‘When a single heir with a 1% share prevents a house in the centre of Oeiras from becoming a family home. Government promises to resolve undivided estates’ (with José Carlos Soares Machado)

“Speaking to Observador, José Carlos Soares Machado, a Partner at SRS Legal, emphasises that the issue of undivided estates is a problem that ‘runs throughout the country’. With extensive professional experience in such cases, the lawyer states that ‘when we walk through the city and see a building in ruins, or close to it, a large percentage of these cases are linked to a problem of undivided estates’.”

Soares Machado says that, in his opinion, the problem does not lie in the legislation, although this can always be improved, but rather in the courts’ lack of efficiency. “In an undivided inheritance, everyone is an owner and no one is an owner,” states the lawyer, arguing that there is always a ‘head of the household’, that is, an heir with special powers to administer the property. This raises two problems: it does not negate the fact that agreement from everyone is always required and, on the other hand, the ‘head of the household’ is an interested party, not an independent figure.

To this end, the lawyer from SRS Legal believes that the focus should be on something that “already exists in Portuguese law, namely the concept of out-of-court proceedings, which provide for mediation: someone with specific training who, using the techniques available for this purpose, can help people reach an understanding” without the case having to go to court.

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José Carlos Soares Machado, of SRS Legal, agrees that attempting to resolve the problem through increased IMI is “utter nonsense”, because it takes even more resources from those who lack the means to restore the houses. There is always the alternative, in such cases, of selling the property as it stands, but if there is an heir who objects, the deadlock remains. And so, the houses remain vacant and renovation does not proceed, “not least because banks do not grant loans for undivided estates”, the lawyer points out.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)