Casa Herança, São Paulo

The Problem#

• Brazilian succession is exceptionally protective of compulsory heirs — 50% of the estate (the legítima) is mandatorily reserved for descendants, ascendants, and the surviving spouse
• Before the legítima is calculated, the meação (spousal community property share) is deducted — typically 50% of all property acquired during the marriage
• This means the testator’s freely disposable portion (the disponível) can be as little as 25% of gross estate value
• Foreign nationals living in Brazil are frequently unaware of these rules — they write common-law wills assuming full testamentary freedom, only for their families to discover that Brazilian law overrides their wishes
• The inventário (succession proceeding) can be judicial or extrajudicial (at a cartório) — but the extrajudicial route requires all heirs to agree, and the cartório attestation process has specific notarial requirements (tabelião, livro, folha references)

How They’d Use INHERIT#

• The brazil extension models the full succession framework: meacao with propertyRegime (comunhão parcial, comunhão universal, separação total, participação final), spousePersonId, and communityPropertyValue
• legitima calculates the compulsory portion with compulsoryHeirs[] (each with heirClass: descendant, ascendant, surviving_spouse) and legitimaPortion
• disponivel captures the freely disposable portion with portion and estimatedValue
• inventarioType distinguishes "judicial" from "extrajudicial"
• cartorioAttestation records the specific notarial details: cartorioName, tabeliao, livroNumber, folhaNumber, and attestationDate
• uniaoEstavel models common-law marriage recognition (a uniquely Brazilian concept where cohabitation creates succession rights): recognised, partnerPersonId, startDate, judicialDeclaration, and contractRegistered
• itcmdRate captures the state-level transfer tax with state, ratePercentage, and progressive flag

The Integration#

• Export-focused: Casa Herança creates INHERIT documents during estate planning, showing clients exactly how much of their estate is freely disposable after meação and legítima
• The “shock factor” — seeing the disponível as a concrete number — motivates lifetime planning and restructuring
• On death, the same document feeds directly into the inventário process

The Business Case#

• 100% of foreign national clients are surprised by the meação/legítima split — the structured visualisation prevents disputes by setting expectations during lifetime planning
• Extrajudicial inventário at a cartório takes 3–4 months vs 12–18 months for judicial proceedings — the structured INHERIT document facilitates the faster route by providing all data the cartório requires upfront
• ITCMD tax calculations are automated per state — São Paulo’s rate differs from Rio de Janeiro’s
• Casa Herança processes approximately R$1.2 million in estate value per year across 30 client families

Before / After#

Without INHERIT:

1. A British expat dies in São Paulo; his will leaves everything to a cancer charity
2. His three children discover that Brazilian law reserves 50% of the estate for them — the legítima
3. Before the legítima is calculated, his Brazilian wife’s meação (50% community property share) is deducted
4. The charity receives approximately 25% of the gross estate — not 100% as intended
5. The judicial inventário takes 18 months because the children and the charity cannot agree; ITCMD tax is assessed at the wrong state rate

With INHERIT:

1. During estate planning, Casa Herança shows the client the INHERIT calculation: meação = 50%, legítima = 50% of remainder, disponível = 25% of gross
2. The client restructures: charitable giving during lifetime (not subject to legítima), and the will’s disponível directed to the charity
3. On death, the cartório receives a structured INHERIT document; the extrajudicial inventário completes in 4 months
4. The children receive the legítima without dispute; the charity receives the disponível as planned