How I can help
Where are you right now?
Settle
Passing assets between generations and between people in a relationship, in an orderly and secure way.
- Probate in Brazil, in court or out of court
- Succession planning: wills, lifetime gifts and family holding companies
- Divorce and dissolution of stable unions, with division of assets
- Tax planning for the transfer: ITCMD (inheritance and gift tax), income tax and capital gains
Protect
Looking after the people, and the assets, of those who need support. Managing is also protecting.
- Guardianship (curatela) and supported decision-making
- Managing the ward’s assets: accounting and court authorization to sell or lease
- Management of property portfolios for individuals, families and companies: administration, leasing and sale
Buy and sell
Full counsel to close deals safely.
- Due diligence on the property and the parties involved
- Negotiation and drafting of the main and ancillary deal documents
- Review of the tax base and handling of the taxes due on the transaction (ITBI)
- Support from drafting to signing of the public deed at the notary, and from filing to registration at the Real Estate Registry
- Off-plan units under real estate development, for the developer or for the buyer
- Property auctions: risk assessment before bidding and the steps to formalize the purchase, through registration and possession of the property
- Tailored deals: financing, physical and/or financial swaps and the specific terms of each case, especially for complex assets
Build
Understanding what urban regulation allows before you build, develop or renovate.
- Legal and urban planning matters with the municipality: zoning, parameters, feasibility and project approval
- Real estate development: structuring and registering the development filing (memorial de incorporação), phased or not, at the Real Estate Registry
- Support in obtaining the occupancy permit (habite-se) and similar licenses
- Building potential: legal analysis, paid grant of building rights and transfer of development rights
- Legal discussion of planning obligations and of environmental, heritage-listing and cultural restrictions, including dealings with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and other agencies and conduct adjustment agreements (TACs)
Regularize
When the property on the ground doesn’t match the paperwork: bringing the building, the municipal records and the title up to date.
- Legalizing works and additions with the municipality, with an impact assessment
- Registry update of the property title, covering ownership, construction, liens, encumbrances and other elements
- Area rectification, including rural properties: legal guidance on the technical work of engineers and architects, so it meets registry and municipal requirements
- IPTU property tax: review of overcharges, exemptions and recovery of amounts paid in error
Share a building
Relations between people who co-own the same property, and between neighbors in the same building.
- Co-ownership of a single property, such as by heirs or partners: use, expenses, sale and ending the co-ownership
- Condominium buildings, where each owns a unit and shares the common areas: bylaws and house rules
- Ongoing legal counsel to building managers and management companies: daily operations, controls, collection of overdue fees, owners’ meetings and penalties
- Litigation between owners and with the condominium
Rent
Guidance on the lease relationship and strategies to prevent disputes, for owners and tenants alike.
- Drafting, review and negotiation of residential and commercial leases
- Disputes over guarantees, rent adjustment, inspection, improvements and return of the property
- Formal communication strategy with the other party: before, during and after formal notices
- Actions under the Brazilian Tenancy Law: eviction, rent collection, payment into court, rent review and lease renewal
- Ongoing counsel to property managers and rental portfolio managers
The city begins at your front door.
In my research, I study the mismatch between city hall and the land registry: municipal tax records on one side, the property registry on the other, and people caught in between. In my PhD at UNIRIO, I look at how this institutional design pushes properties, and people, into informality. In my master’s at UERJ, I studied how taxation can foster more sustainable cities.
It is the same problem that shows up in the firm’s cases every day. That is why research informs each case, and also becomes legal and legislative opinions and advisory work, for municipalities and beyond.
Tell me about your case.
Book a conversation on WhatsApp so we can work out together how I can help.