It is the most powerful — and least known — protection in Portugal's new undivided-inheritance law: even if the procedure reaches a public auction, a co-heir can keep the property by paying the final price, and the third-party bidder walks away empty-handed. This is the right of "remição".
How it works
When the electronic auction closes, a co-heir wishing to exercise the buy-back declares it within the legal window — very short, on the order of days (exact figures to be set by the implementing decrees) — and pays the final price. The auction "winner" loses the property: the law makes family prevail.
What it means in practice
- If you want to keep the family house: this is the ultimate safety net — but it demands immediate liquidity and a reaction measured in days;
- If you dreamed of snapping up inheritance houses cheaply at auction: your winning bid can evaporate at the last moment;
- For the family as a whole: the existence of remição pushes everyone toward a market-price agreement during the 6-month amicable window.
Remição vs right of first refusal
Do not confuse them: the right of first refusal (which already exists) applies when an heir sells their share to a third party; remição applies at the end of the new procedure's auction. Two family protections, at two different moments.
Prepare before the window opens
Remição only helps those who learn of the auction in time and have financing ready. If your plan is to keep the house: set up monitoring of the official publications now and line up the funds. When the window opens, there will be no time to start from zero.