Inheriting Assets in the Dominican Republic: Why Domicile — Not Nationality — Decides Everything When a foreign owner of Dominican property dies, the first legal question is not who the heirs are. It is where the deceased lived — because under Dominican rules, the last domicile decides which country’s succession law governs the estate. Two […]
Dominican Citizenship by Descent: How Children of Dominicans Can Claim a Second Passport Thousands of people born in New York, Madrid or Toronto carry a right they have never exercised: a claim to Dominican citizenship. If your mother or father is Dominican, the Dominican Constitution treats you as Dominican by birth — you do not […]
Retire in the Dominican Republic: The Pensionado and Rentista Residency Program Explained A monthly pension of US$1,500 or US$2,000 in passive income, is the entry ticket to one of the Caribbean’s most generous residency programs. The Dominican Republic’s special regime for retirees (pensionados) and rentiers (rentistas) grants qualifying applicants permanent residence on an accelerated track, […]
Bien de Familia: How to Make Your Dominican Home Seizure-Proof and Inheritance-Tax Exempt Any individual may incorporate, for their own benefit or that of their heirs at law or their spouse, an unseizable real estate property that will be called Family Property (“Bien de Familia” in Spanish). Among the advantages of the real estate property […]
Making a Will in the Dominican Republic: Forced Heirship and What Foreigners Need to Know. In the Dominican Republic, dying without a will does not mean your family decides what happens next, the law does. Forced heirship rules, inherited from the French civil-law tradition, reserve a fixed portion of every estate for specific heirs, chiefly […]
Getting Married in the Dominican Republic? Why and When to Register Your Prenup. Every year, couples fly to Punta Cana or Las Terrenas to marry on the beach — and quietly import a legal problem: a prenuptial agreement signed at home that may or may not hold up where the wedding, or the property, is […]
Under Dominican Law, there are two very important aspects which have an impact on the inheritance of assets of a deceased individual: the time and domicile of the deceased. The time of opening of an estate is the day that death occurs. Based on this rule of law, it is understood that the rights to […]
Dominican Republic Private International Law 544-14 was enacted on October 15th of 2014, and is now considered one of the most advanced references in the Caribbean. The objective of Private International Law 544-14 is to regulate the private international relationships of a civil and commercial character in the Dominican Republic, in particular those related to […]
The Dominican 3% Inheritance Tax: The 90-Days Deadline and Deductions The number that surprises heirs is not the rate — it is the deadline. The Dominican inheritance tax stands at a comparatively modest 3% of the estate, but the tax return must be filed within ninety days of death. For a grieving family scattered across […]
Contesting Paternity in the Dominican Republic: DNA Evidence, Court Process and What’s at Stake Paternity is not only a family matter — it is a financial one. In the Dominican Republic, a legally established father owes child support and, at death, passes forced inheritance rights to the child. When the biological reality does not match […]
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