Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 7:17pm
Hi Shona,
I signed my Portuguese will at the notary last week.
The answer to your question depends on how well you and your executor speak Portuguese and can cope with the mountain of Portuguese paperwork that will need sorting out.
I opted for my solicitor (from house purchase and residency work) to be my executor as neither of my sons speak Portuguese.
The will needs to be written in Portuguese and the notary will read through it ( a paragraph at a time in English ) with you, to make sure it is correct and you understand any quirks of the system.
I gave my solicitor a basic overview of what I wanted to do and give - they checked a few things and then wrote it in Portuguese ready for the notary.
The notary made a few small changes during the meeting - so it was correct in her eyes. { there are strict rules here about cutting people out or trying to give it all to the cats home }
It costs about 180 Euro for the notary ( depending on complexity and time needed to explain it ). Mine was simple and cost 173.22 ! [ take change if paying in cash!! ]
I hope this helps.
Ian
PS
Talk to your (a) solicitor here.
Do you want this to be your only will? covered by British or Portuguese laws??
For me it was simple, I left the UK 23 years ago, have been living in the Netherlands since then and have no plans to go back to the UK, but retire to Portugal and be a permanent resident here and maybe a citizen here as well.