Brazil.

Brazil imposes the Imposto sobre Transmissão Causa Mortis e Doação (ITCMD) at the state level, with rates ranging from 4% to 8% depending on the state. The Código Civil (Law 10.406/2002) preserves a strong legítima — at least 50% of the estate must pass to herdeiros necessários (descendants, ascendants, and spouse), with only the remaining parte disponível available for testamentary disposition.

Brazil is not a party to any estate-tax treaty. The 2023 constitutional tax reform is reshaping ITCMD treatment of foreign-situs assets and beneficiaries, with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) jurisprudence still developing on whether Brazilian states can tax inheritance of foreign-situs property held by Brazilian-domiciled decedents. The notarial-succession option under Lei 11.441/2007 (inventário extrajudicial) is unavailable when minors or contested claims are involved.

The memoranda in this series address the recurring fact patterns in Brazilian cross-border estate planning — including ITCMD exposure on foreign assets, the legítima tension with foreign testamentary freedom, recognition of foreign wills before a Brazilian notário, the absence of trust recognition in Brazilian civil law, capital-gains liability on inherited foreign property, and reporting obligations under DBE and CIE for inbound and outbound family-wealth transfers.