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Chileans living abroad

Settle from abroad what you left pending in Chile

Estates never settled, lawsuits nobody filed, property taxes piling up and properties that cannot be sold because one signature is missing in Chile. You sign once at the Chilean consulate in your city and we do the rest here.

Farmland and a country house in south central Chile

Someone living outside Chile can settle an estate, file a lawsuit, defend against a debt collection, regularise a plot of land or sell a property without coming here. The mechanism is a power of attorney granted before the Chilean consulate in your city, which carries the same validity as a Chilean notary, together with foreign documents bearing an apostille. The only step in person is a single visit to the consulate.

Areas

What we can resolve for you from here

Each area has its own page, with the procedure, the situations that come up most often and the questions people ask when they consult from abroad.

InheritanceEstate possession order and special registration of inheritance without coming to Chile, even when the heirs live in different countries or one of them refuses to sign.See this area →Civil litigationSuing or defending yourself in Chile under a judicial mandate granted at the consulate, without attending the hearings: evictions, occupations, boundary disputes and debt collection.See this area →Property taxesDebt that grows without warning, inflated appraisals, older instalments that may be time barred and the risk of auction over the property you left in Chile.See this area →Other mattersBuying and selling under a special power of attorney, land regularisation and subdivision, leases and management, and obtaining the powers and certificates that are hard to get from abroad.See this area →
The firm

How we work with clients who live outside Chile

We are a law and land surveying firm with an office in Concepción, Biobío Region, working in real estate law, succession law and civil litigation. We take cases anywhere in Chile by prior arrangement, which is precisely what allows us to handle a matter in Arica or in Coyhaique for a client who is in Madrid.

Acting for someone who lives abroad does not change the procedure, it changes the logistics. Chilean law is the same, the deadlines are the same and the institutions are the same. What changes is that you cannot go to the Real Estate Registry, you cannot sign before a notary and you cannot appear in court. All of that is resolved with a power of attorney and a firm that takes charge of the steps that must be done in person.

Cases closed without the client coming to Chile

We have carried complete files through with a power of attorney granted at a consulate, from the first assessment to the final registration, without the client having to travel to Chile at any stage.

Lawyers and surveyors in the same team

When a case needs field work, there is nothing to hire separately and no coordinating between offices: the survey is done by our own team, designed from the outset for the procedure that comes after it.

Assessment before any quote

We review the title history first and tell you which procedure applies. Only then are there fees and timeframes, in writing. Nobody should hire blind for a process that can take two years.

Everything in writing, in one channel

Progress is recorded in the chat, with copies of the documents as they are obtained, so you can check where the matter stands without depending on someone in Chile to tell you.

We work in Spanish and in English, Sunday to Friday between 09:00 and 19:00 Chile time, and we arrange meetings in whatever slot suits you, even if it is early morning or late evening where you live.

The procedure

How it is done without travelling to Chile

This route is not one we invented: it was set up by the Chilean State itself and it exists because more than a million Chileans live outside the country. These are the steps, in order, and they are the same whatever the matter.

  1. You tell us what needs resolving

    If it is a property, the address, the tax roll number or the registration details, meaning page, number and year (fojas, número y año), are enough. If it is a lawsuit or a debt, whatever documents you have to hand. This first conversation is by WhatsApp and there is no charge.

  2. We review the background from Chile

    We request the certificates from the Real Estate Registry, the Civil Registry or the Internal Revenue Service as the case requires, and we study the history. That produces the assessment: which procedure applies, what is missing and what the risks are. You do not need to move a single document at this stage.

  3. You sign the power of attorney at the consulate in your city

    This is the only step in person and it happens where you live. Chilean consuls act as public officers of record for notarial acts granted before them, so the power of attorney carries the same validity as one signed at a notary in Chile. You book an appointment, present a valid passport or Chilean identity card and provide the details of your representative in Chile. We send you the wording already drafted, so the consulate only has to authorise it.

  4. We gather the foreign documents

    If there are certificates issued outside Chile, such as a death recorded in the country where you live, they must come with an apostille and with an official translation when they are not in Spanish. We tell you exactly which ones you need and where they are obtained, so you do not make unnecessary trips.

  5. We handle the process in Chile

    We file before the institution or the court that corresponds and we follow it through. You receive the progress in writing, without having to ask for it.

  6. We deliver the result

    The property registered, the judgment, the debt reduced or the procedure closed, depending on the case. We send you the digital copies and, if you need them, the physical copies to whoever you designate in Chile.

Fees

How payment works from abroad

This question always comes up and it is worth answering before you ask it. There are two routes and both of them work.

An international transfer to our account in Chile. It is direct, but the intermediary bank charges a commission and applies its own exchange rate, so the final cost rises somewhat over the value in Chilean pesos. Or a relative of yours living in Chile pays by local transfer, which is the most used route and the cheapest, because there are no commissions and no currency conversion. In either case payment is made in stages as the work advances, not all of it at the start.

Frequently asked questions

Can I settle an estate in Chile without travelling?
Yes. The mechanism is granting a power of attorney to a lawyer in Chile before the Chilean consulate in the city where you live, and where there is no will the estate possession order (posesión efectiva) is applied for online through the Civil Registry. The only step in person that falls to you is signing the power of attorney, which happens in your country of residence.
Where do I grant the power of attorney if I live outside Chile?
At the Chilean consulate that covers your city. Consuls perform notarial functions and act as public officers of record, so the power of attorney carries the same validity as one granted before a notary in Chile. You book an appointment in advance, present a valid passport or Chilean identity card and provide the name, RUT tax number and address of the person who will represent you.
Is a power of attorney signed before a notary in my country of residence valid?
It is also a possible route, but the document has to carry an apostille and be officially translated into Spanish if it is in another language, which adds steps and cost. Where there is a Chilean consulate within reach, that is usually the simpler and cheaper route.
What is an apostille and when do I need one?
It is the seal that allows a document issued in one country to be valid in another without going through successive legalisations. Chile has been part of the convention since 2016. You need it for any document issued abroad that has to be presented to a Chilean institution, for example a death or marriage certificate issued outside Chile.
Can I sue in Chile while living abroad?
Yes. The claim is filed by your lawyer under a judicial mandate, which is also granted before the Chilean consulate in your city. You do not appear at the hearings. Only if the court requires your personal statement would special mechanisms be needed, and we warn you about that before filing, not afterwards.
What if my siblings live in different countries?
It is not a problem and they do not need to be in the same place or to go on the same date. Each heir grants a power of attorney at the Chilean consulate nearest to them, and those documents are brought together here. It is the most common situation in families with members spread between Chile, Argentina, Spain and the United States.
What do I do if an heir will not sign or cannot be found?
The law obliges nobody to remain in an inheritance community: it is enough for one of the heirs to request the partition for it to proceed. It is resolved by an arbitrating judge whose ruling divides the estate even if one of them objects, so the signature of the person refusing stops being necessary.
Can my property in Chile be auctioned over unpaid property taxes if I live abroad?
The Treasury Service can start collection and reach an auction, and the risk is higher for someone living abroad because the notices are sent to the address in Chile. Before the auction there are several stages where a defence is possible: arguing that the older instalments are time barred, correcting the appraisal that gave rise to the charge, or requesting a payment agreement.
Can I sell the property without coming to Chile?
Yes, with a special power of attorney to sell granted before the consulate, which requires the draft deed to be attached. Bear in mind that if the property was obtained through regularisation under Decree Law 2,695, the law prohibits transferring it during the first year counted from registration.
How do I pay you from abroad?
In two ways. By international transfer to our account in Chile, where the bank charges a commission and applies its own exchange rate, or through a relative of yours resident in Chile who pays by local transfer, which is the more usual and the cheaper option. In both cases payment is made in stages and not all at the start.
What if my Chilean identity card has expired?
The RUT tax number does not expire, the document does. To sign at the consulate you need a valid Chilean identity document, and a passport serves that purpose. If you have none that is current, the consulate itself handles the renewal.

Tell us what you left pending in Chile

With the details of the property or whatever documents you have, we can tell you where the matter stands and which procedure applies. The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.

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