Legal systems of Portugal and Luxembourg: what a Luxembourg resident should know

Two civil-law cousins

Luxembourg’s private law descends from the French Civil Code, Portugal’s from a 1966 code drafted with the German and Italian traditions in view; both are EU states, both apostille each other’s documents, both coordinate social security under Regulation 883/2004 and tax under a 1999 convention. For the many Luxembourgers with Portuguese roots — and the Luxembourg residents who retire south — the questions are practical: how a marriage regime travels, what happens to a Luxembourg pension, who inherits and at what tax, how a company is formed here.

• EU citizen: registration certificate at the town hall after three months; naturalisation possible after seven years of residence
• Treaty of 1999: private pensions taxed where you live, but Luxembourg keeps the right to tax its social-security pensions; dividends 15 %, interest 10 %, royalties 10 %
• Inheritance: Luxembourg exempts the direct line and spouses, taxes siblings at 6 % and others at 15 % plus surcharges; Portugal charges 10 % stamp duty outside the direct line
• SARL 12 000 € before a notary against an Lda from 1 € at Empresa na Hora for 360 €

Status and papers

A Luxembourg national needs no visa or permit: after three months in Portugal the right of residence under Lei n.º 37/2006 is formalised by a registration certificate from the municipality, on a declaration of work, study or sufficient means with health cover, valid up to five years and followed by a permanent residence certificate from AIMA. The tax number (NIF), social security number (NISS) and health number come first — the legal services hub explains each. Luxembourg public documents carry an apostille (Luxembourg has been in the Hague Convention since 1979); Portuguese documents going north are apostilled by the Procuradoria-Geral da República for 10,20 €. French-language documents are accepted without translation by the nationality registries; other services want a certified Portuguese translation.

Courts

Luxembourg’s civil justice runs from three justices de paix (Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Diekirch) through two tribunaux d’arrondissement to the Cour d’appel and the Cour de cassation, together the Cour supérieure de justice. Portugal’s runs from 23 tribunais de comarca through five tribunais da Relação to the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, with julgados de paz — small-claims courts with built-in mediation — for civil disputes up to 15 000 €. Civil appeals in Portugal need a claim above 5 000 € (30 000 € to reach the Supremo); a lawyer is compulsory above 5 000 €. Legal aid comes from Social Security on proof of economic insufficiency, decided in 30 days, and Luxembourg residents qualify as EU citizens. Judgments circulate between the two countries under the Brussels I Regulation (1215/2012) without any declaration of enforceability.

Marriage, divorce, inheritance

Both countries marry you by default under a community of acquisitions: Luxembourg’s communauté réduite aux acquêts and Portugal’s comunhão de adquiridos (Civil Code art. 1717.º) share what is earned and bought during the marriage and keep prior and inherited property separate. Portugal adds a compulsory separation regime when a spouse is 60 or older (art. 1720.º). For marriages since 29 January 2019 both apply the EU matrimonial-property regulation, so a couple can choose the law of a nationality or a residence.

Divorce: Luxembourg offers divorce by mutual consent — with a notarial inventory and division of the common property first, then homologation by the tribunal d’arrondissement — and divorce for irretrievable breakdown before the family judge. Portugal’s mutual-consent divorce is done at the civil registry without a court (art. 1775.º), the public prosecutor checking the arrangements for minor children; contested divorce goes to the family court on grounds that include one year of de facto separation (art. 1781.º).

Succession: Portugal reserves two thirds of the estate for the spouse and children together, half for a spouse alone (art. 2157.º–2159.º); Luxembourg reserves a share for the descendants only — half of the estate with one child, two thirds with two, three quarters with three or more — and leaves the spouse without a reserved share. Under the EU Succession Regulation both countries apply the law of the last habitual residence unless the deceased chose the law of their nationality in a will (art. 22) — a Luxembourger in Portugal can keep Luxembourg law for the whole estate. Tax follows the assets: Portugal’s 10 % stamp duty on Portuguese assets, with spouse, descendants and ascendants exempt; Luxembourg’s droits de succession on the estate of a Luxembourg resident — direct line and spouses exempt within the legal share, siblings 6 %, other heirs 15 %, with surcharges of up to 140 % above 10 000 € — and foreign real estate of a Luxembourg resident is outside them.

Companies

The corporate law page compares the forms, formation, governance and filing duties in detail.

Tax and social security

The convention signed in Brussels on 25 May 1999, in force since 30 December 2000 (protocol in force 18 May 2012): pensions for past employment are taxed only where you live (art. 18 n.º 1), but pensions paid under a state’s social security legislation may be taxed by that state (n.º 2) — so a Luxembourg CNAP pension received in Portugal is taxable in Luxembourg and in Portugal, with Portugal crediting the Luxembourg tax; a private or company pension is Portuguese only. Government pensions stay with the paying state unless you are a Portuguese national resident here (art. 19). Dividends 15 %, interest 10 % (15 % in some cases), royalties 10 %; Luxembourg exempts Portuguese-source income with progression and credits on dividends, interest and royalties (art. 24). The Portuguese scale — 12,5 % to 48 % after a 4 587 € deduction, 28 % on capital income — is on the accounting hub.

Social security: one system at a time under Regulation 883/2004, A1 postings up to 24 months, pension periods added together, and the CNS covering a Luxembourg pensioner’s health care in Portugal through the S1 form.

Driving, nationality

A Luxembourg licence is an EU licence — valid until its expiry, with residence registration at the IMT within 60 days (free) and an optional exchange for 30 €. Both countries accept dual nationality: Luxembourg’s 2017 nationality law provides for loss only by renunciation or forfeiture, and Portugal never requires renunciation. Naturalisation in Portugal takes seven years of legal residence for an EU citizen under the 2026 Nationality Act, with a language and culture test.

Steps

Questions from Luxembourg clients