The scenario is more common than it should be. A foreign owner dies holding a house in Costa Rica. The family has a perfectly valid will at home naming exactly who gets what. And then they discover that the will, by itself, does almost nothing.
Quick answer: Costa Rican law governs assets located in Costa Rica regardless of the nationality of the deceased or the heirs. Ownership of registered property transfers only through a formal succession proceeding — the sucesorio — before a notary and, where a court is involved, under judicial supervision. Heirs cannot transfer title informally, even in complete agreement.
What the sucesorio actually involves
Two paths. The judicial route runs through the courts and commonly takes one to four years depending on complexity, disputes and how clean the documentation is. The notarial route is substantially faster and is available where all heirs are of legal age and agree on the distribution — which is a powerful argument for removing ambiguity while you are alive.
Throughout that period the property is in limbo. It cannot be sold or transferred. Taxes, corporation fees and maintenance still accrue, and someone has to pay them from outside the estate.
Your foreign will is not useless — it is just slow
A will executed abroad is recognised, but it must be apostilled, translated into Spanish by a certified translator, and formally recognised within the Costa Rican proceeding. Each of those steps costs time and money, and each is a place where an error restarts a clock. A Costa Rican will covering Costa Rican assets eliminates the apostille and translation layer, narrows court scrutiny, and gives unambiguous direction.
Forced heirship changes the answer
Costa Rica recognises compulsory heirs. Children, parents and spouses hold entitlements that a will cannot simply override. Where there is no will at all, statutory rules apply in a fixed order — spouse and children first, then parents, siblings, extended relatives, and ultimately the State where no heirs exist. A surviving spouse and children generally divide the estate, with the spouse taking a share as co-heir.
For second marriages, blended families and unmarried partners, this is where home-country assumptions cause the most harm. An unmarried partner with no recognised status can find themselves with no claim to a home they helped buy.
The one piece of good news
Costa Rica imposes no inheritance tax. Costs are procedural — notarial fees, attorney fees, and transfer taxes on specific property transfers — rather than a percentage levy on the estate. The problem is process and time, not confiscation.
What to actually do
- Execute a Costa Rican will covering Costa Rican assets, drafted so it does not conflict with or accidentally revoke your home-country will.
- Check the revocation clauses in both. A standard clause revoking all prior wills can void the other one. This is a frequent and costly drafting error.
- Decide title structure deliberately. Personal ownership and corporate ownership transfer differently on death. Neither is automatically better.
- Leave your heirs a findable inventory — property, corporation details, attorney contacts, tax status. Heirs abroad cannot claim what they cannot locate.
- Keep corporation filings and property taxes current. Arrears complicate and lengthen succession.
A timeline of what your family would actually face
Abstract descriptions of probate do not convey the experience, so here is the shape of it for a family with no local will.
In the first weeks, the death certificate must be apostilled and translated. The family must locate a Costa Rican attorney, frequently from abroad, frequently without a recommendation, frequently while grieving. Then the foreign will must be apostilled, translated by a certified translator, and submitted for recognition within a Costa Rican proceeding.
Then the proceeding itself. Heirs must be identified and formally notified, which is straightforward for a simple family and considerably less so for a blended one. Assets must be inventoried and valued. Any disputes — including from compulsory heirs who may not have been contemplated in the foreign will — surface here. Judicial succession commonly runs one to four years.
Throughout, the property cannot be sold or transferred while taxes, corporation fees, insurance and maintenance continue to accrue. Someone must fund that from outside the estate.
The scenarios where this goes badly wrong
Three situations account for most of the genuinely difficult cases.
The unmarried partner. Costa Rican succession recognises spouses, children and parents as compulsory heirs. A long-term partner without recognised legal status may have no claim at all to a home they helped buy and lived in for twenty years. This is the outcome that causes the most distress and is entirely preventable.
The blended family. Children from a first marriage and a second spouse have entitlements that may conflict, and forced heirship constrains how freely a will can resolve that. Assumptions imported from home-country practice frequently do not hold.
The lapsed corporation. Property held through a Costa Rican company whose filings and fees were neglected adds an administrative recovery exercise on top of the succession, at the worst possible moment.
Doing it properly costs very little
Set against one to four years of proceedings, the preventive work is modest: a Costa Rican will drafted so it does not conflict with or revoke your home-country will, a deliberate decision about ownership structure, current corporation filings and property taxes, and an asset inventory updated annually and left somewhere your family can reach.
That is an afternoon with an attorney and an hour a year thereafter. It is among the highest-return uses of legal spending available to a foreign property owner, and the reason it gets deferred is simply that nothing forces it.
Frequently asked
Does Costa Rica charge inheritance tax?
No. The costs are procedural rather than a tax on estate value.
How long does it take without a local will?
Judicial succession commonly runs one to four years. With a clear local will and agreeing adult heirs, the notarial route is markedly faster.
Can I leave everything to one child?
Not freely. Compulsory heir rules constrain distribution. Structuring options exist and should be designed with a Costa Rican attorney rather than assumed from home-country practice.
Does holding property in a corporation avoid succession?
It changes what passes — shares rather than real property — but the shares themselves still form part of your estate and are still subject to succession. It is a different process, not an exemption.
Can I name a guardian for minor children in a Costa Rican will?
Guardianship provisions interact with both jurisdictions and are worth addressing explicitly with attorneys in each rather than assuming a home-country appointment will be given effect locally.
What if I own property jointly with my spouse?
How jointly held property passes depends on how title is registered, and Costa Rican treatment may differ from the survivorship assumptions common in US and Canadian practice. Have the registration reviewed rather than assumed.
How often should the will be reviewed?
After any marriage, divorce, birth, death, or significant change in what you own — and otherwise every few years. An outdated will can create more difficulty than a straightforward intestacy.
Where to go from here
If any of this is landing close to home, the useful next step is not a brochure — it is a conversation about your actual numbers, your timeline and your family situation. Our team at Golden Visa Costa Rica walks through residency routes, property options and the practical sequencing with people in exactly this position every week. Book a private consultation and we will tell you honestly whether Costa Rica fits — or whether it does not.
This article is for general information only and is not legal, immigration, tax or investment advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ; consult a qualified Costa Rican attorney and your own tax adviser before acting.