Estate Planning for Expats in Peru: Protect Your Family Before a Crisis

If you're a retiree, digital nomad, or long-term resident in Peru, you probably haven't thought about what happens to your local assets when you die. Most expats assume their home country will or trust covers everything. It doesn't — and the consequences for your partner, children, or dependents in Peru can be severe.

Why Your Foreign Will Isn't Enough

A will executed in the US, UK, or Australia can technically apply to Peruvian assets. But there are three problems:

1. Forced heirship override: Peru reserves two-thirds of the estate for forced heirs (children + spouse). Your will cannot override this for Peruvian assets, no matter what it says.

2. Enforcement friction: Using a foreign will in Peru requires apostille, certified translation by a traductor público juramentado, and legal proceedings to validate it locally. This adds months and thousands in costs.

3. Cross-jurisdictional conflict: If your US will says "everything to my wife" but Peruvian law gives your children from a previous marriage their forced share, the estate gets split between two legal systems with different rules.

The practical solution: execute a Peru-specific will alongside your foreign one, covering only your Peruvian assets and structured to comply with forced heirship rules.

Register Your Relationship

This is the single most important step for expats in unmarried partnerships.

Peruvian law (Ley N° 30007) grants inheritance rights to unmarried cohabitants — but only if the unión de hecho was either:

• Registered at SUNARP during the couple's lifetime, OR
• Proven through an adversarial post-mortem judicial process (expensive, uncertain, and takes 12+ months)

An unregistered partner has zero automatic rights. They cannot inherit, access frozen bank accounts, or claim survivor pension benefits. If you die without a registered relationship, your partner could be evicted from your shared home by your blood relatives — legally.

Registration requirements:

• At least two continuous years of public, stable cohabitation
• Both partners must be free of matrimonial impediments
• Registered at SUNARP with both partners present

Understand What's Automatically at Risk

Bank accounts freeze immediately. The moment your death is registered at RENIEC, sole-ownership accounts lock. Your partner can't pay rent, utilities, or funeral costs from those accounts until the succession process completes (30-45 days at minimum).

Credit life insurance activates. This is the one bright spot: outstanding debts (mortgages, credit cards, personal loans) are typically cancelled by mandatory credit life insurance (seguro de desgravamen). Your heirs don't inherit your debts.

The 10-year squatter clock starts. Unregistered property or property sitting in a deceased person's name becomes vulnerable to adverse possession claims after 10 years.

Five Steps Every Peru Expat Should Take

1. Execute a Peruvian will. Cover local assets specifically. A notary can prepare this for S/ 300-S/ 800. Register it at SUNARP's will registry so heirs can find it.

2. Register your relationship. If you have an unmarried partner, register the unión de hecho at SUNARP. This is the difference between your partner inheriting and your partner being evicted.

3. Grant a standing power of attorney. Designate someone who can act immediately on your behalf if you're incapacitated or dead. Store a copy with your notary and your representative.

4. Create a location file. Document every Peruvian account, property, insurance policy, AFP pension, and relevant password. Your heirs can't unfreeze what they don't know about.

5. Inform your heirs about Peru's system. Most English speakers assume Peru works like their home country. A 30-minute conversation about forced heirship, the sucesión intestada, and SUNARP registration can save your family months of confusion.

The Cost of Not Planning

The sucesión intestada costs S/ 1,000-S/ 3,000 and takes 30-45 days when everyone agrees. When they don't — because no one knew about the Peruvian bank accounts, the partner isn't registered, or the foreign will conflicts with local law — it costs S/ 5,000-S/ 15,000+ and takes over a year.

The Peru Expat Death Guide includes a complete pre-death planning checklist, relationship registration walkthrough, and asset inventory template specifically designed for English-speaking expats.

Someone Died in Peru: English Speaker's Emergency Guide →