You have the posesión efectiva: what is still missing to sell an inherited property in Chile

Short answer: the grant of inheritance (posesión efectiva) does not yet let you sell, not even with the certificate of its registration. Article 688 of the Chilean Civil Code requires the inheritance first to be registered at the Property Registrar (Conservador de Bienes Raíces) where each property is located: the special inheritance registration. On top of that, the notary cannot authorise the sale without proof that the inheritance tax was paid or exempt, and property tax has to be up to date. With all that in place, the heirs can sell together; if one heir wants to sell alone, the estate has to be partitioned first.

Why the posesión efectiva is not enough

The posesión efectiva is the decision that recognises who a deceased person's heirs are. It is the first step, but the law is blunt about what it does not allow: Article 688 of the Civil Code says that the legal possession of the inheritance does not entitle an heir to dispose of a property in any way until the registrations listed in that same article have been made.

That is why families often finish the posesión efectiva, find a buyer and discover at the notary's office that they still cannot sign. The good news is that what is missing is an orderly procedure, not a lawsuit, as long as the heirs agree.

If you do not have the posesión efectiva yet, the starting point is the posesión efectiva step by step.

The three registrations of Article 688

Article 688 calls for three registrations, and each one enables something different. Not all of them are always needed: the third is only required if the heirs divide the property between them.

The Civil Registry handles the posesión efectiva when the person died without a will and the succession opened in Chile. If there was a will, or if the succession opened abroad, a court grants it, and the court order is then registered at the Property Registrar of the district where it was issued, together with the will.

The certificate of registration of the posesión efectiva: what it is for

One of the most frequent searches that reaches us is exactly this one: I have the certificate of registration of the posesión efectiva, can I sell now? The answer is no.

That certificate only proves the first registration, the one in the National Register of Posesiones Efectivas. The law that created the administrative posesión efectiva says what it is for: to request the special registrations that apply. In other words, it is the document you take to the Property Registrar to request the second registration, not the one that lets you sell.

The old certificate of title in the deceased's name is not enough either. Until the property appears in the heirs' names at the Registrar, no informed buyer will pay and no bank will grant a mortgage on it.

The special inheritance registration, step by step

It is requested at the Property Registrar of the district where each property is located. If the estate includes a house in Concepción and land in Chillán, that means two Registrars and two registrations. These are the documents normally requested:

• The posesión efectiva. If the Civil Registry granted it, the certificate of its registration issued within the last 60 days, and the decision. If a court granted it, copies of the file with the order to register.
• The inheritance tax certificate issued by the Chilean tax authority (SII), proving payment or exemption.
• The certificate of assessed value of each property.
• The Treasury certificate showing there is no property tax debt.
• The marriage or civil union certificate, if the deceased was married or had a civil partner.

A common problem is that the property details in the posesión efectiva do not match the current entry at the Registrar: a different folio, number or year. In that case the Registrar returns the request, and the posesión efectiva has to be corrected through the additions or amendments procedure the law provides. If the Registrar rejects the registration for another reason, we explain what to do in when the Property Registrar rejects a registration.

When the deceased was married under the community regime (sociedad conyugal), the community's real estate is registered in the names of the surviving spouse and the heirs. The spouse does not sign only as an heir: half of the community gains belongs to them under the marital regime, so their signature will be needed to sell.

Inheritance tax: the proof the notary requires

Chile's inheritance tax law contains a rule that stops many sales: notaries may not authorise deeds allotting inherited property, or sales and dispositions made jointly by the heirs, and Registrars may not record them, unless proof of payment of the tax is inserted in them. The exceptions are a partition made in a duly constituted court case and cases where payment is guaranteed.

That does not mean tax is always payable. The shares received by the spouse, the civil partner, the children, the parents and the descendants are exempt up to 50 annual tax units (UTA), calculated at the value of the UTA on the date of death. As a reference, at the September 2026 UTA value that threshold is a little over 43 million Chilean pesos per heir. You can check current values in our economic indicators.

The inheritance is declared to the tax authority on form 4412, and the deadline to declare and pay is two years from the death. After that, interest is charged. Even if the inheritance is exempt, in practice Registrars ask for the tax authority's certificate proving it, so it is worth filing the declaration anyway. Our deadline calculator helps you work out the due date.

Selling together: the joint sale

Once the special inheritance registration is made, the heirs can sell the property without a partition, as long as all of them sign. The law uses an old expression for it: they may dispose of it jointly (de consuno). All the heirs appear in the deed as sellers, and the price is shared among them according to their rights.

Heirs who live outside Chile do not have to travel: they can sign with a special power of attorney granted before a Chilean consul or before a notary in their country with an apostille. If one of them married abroad, first read when the spouse of someone married abroad has to sign.

If one heir does not want to sell or cannot be found, a joint sale is not possible. The ways out are a partition or, in some cases, selling the shares of those who do want to sell, as we explain in selling a property without one heir's signature.

Selling only my share: assigning inheritance rights

An heir can sell their right in the whole estate without the others. This is the assignment of inheritance rights: it is done by public deed, the seller answers only for being an heir and not for the estate containing any particular asset, and the buyer takes their place in the co-ownership and can request the partition.

According to the prevailing case law of the Chilean Supreme Court, the assignment of the right of inheritance does not need to be registered to take effect, even if the estate includes real estate. In addition, the tax rule that blocks the notary does not apply to deeds assigning inheritance rights.

Selling the share you hold in one specific property of the estate is different. That does require the inheritance registrations to be made first. And if the property is rural land, read why Registrars no longer record certain sales of undivided shares before offering a share.

When one heir wants to keep the property

If, instead of selling to an outsider, one of the heirs wants to keep the house, there are two routes. The first is partition: the heirs divide the assets, the property is allotted to one of them and that allotment is registered with the Registrar, which is the third registration of Article 688. From then on, that heir can sell alone.

The second is for the others to sell or assign their rights to that heir. If there is agreement, the partition can be done by mutual agreement before a notary; if not, an arbitrator does it, as we explain in partition proceedings. When the house stayed in the parents' names for years and the heirs live in different countries, we set out the order of the steps in the house is still in my late parents' names.

Property tax and the property's debts

The Treasury has to certify that there is no property tax debt before the registration, and the buyer will demand the same. An inherited property often carries unpaid instalments from recent years. Before paying everything, check whether some have become time-barred: we explain it in the limitation period for property tax debts.

It is also worth checking whether the deceased left a mortgage in force. Debts do not disappear on death: they pass to the heirs in proportion to their share, and a mortgage keeps burdening the property even if it changes owner. The usual route is to discharge it with the sale price itself.

If the buyer pays with a mortgage

When the buyer finances the purchase through a bank, the review is stricter. The bank commissions its own title review and checks the whole chain: the registration in the deceased's name, the posesión efectiva, the inheritance tax certificate and the special registration in the heirs' names. If a piece is missing, the loan is not granted and the buyer cannot pay.

That is why, when an inherited property goes on the market, it makes sense to have the registrations done before advertising it or signing a promise to sell. A promise signed with a date that depends on registrations still pending at the Registrar is a reliable source of conflict with the buyer, and sometimes of penalties agreed in that same contract.

If the property also has unregularised extensions, the bank may object to it for that reason, even if the title is in order. We explain it in selling a house without final municipal approval.

How long it takes

There is no single timeframe, because it depends on each Registrar and, above all, on the documents arriving complete. What most often delays a special inheritance registration is always the same: property details that do not match the current entry, a missing tax certificate or a property tax debt nobody checked.

That is why we recommend requesting the current certificate of title and the certificate of mortgages and encumbrances before declaring the tax, and comparing the property's details with those in the posesión efectiva. If there is a discrepancy, it is corrected before going to the Registrar and not after a rejection.

How we can help

We take the inheritance from wherever it stands: we review the posesión efectiva, file the tax declaration, request the certificates and make the special registrations at each Registrar, until the property is ready to sell. That is our inheritance service. Before you sign with a buyer we review the titles through our title review service, and if the heirs cannot agree, the partition is handled by our civil litigation service.

If what you inherited is a property the deceased had given or sold during their lifetime to one of the children, also read what happens to gifts made during life. And if the surviving spouse wants to keep living in the house, a lifetime usufruct is an option worth knowing before you sell.

Frequently asked questions