Once again, many of the participants in my relocation/retirement tours ask about the Costa Rican Legal System. I am not a lawyer and don’t feel qualified to give legal advice. However, I do have knowledge about some basic procedures that I have learned over the years.

Here is one of the questions I am often asked. How do wills work in Costa Rica?

You need to have a will here or your property will go to the government. You will need to name an executor or albacea. You will also need to have someone translate the final version of your will to make sure everything is correct. Some dishonest lawyers have been know to pull a fast one and name one of their relatives as the beneficiary. Therefore you should never use an attorney as an executor. Don’t use your family members either because of possible disputes later on.

Your “will” from the States won’t be valid if you die here. The assets you acquire here have to be be included in your Costa Rica will. In Costa Rica there are two types of wills: an open and closed will. Both must be done with a lawyer’s help and and must be listed in a public records called Archivos Nacionales in San Jose. Briefly, a closed will is when a person writes his last will on a piece of paper and puts it in a sealed envelope. The lawyer then makes a cover sheet. An open will is done in the presence of a lawyer and lists all of he assets and who is going to get them. This is public information so anyone can know what the will contains.

The whole process is a little more complicated than this so I suggest you contact a knowledgeable bilingual lawyer.