Buying Property in Brazil as a Couple: Your Marriage and Its Asset Regime Come First

Most foreign couples arrive with one question: whose name should go on the deed? It is the wrong question, and answering it first is how people get hurt. In Brazil, who owns the property is decided by your marriage and its asset regime — not by the name typed into the escritura.

If you were married abroad, a Brazilian registry will not record your purchase until it can see what your property regime is — and that is true whether or not either of you is Brazilian. If one of you is Brazilian, there is a step before even that: your marriage has to exist on the Brazilian record at all.

Neither is a formality, and neither is something you fix at the closing table. What the right structure is for you is not something a web page can tell you; it depends on facts we go through together.

Reviewed by Luciano Oliveira — Brazil–US attorney, LL.M., licensed in Brazil, Texas, and California · Last reviewed: July 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Marital-property rules and registry practice vary and change; your transaction should be reviewed by a licensed Brazilian attorney.

“Whose name goes on the deed” is the wrong question

Absent a prenup, Brazilian law imposes comunhão parcial (Civil Code art. 1.640): property acquired for value during the marriage is jointly owned 50/50, even if only one spouse is named on the escritura (art. 1.658). Property owned before the marriage, and gifts or inheritances, stay individual.

Civil status is a mandatory element of the public deed and of the property’s matrícula (Lei 6.015/1973, art. 176 §1º(4)(a)). It is not optional and it is not cosmetic. A married person can take title alone only under separação convencional (art. 1.687) — the one regime where the spouse’s consent is not required — and even then is qualified on the deed as “casado,” never “solteiro.” Under community regimes the property is common (meação) and the spouse must consent to any sale or mortgage (art. 1.647). And separação obrigatória is not a shortcut: whether assets acquired during such a marriage are shared is a question of interpretation applied to your facts, not a rule you can read off a page.

The jeitinho, and why it follows you

Here is what foreign couples are actually told. A realtor — and, unfortunately, sometimes a lawyer — will wave the problem away. Put it in one name. Say you are single. Nobody checks. We will sort it out later. It is offered casually, almost as a courtesy: the jeitinho brasileiro, the small workaround that makes an inconvenient rule disappear.

What is being proposed is a crime. Declaring a false civil status in a public deed is falsidade ideológica under Article 299 of the Brazilian Penal Code:

“Art. 299 – Omitir, em documento público ou particular, declaração que dele devia constar, ou nele inserir ou fazer inserir declaração falsa ou diversa da que devia ser escrita, com o fim de prejudicar direito, criar obrigação ou alterar a verdade sobre fato juridicamente relevante:

Pena – reclusão, de um a cinco anos, e multa, se o documento é público, e reclusão de um a três anos, e multa, de quinhentos mil réis a cinco contos de réis, se o documento é particular.

Parágrafo único – Se o agente é funcionário público, e comete o crime prevalecendo-se do cargo, ou se a falsificação ou alteração é de assentamento de registro civil, aumenta-se a pena de sexta parte.”

— Código Penal, art. 299. (Two notes: the fine expressed in réis dates from 1940 and was superseded by the day-fine system in 1984; and the one-sixth increase in the sole paragraph is aimed at civil-registry entries — births, marriages, deaths — rather than at an ordinary notarial deed.)

Whether a given case is charged as ideological falsity on its own, or absorbed into a fraud charge, depends on the facts. What does not depend on the facts is that a false declaration of civil status in an escritura is not a technicality.

And it is very hard to undo. The damage rarely surfaces at the closing. It surfaces years later — when the couple finally understands what they signed, when they try to sell, or when there is a probate underway because the “single owner” has died. By then a public deed and a public register both say something untrue about who owns the property. Correcting it means going back into the public record, surfacing the false declaration, and reckoning with the other spouse’s meação — and, where someone has died, with the heirs. The workaround that took five minutes at the notary can take years to unwind.

Gate one — if one of you is Brazilian: is the marriage on the Brazilian record?

If either of you is Brazilian, your foreign marriage must be transcribed into the Brazilian civil registry — the traslado, into Livro “E” of the 1º Ofício of your domicile (CNJ Resolução 155/2012; no judicial authorization needed). The certificate must be apostilled and sworn-translated. The Civil Code allows 180 days from the spouses’ return (art. 1.544), and registration at a Brazilian consulate abroad is an alternative. There is no penalty for registering late — but do it before you buy.

Your marriage is valid in Brazil even before the traslado (LINDB art. 7). The missing record is an evidentiary gap, not a change of status. The practical consequence is what matters: without it, the Brazilian spouse has no local proof of being married or of the regime, and a registrar can refuse your deed at qualification for exactly that reason. The temptation to simply write “single” is not a solution — it is the crime above.

Gate two — can anyone tell what your asset regime is?

Which law sets your regime? Not automatically Brazilian law. Under LINDB art. 7 §4 the regime follows the law of the spouses’ domicile — and, where their domiciles differed, the law of the first conjugal domicile. Note what that keys on: domicile, not nationality. Your home regime may well follow you to Brazil.

The problem: most foreign marriage certificates state no regime de bens at all. There is nothing on the document for a Brazilian registrar to read — and the registry will not guess. The São Paulo Conselho Superior da Magistratura decided exactly this in Apelação nº 1094840-54.2015.8.26.0100 (2016, unanimous). A widow who had bought her property before marrying, and who later married in Switzerland, sought to register its sale. She argued that Swiss law’s default regime applied, since no contrary pact appeared anywhere. The Court agreed Swiss law governed — and refused anyway, holding that a certificate’s silence does not permit anyone to presume the default: “essencial expressa indicação na certidão de casamento.” Its reason ought to concentrate the mind: selling as though the property were wholly hers would cause “considerable harm to the late husband’s heirs” if the true regime had communicated the asset.

Note what was being blocked: a sale. The regime you never defined does not bite when you buy. It bites when you try to leave — or when you die. And this is not a Brazilian-spouse problem: in 2025 the same court refused registration to an American and a Uruguayan married in California (Apelação nº 1000570-06.2025.8.26.0450), requiring a Brazilian consular declaration as to California’s regime. São Paulo’s registry norms say it plainly — whether you are Brazilians or foreigners married abroad, the regime must be proved before it can be recorded.

What actually fixes it (and what does not)

You are not missing a regime — you are missing proof of one. Under LINDB art. 7 §4 the law of your domicile supplied a regime the day you married. A silent certificate means unstated, not absent — so there is nothing to “elect.” The real procedure is this: the foreign marriage is transcribed into Livro “E,” and then the applicable regime is annotated on that record (averbação). The regime is established by producing acceptable proof of the law that governed the marriage — a declaration from the relevant consulate, a certification by two lawyers licensed in that country, or the text of the foreign law itself, apostilled and sworn-translated. Once annotated, you hold a Brazilian marriage certificate that states your regime, which is exactly what the registry was demanding.

Two things this is not. It is not a “post-nuptial agreement” choosing a regime — under Brazilian law the pacto is, by definition, ante-nuptial (Civil Code art. 1.653). And if what you actually want is a different regime from the one your law gave you, that is a change, and a change still requires a judge (art. 1.639 §2).

A 2024 change — and why it may not have reached your cartório yet. Resolução CNJ nº 583/2024 is recent, and in theory it lowers the bar: a registry should now accept the annotation of your regime on proof of the foreign law, cure a transcription that omitted it, and do so without a court order. In practice, expect friction. A new national rule takes time to reach every one of thousands of local registries, and not every registrar has absorbed it yet. Even where they have, some notaries remain cautious or set in older habits and will still ask for more — or refuse. When a registry will not do what the law now permits, the answer is never to give up or to fake a document; it is to compel it, if necessary through a court order. Knowing which of these you are facing, and pushing the right lever, is part of what we do.

We will not tell you what to do. We can tell you what we see: couples pay for this procedure — the transcription, the proof of foreign law, the annotation — because until it is done, their property cannot be recorded. Some registries ask for a letter from a Brazilian consulate or embassy in the country where you married; we have seen cartórios in Salvador, Bahia ask for exactly that, and sometimes still refuse with the letter in hand.

If you are not married — união estável

A união estável (Civil Code art. 1.723) is governed as to property as if it were comunhão parcial unless a written contrato de convivência provides otherwise (art. 1.725). Property bought for value during the union is presumptively 50/50, and both partners’ consent is generally needed to sell. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in RE 878.694 (Tema 809, 2017), a surviving companheiro inherits on the same terms as a spouse — where the union is proven. For a foreign partner funding a purchase, the consequence is blunt: without a written agreement, a court can later find a stable union existed and divide the property in half. Whether to sign one, and on what terms, is again a question about your relationship’s specifics.

Should you hold it through a company?

Not by default. A holding company carries meaningful maintenance costs — accounting, filings, compliance — that a single home rarely justifies. In our opinion the structure earns its keep when there is a real-estate portfolio or a larger-value property behind it. It also does less than people imagine: the marital regime still reaches the quotas, so shares acquired during the marriage are common property and divisible on divorce — a company does not by itself defeat a spouse’s claim. Contributing property to pay in capital is immune from ITBI, but the Supreme Court (Tema 796) held the immunity does not cover value exceeding the capital paid in. Rates and thresholds are moving with the tax reform, so any figure belongs in a consultation, not on a page.

What happens at death or divorce

Your meação is not an inheritance: it is your own half of the common property, and it exists before either of you dies. Only the deceased’s remaining share becomes the estate. Brazil then protects herdeiros necessários — descendants, ascendants and the spouse (Civil Code art. 1.845) — who are guaranteed half of it (art. 1.846). How much the surviving spouse inherits on top of the meação depends on the regime (art. 1.829, I). Which is precisely why the regime question above is not academic. For the mechanics, see our guides to marriage asset regimes, Brazil’s forced heirship, and probate and estate administration.

How we handle it

You will notice this page never tells you what to do. That is deliberate: there is no default answer. The right structure depends on your regime, which of you is Brazilian, where you were first domiciled, what you already own, and what should happen if one of you dies. Any lawyer who gives you the answer before asking those questions is guessing — or offering you the jeitinho.

What we do is the work. We transcribe the foreign marriage where it must be transcribed; assemble the proof of the law that governed it — consular declaration, foreign-law certification, apostilles, sworn translations — and obtain the annotation of the regime, so the question is closed before a registrar ever sees your deed. We deal with the registry when it asks for more, and compel it when it refuses what the law now allows. We prepare the escritura with a truthful civil-status qualification, secure spousal consent or the instrument that substitutes for it, paper a cohabitation agreement where one is needed, and drive the purchase through to registration.

Every week we onboard litigation matters involving foreign citizens who entered purchase agreements without the oversight of a service like ours. With couples the damage is slow: it surfaces at a sale, a separation, or a probate — when the deed says one thing and the regime says another.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should both our names be on the deed?

In a community regime the property is jointly owned 50/50 whether or not both names appear on the deed; naming both simply makes it explicit. What matters far more is that your asset regime is proven and on record.

On divorce, does my Brazilian spouse get half even if only my name is on the deed?

Under the default regime (comunhão parcial), property bought for value during the marriage is common — so the name on the deed does not decide it. Your regime does.

Do I need my spouse’s signature to buy or sell property in Brazil?

To sell or mortgage, generally yes, unless you are married under conventional separation of property (Civil Code art. 1.647). To buy, your civil status and regime still have to be declared truthfully.

Can I register the property in only my name — or only my Brazilian partner’s?

Not to hide a marriage. Civil status is a mandatory element of the deed and the register, and declaring a false status is a crime (falsidade ideológica). Whether one spouse can hold title alone depends on the regime, not on convenience.

Will the prenup I signed abroad protect my Brazilian property?

Only once it is recognized and its regime is proved on the Brazilian record — apostilled, sworn-translated and annotated. A registry will not simply take a foreign document at face value.

We married abroad and our certificate says nothing about a property regime — can we still buy?

Yes, but the regime has to be established first. Since 2024 you can transcribe the marriage and have the applicable regime annotated without a court order, on proof of the foreign law — a consular declaration, a two-lawyer certification, or the law itself. This applies whether or not either of you is Brazilian.

We are not married and buying together — does a “stable union” give my partner a claim?

It can. A união estável is treated much like comunhão parcial unless a written cohabitation agreement says otherwise, so property bought during it can be shared. A written, registered agreement is how couples control that.

Should we hold the property through a company?

Rarely for a single home — the maintenance costs outweigh the benefit. A holding can make sense for a portfolio or a larger-value property, but it does not by itself defeat a spouse’s claim, because the marital regime still reaches the shares.

General information only, not legal advice. Marital-property and registry rules vary by state and change; confirm your position with a licensed Brazilian attorney. Current as of July 2026 — including CNJ Resolução 583/2024.

Related guides: Marriage asset regimes · Closing costs & taxes · How to buy property in Brazil · Forced heirship · Brazil real estate services