Married abroad with property in Chile: when your spouse has to sign the sale

Short answer: if you married outside Chile, Chilean law treats you as separate as to property, and you can sell your Chilean property without your spouse signing. That changes in three cases: if you registered the marriage in Chile and agreed on the community regime (sociedad conyugal) when you did so, if the property has been declared a family home (bien familiar), or if you divorced abroad and the Chilean Supreme Court has not yet recognised the divorce. Either way, the notary will ask you to prove your marital status with apostilled documents.

The rule: married abroad, separate as to property in Chile

Article 135 of the Chilean Civil Code has a rule written for exactly this situation. It says that people who married in a foreign country are regarded in Chile as separate as to property, unless they register their marriage in the First Section of the Santiago Civil Registry and, when they do, agree on the community regime or on the participation-in-gains regime, recording it in the registration.

The practical consequence is simple. If you bought a house, an apartment or land in Chile in your own name, that property is yours and you manage it. To sell it you do not need your husband or wife to authorise the sale, just like anyone in Chile who is married under separation of property.

The rule does not distinguish between foreigners and Chileans. The Civil Registry explains it in the same terms: everyone married abroad is considered separate as to property. If you are Chilean, married in the United States, Spain or Sweden and never agreed on anything else in Chile, the rule applies to you too.

There is one nuance for older marriages, explained below: for Chileans who married abroad before 1989, the courts have not always ruled the same way.

When your spouse does have to sign

Separation of property is the starting point, not the end of the analysis. In some situations your spouse's signature or authorisation is mandatory, and it is worth ruling them out before you set a date for the deed.

• You registered the marriage in Chile and agreed on sociedad conyugal. Under that regime the husband cannot sell or promise to sell the community's real estate without his wife's authorisation, under Article 1749 of the Civil Code, and the wife's own real estate cannot be sold without her consent either. The reform that changes how this regime is managed is still going through Congress, so the traditional rule applies today.
• You agreed on participation in gains. Here each spouse manages and disposes freely of their own property. Selling your own property does not require the other spouse's signature. The only management limit is on giving personal guarantees for third parties' debts.
• The property was declared a family home. This is the most important exception because it does not depend on the property regime. It is explained in detail below.
• You have a civil union entered into abroad and registered in Chile with a community agreement. Foreign arrangements equivalent to the Chilean civil union agreement are recognised in Chile, but only take effect once registered in the special registry. The partners are treated as separate as to property unless they agree on the community regulated by the law when registering, in which case property acquired for value belongs to both in halves.

Do I have to register my marriage in Chile?

It depends on your nationality. Chile's Civil Registry law orders that marriages celebrated outside the country by a Chilean with a foreigner, or between two Chileans, be registered in the First Section of Santiago. A marriage between two foreigners is registered only when that is needed to make another entry the law requires.

A marriage validly celebrated abroad has the same effects in Chile as if it had been celebrated here, under Article 80 of the Civil Marriage Law. The Comptroller General has said that registration is a publicity requirement, not a condition of existence or validity, and that failing to register makes the marriage unenforceable against third parties. Even so, some public procedures have applied a different view, so if you are Chilean and plan to sell, the tidiest route is to have the marriage registered before signing.

Registering the marriage does not change the regime by itself: if you agree on nothing when registering, you remain separate as to property. To register it, the Civil Registry requires the apostilled certificate and, if it is not in Spanish, the official translation by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What the notary and the Property Registrar will ask for

Every public deed in Chile must state the nationality and marital status of the people signing it, and foreigners and Chileans living abroad may identify themselves with a passport. Since 2 April 2026, under the new Property Registry Law, the entry at the Property Registrar (Conservador de Bienes Raíces) must also state the marital status as shown in the deed and the passport number of foreigners and of Chileans resident abroad.

So marital status is not simply declared by word of mouth. These are the documents a seller married abroad is normally asked for:

• An apostilled foreign marriage certificate. Chile has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 30 August 2016, so documents from other member countries are apostilled at origin and need no consular legalisation.
• A translation, if the certificate is not in Spanish. The law does not generally require it to be done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: each institution decides which translation it accepts. Ask the notary before ordering it, because some offices require the official translation.
• A Chilean tax number (RUT). Without it you cannot sign the deed of sale or file any tax that may be due.
• The certificate of registration of your marriage in Chile, if there is one. It proves the regime: it records whether you agreed on sociedad conyugal or participation in gains.
• The exequátur judgment, if you are divorced abroad. Without it, for Chile you are still married.

If the buyer does their homework, they will look at these documents too, because a sale signed without a required authorisation can be annulled. We cover it from the buyer's side in the checks to make before you wire the money for a property.

The family home: the exception that does not depend on the regime

The property that serves as the family's main residence can be declared a family home (bien familiar), whatever the couple's property regime. A judge makes the declaration, but merely filing the claim provisionally affects the property, and that is noted in the margin of its entry at the Property Registrar.

A family home cannot be sold or promised for sale without the authorisation of the non-owning spouse. If it is sold without it, the sale can be rescinded and the law treats the buyers as acting in bad faith. For a couple under separation of property, this is the only way the other spouse can stop a sale.

If your family lives outside Chile, a house that is not the family's main residence does not meet the requirement to be declared a family home. But if it was already declared before you left, the designation stays in force until it is lifted, by agreement in a public deed noted in the register or by a court if the property no longer serves that purpose. Since April 2026 the Registrar's entry must also state whether the property is a family home, so a title review detects it immediately.

Divorced abroad: for Chile you may still be married

A divorce judgment handed down in another country has no effect in Chile on its own. It has to be recognised by the Chilean Supreme Court in the procedure called exequátur, under the general rules of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Civil Marriage Law adds two limits: a divorce not declared by a court decision, or one contrary to Chilean public order, is not recognised, and fraud is presumed when the spouses were domiciled in Chile during the years before the divorce that the law specifies.

The consequence is awkward. Someone who divorced in the United States years ago, and who is single or remarried there, may still appear married in Chile. If that first marriage was registered here with sociedad conyugal, the community regime has not been dissolved under Chilean law and the former spouse's signature may again be required.

When the marriage was never registered in Chile, the exequátur requirement for a sale is not applied the same way by every notary and every Registrar. The prudent course is to sort it out in advance: exequátur is a court procedure that takes time, and it is best started before committing to a signing date with the buyer. If a court step is needed, our civil litigation service handles it.

If you married under a community regime in your own country

Many marriages celebrated abroad are, under the law of that country, under a community regime: community property in some US states, the gananciales regime in Spain, or similar regimes elsewhere. The natural question is whether that community reaches the property in Chile.

For Chilean law, the answer starts from the same Article 135: people married abroad are regarded in Chile as separate as to property, and Article 16 of the Civil Code adds that property located in Chile is subject to Chilean law. That is why the notary and the Registrar treat the owner as the sole owner and do not ask for the spouse's signature.

That does not mean your spouse has no rights over the sale proceeds under the law of your country. That is a separate question, answered there. If your marriage is under a community regime abroad, have your lawyer in that country review it before you sell.

Marriages celebrated before 1989

The current wording of Article 135 comes from a 1989 reform. For Chileans who married abroad before that date, the Supreme Court has ruled both ways: in one case it held that the rule did not apply to Chileans married in Germany, who were therefore under the community regime, and in another it held the opposite.

In practice, when we review a property owned by a Chilean who married abroad before 1989, we treat it cautiously as if it could be under the community regime and recommend that both spouses sign. An extra signature costs far less than a sale that is challenged later.

Selling from abroad without travelling

None of this requires you to come to Chile. The sale can be signed with a special power of attorney granted before a Chilean consul or before a notary in your country with an apostille. If your spouse has to authorise the sale, they can do so in the same power of attorney or in a separate one, as long as the authorisation is specific to that sale.

Before selling, check the tax side too. If you are not resident in Chile, the gain on the sale may be taxable and the buyer may have to withhold part of the price, as we explain in selling property in Chile as a non-resident. If you are not sure what state your property is in, start with how to check your Chilean property from abroad.

If you did not buy the property but inherited it, the inheritance registrations have to be completed before you can sell. We explain them in what is still missing to sell after the grant of inheritance, and for those living in the United States, in inheriting Chilean property from the US.

What to check before setting the signing date

• The current certificate of title (dominio vigente). It confirms the property is in your name and, since April 2026, whether it is recorded as a family home.
• The certificate of mortgages, encumbrances and prohibitions. It shows whether a family home claim, a mortgage or an attachment has been noted.
• How you acquired the property. If you bought it while married and the marriage is registered in Chile with sociedad conyugal, the property may belong to the community even if it is only in your name.
• Your apostilled marriage certificate and, where needed, its translation.
• The registration of your marriage in Chile and the regime recorded, if you are Chilean or registered it.
• The exequátur, if you divorced abroad.
• The power of attorney, if you will not travel, and your spouse's if they have to authorise.
• Property tax paid up to date, because without proof of payment the Registrar will not record the transfer.

If you bought through a company, the analysis is different: the company signs through its representatives and the partners' marital status does not come into it. We compare both routes in owning Chilean property personally or through a company. And if you are selling to a child, first read the options for transferring a house to your children during your lifetime, because transactions between parents and children have their own rules.

How we can help

We review the deed, the certificate of title and your marriage documents, and tell you in writing whether your spouse has to sign, which documents need an apostille and what is missing before the deed. That review is our title review service. If the property was inherited, the inheritance registrations are handled by our inheritance service, and if a court step is needed, by our civil litigation service. To put dates on the procedure's deadlines you can use our deadline calculator.

If the problem is not the sale but that someone is occupying your property while you live abroad, the route is different, and we explain it in your property in Chile has been occupied while you live abroad.

Frequently asked questions