I’m wondering if anyone knows what the administrative benefits and efficiencies would be to having a will in Portugal saying basically the same thing that the law already dictates. Currently, per Portuguese law my spouse would get everything, and that is the same thing I would put in my will, which seems redundant and unnecessary without some kind of legal fast tracking attached to it. Is this just a case of the lawyers keeping their jobs, or something more akin to using a trust to bypass probate in the US?
We are in the Golden Visa category, where I suspect a preponderance are not resident in Portugal. In this case, done right, the will allows the PT property to pass under the PT will and other property to be handled under other law. So maybe this isn’t the right place to inquire.
On the other hand, no will means property will pass according to whatever law is determined to apply to it.