The Tax and Customs Authority (AT) released an explanation on Wednesday via Facebook regarding the process of reporting a death notice.
Essentially, “it is the responsibility of the estate administrator (the person managing the estate until the distribution) to submit the stamp duty declaration by the end of the third month following the death, when the deceased owned assets located in national territory.”
The Tax Authority clarifies that the “stamp duty declaration (Model 1 ISTG) can be submitted on the Finance Portal through the options: Citizens > Services > Model 1 ISTG > Submit Participation ISTG.”
AT notes that the “death notice submission can only be done after requesting the Undivided Estate Tax Identification Number”.
Who is the estate administrator?
According to the public services portal gov.pt, “the estate administrator is the person responsible for handling all matters related to the inheritance until it is distributed.”
The estate administrator should be, in this order:
- The widow or widower, if they are an heir or have the right to half of the couple’s assets (share).
- If there is no widow or widower in these conditions, it is the executor, or the person charged by the deceased to ensure the will is fulfilled.
- If there is also no executor, it is the legal heir who is the closest relative, usually a child.
- If there are also no legal heirs, it is a testamentary heir, i.e., a person to whom assets were bequeathed in a will.
“If there is more than one legal heir with the same degree of kinship, the estate administrator is the relative who cohabited for at least one year with the deceased. If there is more than one person in this situation, it is the oldest person. If there is more than one testamentary heir, these same rules apply to determine who is the estate administrator,” as stated on the same site.
However, “the heirs can choose another person as the estate administrator, provided they all agree.”
It should also be noted that the “death of the person must be communicated to the Tax and Customs Authority, only if that person left assets to be transmitted.”
“On the transfer of these assets, a Stamp Duty is applied. When communicating the death, the necessary documents must be provided for the Stamp Duty declaration,” as stated on the public services portal.
Additionally, the “communication of the death and the Stamp Duty declaration must be made at any Finance office or service counter by the end of the third month following the month in which the death occurred.”
For example: if the person died in March (regardless of the day), the death must be communicated by June 30.
Herança indivisa refers to the set of assets, rights, or legal relationships left by a deceased person that have not yet been distributed among the heirs. Learn how it works in terms of IRS.
Notícias ao Minuto | 10:17 – 11/08/2025
