Portugal just unlocked the sale of inherited homes stuck in family disputes
Portugal's parliament gave final approval to a law letting a single heir trigger the sale of properties trapped in undivided inheritances. The family home stays protected unless the widow or widower consents.
Thousands of homes across Portugal have sat frozen for years because heirs cannot agree on what to do with them. That is about to change: parliament gave final approval to a government bill creating a special — and urgent — court process to sell properties trapped in undivided inheritances, even without unanimous agreement among the heirs.
What changes for inherited properties in Portugal?
From now on, a single heir will be enough to trigger the sale, through a fast-track judicial mechanism. The law also authorises the government to amend the Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code, with 180 days to write the detailed rules once it takes effect, and creates a new figure — an executor with partition powers, a third party who concentrates the administration, liquidation and division of the estate instead of leaving every decision hostage to impossible family consensus. The approved text is available on the Portuguese parliament’s website.
Can the family home be sold too?
No — that is the law’s main safeguard. The family’s primary residence is excluded from the special sale process unless the surviving spouse expressly consents, and the protection extends to non-married partners. In the chamber, the bill passed with PSD, CDS-PP, PS, IL and JPP in favour, abstentions from Chega and PAN, and PCP, BE and Livre voting against.
For the market, the potential is real: unlocking dormant property is one of the cheapest ways to add homes for sale in a country where prices keep climbing far faster than rents. If gridlocked inheritances start reaching the market in 2027, that is new supply without laying a single brick.
Image: Henning Supertramp from Germany / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
