Services / Wills & Estates
An Ecuadorian will for your Ecuadorian assets (yours from home does not cover them). Powers of attorney that hold up at the notary on a hard day. Forced-heirship rules apply here, and getting them wrong is expensive for your heirs.
Wills and POAs are the two instruments every expat with Ecuadorian assets should have on file. Succession and vital-record retrieval are the tools we reach for when a family needs help closing an estate.
Your US, Canadian, or European will is not enforceable over Ecuadorian assets. The Civil Code says so plainly: property in Ecuador is governed by Ecuadorian succession law. Notary fees are separate and are dramatically age-tiered by regulation: much lower for age 65 and over.
If you do not speak Spanish, Ecuadorian law requires a 'closed will': a Spanish legal version plus English translation, five Ecuadorian witnesses over 18 who reside in your city, a translator present at notarization, sealed and filed. We handle all of it.
A POA governs decisions while you are alive but incapacitated (medical, banking, property). Different purpose from a will, and every expat with Ecuadorian assets should have one. Includes legal fees and translation. Sabrina handles registering the POA with the bank when banking powers are included.
If you die in Ecuador without a will, assets are distributed under Ecuadorian intestacy law: children first, then spouse plus parents, then spouse alone, then siblings, nephews and nieces, and eventually the State. Expats without family in-country risk assets escheating. We handle succession filings for heirs whether or not a will exists.
Sabrina's rate card covers US certificate retrieval (single-status, marriage, birth, divorce). Useful when a succession here requires proof of a US-side birth, marriage, or death that the family cannot easily retrieve.
For US-side documents that need to be legalized for use in Ecuador (or vice versa). Sabrina's card covers US notarization plus apostille, and apostille processing in Ecuador is a separate service.
Wills and POAs are procedural once we know what you own and who your heirs are. Most matters close in two to three weeks.
Two minutes of context through the intake form. We route to Sabrina and reply within one business day.
We walk through your patrimony (what you own here and abroad), your heirs, your marriage regime, and whether a closed will applies. Fixed-fee quote in writing.
Sabrina prepares the will in Spanish (with certified English translation for a closed will), or the POA with the specific powers you need. Draft goes to you for review before notarization.
Signing at the notary. For a closed will, we coordinate the five witnesses and translator. For a POA, execution takes about an hour.
You receive the original filed instrument. We keep a scan on file. For POAs, we register with the bank if banking powers are included.
Answered by Sabrina Candela, ELG wills and estates lead. Cases vary; nothing here is legal advice for your specific situation.
No. According to the Civil Code, if a person owns property in Ecuador, the inheritance and succession of those assets are regulated by Ecuadorian law, not by the law of the country of origin. A foreign will, even apostilled, is not enforceable over Ecuadorian assets unless it observes Ecuadorian formalities.
No. Ecuadorian forced-heirship rules split the estate: 50% to children and living parents in equal shares, 25% to descendants in proportions you choose, and only the remaining 25% is of "free disposition."
If you die without a will in Ecuador, the assets will be distributed under Ecuadorian intestacy law. Order: children first, then spouse plus parents, then spouse alone, then siblings, then nephews and nieces, eventually cousins or the Ecuadorian government. Expats without family in-country risk assets escheating to the State.
Every non-visa matter starts with a written intake so we can pair you with the right lawyer. We reply within one business day.
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