Notarial Acts at distance: How to acquire a property in Portugal?

Portugal is known, even among the Portuguese, as a very bureaucratic and paper-era country. In fact, at the moment, the Notarial acts such as the deed of purchase and sale of a property, a donation or even a probate, a divorce or the legalization of a signature requires a meeting with the competent entity, where the parties or their representatives have to attend to. Given that Portugal is increasingly more and more international, with people from all over the world having connections to Portugal, sometimes is very difficult to arrange for this required meeting and (simple) matters get pending for a long period of time.

Besides these pre-existing inconvenient, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the public services getting closed, and specially with all the travel restrictions around the world, these acts and transactions such acquiring a property could be difficult without a representative previously, duly and validly appointed.

In order to overcome these difficulties, to get modernized in line with other jurisdictions and facilitating the Notarial acts and allowing the citizens to get their matters settled quicker and easier, the Portuguese Ministry Council approved, on the 22^nd July the law decree which establishes the legal regime of the Notarial Acts Remotely.

Not having received the final approval from the Portuguese President yet, it is expected to be publicized and enter into force on 15^th November, date from which it will be (finally) possible to enter into several notarial acts at distance. The Portuguese Bar Association already published their favorable opinion regarding this new regime.

According to the information made available so far, with this newly legal regime, it will be possible to undertake, by way of a videoconference, the following acts:

By the Registrars, the “Casa Pronta” service, where it is possible to conclude a property acquisition, with the possibility of a loan and mortgage; donations; constitution of horizontal property; division of common assets; divorce by mutual agreement; probate with the possibility of registration of the assets in the name of the identified heirs.

As for the acts of the Notaries, Consulates, Lawyers and Solicitors’ competency, the deeds or private documents of purchase and sale; of right of use (usufruto); use and habitation; of surface right; loan with mortgage; donation; horizontal property constitution; division of common assets; promissory contracts of purchase and sale with enforceable effects and recognition of signatures will be possible to conclude at distance too.

To ensure that the authenticity and the freewill of the grantor is observed, his physical presence for acts such as a Will, still be required.

Filipa Portela

Lawyer