Dominican real estate property inheritance is subject to the application of Dominican Law.

Under Dominican Law, there are two very important aspects of Dominican property inheritance which have an impact on Dominican property inheritance of real estate assets of a deceased individual: the time and domicile of the deceased.

The time of opening of a state is the day that death occurs. Based on this rule of law, it is understood that the rights to the estate of an individual are transmitted to the potential heirs and beneficiaries at the time of death. Consequently, the time of opening of a state for purposes of Dominican property inheritance is important as it has an impact on the determination of who are the individuals legally entitled and capable of receiving the assets from the constituent.

On the other hand, the place of opening of a state for purposes of Dominican property inheritance is determined by the domicile of the deceased individual, according to the provisions of Section 110 of the Civil Code of the Dominican Republic (DCC). The place of opening of a succession for purposes of Dominican property inheritance is relevant since the competent court for filing any lawsuit derived from a testamentary or intestate succession should be that of the domicile of the deceased individual. That being said, what exactly constitutes a “domicile”?

Pursuant to Section 102 of the DCC, the domicile of any Dominican, for exercising his civil rights, is the place of his principal establishment. In some cases, the place of principal establishment for purposes of Dominican property inheritance does not turn out to be obvious, therefore, in order to determine the domicile certain questions of fact should be evaluated or priority should be given to the place where most of the assets are located.

Notwithstanding the above, in the event that the assets derived from a succession for purposes of Dominican property inheritance are found to be partially or totally located in the Dominican Republic, all the matters surrounding the succession of such assets should be carried out in accordance with the Dominican successions laws, as per the provisions of Section 3 of the DCC.

In case that an individual able to inherit (pursuant to the provisions of the Dominican laws) is a foreigner, he shall be entitled to the same rights as those set forth for Dominican successors, and shall be subject to the compliance of the duties and obligations indicated in Law 2569 of Tax on Successions and Donations, with regards to the assets located in the Dominican Republic.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dra. Maria Arthur Rodger is a Partner leading the Tax & Private Client areas at Arthur & Castillo Law Firm and Attorneys in the Dominican Republic. She specializes in tax and real estate advisory (Tax LLMs in Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C. & Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona) with more than 20 years of experience. Dra. Maria Arthur is also a CPA, Certified Bankruptcy Liquidator and Legal Interpreter.

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Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide legal advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the law may have changed since publication. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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