INHERITAGE OR ESTATE IN COLOMBIA
Esteban Rada
Colombian attorney
email: info@lawyerscolombia.com
Tel 57-604-2682435
- Mutual agreement estate or non-contested inheritage in Colombia
For this procedure all beneficiaries must be in agreement regarding the procedure and the portion they will receive from the deceased.
The process of estate or inheritage by mutual agreement can be done in a notary or in a court but always using a Colombian lawyer.
Some basic documents that you need to provide to your lawyer are the following
- Birth certificate with apostilled
- Copy of passport
- Deed ( escritura) and record of property.
- Copy of last receipt of property tax paid.
- Death certificate
- Marriage certificate if applies
- Copy of ID of deceased.
- Power of attorney signed and notarized.
- Copy of last Colombian tax return.
Depending on the assets, additional documents may be asked by your lawyer.
Regarding the fee, notary, taxes and registration are calculated based on the sum of the value of all the assets of the estate. This situation also applies for lawyer fee who calculates his fee according to the bar of lawyer´s fee book.
The inheritage should not have any debt regarding taxes and if possible pay mortgages, administration fees or personal debts before the estate in order to make it simpler. The estate will refund you the payments done as long receipts are provided.
The process of estate or inheritage in Colombia takes around 4 months if all is approved.
This process of estate or inheritage is only for mutual agreement, if one beneficiary says NO, the process can’t be done.
- No agreement for the estate or inheritage in Colombia
In that case, any beneficiary or creditor can file a petition to open the estate to the family court.
The judge will call other beneficiaries and would assign an expert witness to provide an appraisal of the assets.
Once appraisal has been approved, judge would appoint another officer of the court called the distributor who would assign as he considers the estate between the beneficiaries.
Of course, each step is reviewed by your lawyer and judge and it can be appeal, therefore the non-contested inheritage or estate in Colombia can take years
Each beneficiary must pay his own lawyer and in addition would be courts fees and estate fees.
In some case, there is the need to put a lie on the apartment´s record, which implies another fee.
An average time is not less than 1 year but under the pandemic situation, the cases are taking longer.
Regarding fees, we can be expecting a minimum of 2 times the value of the notary fee procedure but it can be HIGHER depending the complexity and if there are appeals.
For more information, please contact me to
Esteban Rada
Colombian attorney
email: info@lawyerscolombia.com
Tel 57-604-2682435
