📌 Does the head of the estate have to render accounts?

When someone passes away, the estate does not remain unmanaged.

Until the estate is divided, one person is responsible for its administration: the head of the estate (under Portuguese law, the cabeça de casal).

But administering an estate is not a matter of acting freely.

The law imposes a clear duty:

👉 to render accounts of the estate’s administration.

In practical terms, this means providing justification for:

• rents received

• payments made

• expenses incurred

• bank movements

• acts of administration carried out

This is not about distrust.

It is about transparency.

The obligation arises from the very exercise of administration and continues as long as the estate remains undivided.

It does not depend on the existence of probate proceedings.

It does not depend on formal appointment.

It depends on the actual exercise of the function.

Two important points are often overlooked:

🔹 The role is, as a rule, unpaid.

It cannot be used to charge the estate for personal expenses or for costs arising from private disputes.

🔹 Income belonging to the estate remains estate property, even if received through third parties.

And it is important to be clear:

If the head of the estate does not voluntarily render accounts,

👉 the heirs may bring a legal action to compel the rendering of accounts.

Administration is a power.

But it is also a responsibility.

Rendering accounts protects everyone:

• the heirs

• the administrator

• and the integrity of the estate itself

Because in inheritance matters, transparency is not optional.

#InheritanceLaw #SuccessionLaw #EstateAdministration #Portugal