Selling the family house in Portugal without leaving the US, the UK or Canada is entirely doable — provided you work through four blocks in the right order: formalise the inheritance, assemble the property documents, get the co-heirs aligned, and handle taxes on both sides.
1. Formalise the inheritance in Portugal
Before any sale you need the habilitação de herdeiros (the Portuguese deed establishing who the heirs are), the estate's filing with the Portuguese tax office, and registration of the property in the heirs' names. Without these, no Portuguese notary will complete a sale. Your local attorney cannot substitute for this — it happens in Portugal, though it can be done remotely by power of attorney.
2. Aligning the co-heirs
While the estate is undivided, selling requires unanimity. One unresponsive cousin blocks everything — which is precisely the deadlock the 2026 law will break. Meanwhile, your options are selling your share (quinhão), negotiating a division, or preparing for the law's amicable window.
3. The essential documents
- Land registry certificate (certidão permanente);
- Tax record of the property (caderneta predial);
- Use licence (or proof of pre-1951 construction);
- Energy certificate;
- Heirs' deed and a Portuguese tax number (NIF) for every heir.
4. Taxes on both sides
Portugal levies no inheritance tax on close family (spouse, children, parents), but the resale can trigger Portuguese capital gains tax, generally computed against the property's official value at the date of death. US persons must also consider IRS reporting (foreign inheritance, capital gains, possibly FBAR if proceeds sit in a Portuguese account); UK residents have their own rules. Tax treaties prevent double taxation, not double paperwork.
Doing everything remotely
A power of attorney signed at a Portuguese consulate (Newark, Boston, San Francisco, London, Toronto…) or notarised locally with an apostille lets a Portuguese lawyer handle everything on site. HERDA coordinates the entire chain — a 72-hour situation report, missing documents, independent partner lawyers — and once the new law's amicable window opens, a market-price sale beats a courthouse auction every time.