Do I Need a Costa Rica Will? Expat Estate Planning and Intestacy Rules

If you own property, hold bank accounts, or have investments in Costa Rica, you need a Costa Rican will. A will executed in the US, Canada, or UK is technically valid here — but using it is so slow and expensive that it might as well not exist.

Why a Foreign Will Creates Delays

A will drafted and executed in the United States or another common-law country is recognized in Costa Rica under international treaties. But to actually use it, your executor must:

1. Apostille the will in the country where it was executed
2. Translate it into Spanish through a sworn translator registered with Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
3. Petition a Costa Rican court for recognition through a judicial process called exequatur

The exequatur process alone can add 12 to 24 months to the probate timeline — before any actual asset division begins. Combined with the standard probate timeline (3–6 months for notarial, 1–4 years for judicial), a foreign will turns what should be a 6-month process into a multi-year ordeal.

The Local Will Solution

A Costa Rican will (testamento público or testamento cerrado) is drafted before a local notary public. It can be prepared in a single appointment, typically costs a few hundred dollars in notary fees, and is immediately valid.

The standard approach: create a local Costa Rican will that covers only your Costa Rican assets (real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, corporate shares). Keep your foreign will for assets in your home country. The two wills operate independently without conflicting.

Make sure the local will explicitly states it covers only Costa Rican assets, and that your foreign will explicitly excludes Costa Rican assets. Overlapping jurisdiction between two wills creates exactly the kind of ambiguity that forces probate into contested judicial proceedings.

What Happens Without Any Will (Intestacy)

If an expat dies without a valid Costa Rican will, the Civil Code determines who inherits under strict rules. There is no flexibility — a judge applies the statutory hierarchy regardless of what the deceased may have wanted.

First level: The estate is split equally among the surviving spouse, legitimate children, and parents. All three categories share the estate at the same level — a surviving spouse does not automatically receive everything.

Second level (if no first-level heirs exist): Grandparents and other direct ancestors.

Third level: Siblings — but Costa Rican law only recognizes maternal half-siblings. Paternal half-siblings have no intestacy rights.

Fourth level: Nieces and nephews.

Costa Rica recognizes legally registered same-sex marriages and formalized domestic partnerships (unión de hecho) of at least three years. A surviving same-sex spouse or registered domestic partner has identical inheritance rights to a legal spouse.

Unmarried partners who have not formalized their domestic partnership through the courts have no automatic inheritance rights, regardless of how long they lived together or how intertwined their finances were.

Practical Steps for Expats

If you already own Costa Rican assets: Schedule an appointment with a bilingual notary public. Bring your passport, a list of your local assets (property registration numbers, bank account details, vehicle plate numbers, corporate share information), and the names and contact details of your intended beneficiaries. The notary will draft the will, explain the statutory heir protections you cannot override, and register it.

If you're planning to buy property: Get the will done before or simultaneously with the property purchase. Your real estate attorney can typically draft both the purchase deed and the will.

Bank beneficiary designations (separate from the will): Register beneficiaries directly at each bank under Ley 10181. This bypasses probate for those specific funds and gives your family immediate liquidity after your death.

For the complete estate planning checklist — including the will, beneficiary designations, corporate structure considerations, and trust (fideicomiso) options — see the Someone Died in Costa Rica: English Speaker's Emergency Guide.

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