old book value.
Pensions and insurance. Life insurance and pension benefits paid to named beneficiaries stay outside ITCMD (art. 150, III), in line with Supreme Court Tema 1.214 on VGBL and PGBL plans.

States are the catch. The national law doesn't contain a rate table, and each state writes its own. A state's increase can apply only from the year after its law is published, and at least 90 days later, so a law from 2026 applies from 1 January 2027 at the earliest. By October 2026 no single-rate state had passed a progressive table. São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Paraná, among others, still charge one rate, and bills in São Paulo and Minas Gerais haven't passed.

That leaves a live argument. Article 156, § 2 is in force since 14 January 2026, and it requires applying bands slice by slice. Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Alagoas and Rio Grande do Sul have laws that apply the band's rate to the whole share. Barbieri Advogados calls this a period of adaptation and debate over which rule prevails. itcmd.com.br warns that a state's tax office may still charge under its own law. A separate, untested theory holds that single-rate state laws have lost force altogether. In a large estate these gaps are worth real money, as the next chapter shows.

ITCMD by state

These are the rates on inheritance in the states that hold Brazil Keys markets, as Sijur reported them in October 2026 after checking each state's law, with the laws named. An independent table from itcmd.com.br matches them. A July 2026 table from another firm, NR Advocacia, shows different figures for Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Santa Catarina, the Federal District and Rio Grande do Sul. So check the state's finance office before you rely on any number.

ITCMD on inheritance, by state, October 2026
State	Rate	How applied under state law	Law
São Paulo	4%	Single rate	Law 10.705/2000, art. 16
Rio de Janeiro	4% to 8%	Band's rate on the whole share	Law 7.174/2015, art. 26
Santa Catarina	1% to 7%	By bands	Law 13.136/2004, art. 9
Bahia	4% to 8%; exempt to R$ 100,000	Band's rate on the whole share	Law 4.826/1989, art. 9, as amended by Law 14.802/2024
Federal District	4% to 6%	By bands	Law 3.804/2006, art. 9
Minas Gerais	5%	Single rate	Law 14.941/2003, art. 10
Paraná	4%	Single rate	Law 18.573/2015, art. 22
Rio Grande do Sul	3% to 6%; exempt to 2,000 UPF-RS	Band's rate on the whole share	Law 8.821/1989, arts. 18 and 19
Pernambuco	2% to 8%; exempt to R$ 80,000	By bands	Law 13.974/2009, as amended by Complementary Law 563/2025
Ceará	2% to 8%	By bands	Law 15.812/2015, arts. 16 and 17
Rio Grande do Norte	3% to 6%	By bands	Law 5.887/1989, art. 7
Alagoas	4% to 8%	Band's rate on the whole share	Law 5.077/1989, art. 168, as amended by Law 9.440/2024

What does a R$ 500,000 share pay? Here are five states, with Rio and Bahia shown both ways.

Tax on one heir's R$ 500,000 share in a home
State	Under state law as written	Slice by slice, LC 227/2026, art. 156
São Paulo	R$ 20,000	A single rate has no bands
Rio de Janeiro	R$ 25,000	R$ 20,784
Bahia	R$ 40,000	R$ 26,000
Santa Catarina	R$ 30,600	R$ 30,600
Ceará	About R$ 27,655, if the exempt amount comes off first	Same

Sefaz-BA's manual shows a R$ 105,000 share paying R$ 4,200, 4% on the whole amount, which is why that state's first column uses the old method. Rio's bands run up to R$ 1,984,160 for 2026, using its UFIR of R$ 4.9604. Ceará's finance office publishes no worked example with the exemption, so that figure could be off by about R$ 2,645 per heir, as itcmd.com.br warns.

Some reliefs are narrow. São Paulo exempts a residence up to 5,000 UFESP, about R$ 192,100, for a family that lives there and owns nothing else. Santa Catarina has a similar one up to R$ 200,000. Those conditions rarely fit a foreign heir.

When the deceased or the heirs live abroad

For a home in Brazil, the answer has never been in much doubt. It's taxed by the state where it stands, even if the deceased lived abroad (Complementary Law 227/2026, art. 158). The doubt was about everything else.

The Constitution left it to a complementary law to say how states tax a death or gift with a foreign element. None existed. In 2021 the Supreme Court held in Tema 825, RE 851.108, that states couldn't tax those cases without it. Many readers will still find old advice based on that ruling.

Complementary Law 227/2026 fills the gap, with effect once each state legislates:

Which state taxes what under arts. 158 and 159
Asset	Deceased domiciled	Taxing state
Home in Brazil	Anywhere	Where the home sits
Home abroad	In Brazil	Deceased's state
Home abroad	Abroad	Heir's state
Bank account or shares	Abroad, heir in Brazil	Heir's state
Bank account or shares	Abroad, heir abroad	State where the asset is

This reaches further than a foreign owner might guess. A foreign resident who inherits a Brazilian bank account will fall under a state rule. A Brazilian resident who inherits from a parent abroad may owe ITCMD on assets abroad once the state's law is ready, even with nothing in Brazil. The same articles apply to gifts: if a parent abroad funds a child's purchase, the child's state may tax it.

The rules don't stop a double hit. Your home country may have its own inheritance tax, and Brazil's treaties are mostly about income tax, not inheritance. Ask an adviser in both places.

What foreign heirs have to do

Foreign heirs inherit on equal terms. Nothing in Brazilian law bars them for being foreign or living abroad. What they face is paperwork: a CPF, an apostille on foreign documents and a sworn translation, plus a representative in Brazil if they stay away. Every heir has to sign a notarial partition, so one heir who won't sign or can't be found pushes the inventory to court.

Rural land brings a special rule. Law 5.709/1971 limits foreigners buying rural land, but its limits don't apply to legal succession (art. 1, § 2, I), except in national security areas under article 7. Read that wording carefully: it says sucessão legítima, the succession set by law. A bequest in a will to a foreigner who isn't a legal heir may get a different answer. If the estate includes a farm or a large plot, see foreigners buying rural land before you draft a will.

Federal coastal land adds its own step. Passing a home by inheritance on terreno de marinha means updating the federal SPU register too. Possession-only homes in places like Trancoso or Jericoacoara are harder: there's no matrícula to update, and what the heir gets is a transfer of possession rights, which can make a later sale difficult.

Income tax is more forgiving. What you inherit isn't income (Law 7.713/1988, art. 6, XVI). The estate can carry the home at the value on the deceased's tax return or at market value. If market value is used, the excess over the declared value is subject to capital gains tax at the rates in force (Law 9.532/1997, art. 23), and the heir's cost becomes the transferred value (§ 4). A foreign deceased usually filed no Brazilian return, so ask an accountant how to treat this. The number you agree on here becomes your cost when you sell, so a low value now can mean more tax later, and a high value means more ITCMD now.

Check the original purchase date too. The old reduction table in article 18 of Law 7.713/1988 can matter for a family home bought before 1989, though as a non-resident heir you face the Receita's bar on residents' reliefs.

Deadlines and fines

Missing the opening date costs money. The rules are state by state.

Timing rules
Rule	What it says	Source
Open the inventory	2 months from death	CPC, art. 611
Finish it	12 months after opening, and a judge can extend	CPC, art. 611
São Paulo fine for late opening	10% of the tax past 60 days; 20% past 180 days	Law 10.705/2000, art. 21
São Paulo discount	5% if paid within 90 days of death	Decree 46.655/2002, art. 31, § 1
Santa Catarina fine	20% for not opening on time	Reported by Barbieri Advogados
Rio Grande do Sul	No fine for late opening	Reported by Barbieri Advogados

On the R$ 20,000 São Paulo tax above, that means a R$ 2,000 fine after 60 days and R$ 4,000 after 180, against a R$ 1,000 discount for paying fast. For a foreign family, 60 days is very short: an apostilled death certificate and a CPF can take most of it. Have a Brazilian lawyer open the inventory first with what exists, then complete the file.

A worked example in Rio de Janeiro

A widowed Canadian domiciled in Toronto dies in 2026 owning an apartment in Leblon at a market value of R$ 2,000,000. Two adult children, both in Canada, are the only heirs. There is no Brazilian will. Assume Brazilian rules apply and the state of Rio accepts the value.

ITD (Rio's name for ITCMD) on two shares of R$ 1,000,000
Method	Each heir	Both heirs	US$ at R$ 5.42
Rio's law: 6% on the whole share	R$ 60,000	R$ 120,000	US$ 22,140
Slice by slice under art. 156, § 2	R$ 45,863	R$ 91,726	US$ 16,924

The two readings are R$ 28,274 apart. Rio's finance office may charge the first figure, so your lawyer has to decide whether to pay and contest. itcmd.com.br also warns that it issues one payment guide per asset at one rate and may set the band by the total passed on, which would cost more with several heirs than either line here. Add the lawyer, notary or court costs and the registry fee, and a possible fine for lateness under the state's rules. If the same estate had been a single heir with R$ 2,000,000, the share would land in the 8% band, so the number of heirs moves the bill. In São Paulo, where the rate is a single 4%, the same two shares would cost R$ 80,000 in all.

If they then sell, each heir sells as a non-resident: 15% on the gain over their cost, with no reliefs. The money goes home through the bank with the same proof as any seller. Once title is in the heirs' names, they can list it free on Brazil Keys. Selling before that means selling rights in an unfinished inventory, which many buyers avoid.

Questions to ask while you are alive

Most of these costs can be reduced with some care ahead of time, though nobody can give you one answer for every family. If you own in Brazil, ask a lawyer:

Where am I domiciled, for Brazilian purposes? Could that change which law applies?
Do I need a Brazilian will for Brazilian assets? How does it fit with my will at home?
Would my forced heirs under Brazilian law match my plans?
Which state's law applies to each home, and what is its rate going to be after 2027?
What would each heir need to sign, and who could hold a power of attorney?
Is the title clean? A title problem or a home held by possession is much harder for heirs to fix after you're gone.
Would a lifetime gift with a reserved usufruct make sense? Gifts can be taxed at once, and states may add up successive gifts to the same person (Complementary Law 227/2026, art. 155).
Would a company help or hurt, now that shares are valued at market, profits sent abroad bear 10%, and the company has CBS and IBS duties from 2027?

Keep one file with the deed, the bank trail, the IPTU details and the name of your Brazilian lawyer, and tell your family where it is. Foreign heirs often don't know the home's registry office or even its full address. Buyers looking in the listings for a family home should have this conversation in the same month as the purchase.

Questions

Can a foreigner inherit property in Brazil?

Yes. Being foreign or living abroad doesn't bar an heir. You need a CPF, translated and apostilled documents and a representative if you stay away. Rural land has an exception for legal succession in Law 5.709/1971, art. 1, § 2, I.

Does my will from home apply to my Brazilian apartment?

It has to go through a Brazilian judge first (CPC, arts. 23 and 735 to 737), and forced-heir rules may limit it. Some owners make a separate Brazilian will for Brazilian assets, drafted so that it doesn't cancel the other one.

Can a foreign court decide who gets my home in Brazil?

No. Only Brazilian authorities can carry out the inventory of assets in Brazil (CPC, art. 23, II), and a foreign decision on that isn't homologated (art. 964).

How much is inheritance tax in Brazil?

Up to 8%, set by each state on each heir's share. In October 2026 São Paulo charged 4%, Minas Gerais 5%, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia 4% to 8%. Complementary Law 227/2026 requires progressive rates, but state laws change only from 2027 at the earliest.

Which state taxes the home if I live abroad?

The state where the home sits, under Complementary Law 227/2026, art. 158. Movable assets in Brazil go to the heir's state or, if the heir also lives abroad, to the state where they are (art. 159).

How long do we have to open the inventory?

Two months from death under CPC, art. 611. State tax rules can add fines: São Paulo charges 10% of the tax after 60 days and 20% after 180.

Can we use a notary instead of going to court?

Article 610 of the CPC allows it where all heirs are capable and agree and there is no will. CNJ rules on notarial inventories have changed since, so ask whether a will or a minor still sends you to court. A lawyer is required either way.

Do heirs pay income tax on what they inherit?

No, under Law 7.713/1988, art. 6, XVI. The estate may owe capital gains tax if the home is carried at market value above the declared value, and the heir's cost affects tax on any later sale.

Sources

Written by Lucas Andrade. Updated November 2026. General information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Ask a Brazilian lawyer about your own case.