Buying Property in Brazil by Power of Attorney: Closing From Abroad

Most foreign buyers assume the closing is the one part of a Brazilian purchase they will have to fly in for. The deed is signed before a notary, the money changes hands, the registrar enters the new owner — surely the buyer has to be in the room.

They do not. Brazilian law has allowed acts to be performed through a representative since long before anyone bought property by e-mail, and the procuração — the power of attorney — is a mature, routine instrument in real-estate practice. Sellers use it. Developers use it. Heirs abroad use it in almost every estate. A foreign buyer can use it to have a preliminary contract signed, the transfer tax paid, the public deed executed and the title registered without setting foot in Brazil.

What the buyer cannot do is treat the instrument as a formality. A power of attorney that is private when it needed to be public, generic where it needed to be specific, unlegalized, mistranslated, or inconsistent with the buyer’s passport and CPF will be refused by the notary or returned by the registrar — usually at the moment the seller is least patient. This guide, prepared by the ZS Advogados Associados team for foreign nationals buying property in Brazil and their advisers, follows the instrument from drafting to registration: what it must say, where it is signed, how it is legalized, what the representative does with it, and what still requires the buyer personally. It is educational content, not advice on any transaction.

Can a property purchase in Brazil be completed by power of attorney?

Yes, in full. The Civil Code defines the mandate as the contract by which one person receives powers from another to perform acts or manage interests in their name (Lei nº 10.406/2002, art. 653), and the procuração is the instrument of that mandate. Nothing in the property rules requires the buyer to attend the deed in person; what they require is that whoever signs holds sufficient, properly formed and current powers.

The acts a representative can perform in a purchase include, in the usual order:

1. signing the compromisso de compra e venda — the binding preliminary contract — and paying the deposit (arras);
2. registering the buyer’s CPF where it does not yet exist;
3. opening or operating a bank account and closing the exchange contract that brings the purchase price into Brazil;
4. obtaining and paying the ITBI, the municipal transfer tax, and the notary’s and registrar’s fees;
5. signing the escritura pública de compra e venda — the public deed — before the notary;
6. presenting the deed at the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis, answering any registrar requisition, and collecting the updated matrícula;
7. taking possession, transferring utilities and condominium records, and signing the tax-representation documents a non-resident owner needs afterwards.

What the instrument cannot replace is the buyer’s own judgment. The decision to buy, the acceptance of the due-diligence findings, the approval of the price and the choice of representative remain the buyer’s, and a well-drafted power of attorney reflects that by fixing the property and the price rather than leaving them open.

Legal basis: Código Civil, arts. 653–692 (mandate), in particular arts. 653, 654, 657, 661, 667 and 682; transfer of ownership by registration — arts. 1.245–1.247; contents and registration of the deed — Lei nº 6.015/1973, arts. 167 and 176.

Why must the power of attorney be a public instrument?

Because the act it authorizes is one. Art. 108 of the Civil Code reads: “Unless the law provides otherwise, a public deed is essential to the validity of transactions that aim at the constitution, transfer, modification or renunciation of real rights over immovable property worth more than thirty times the highest minimum wage in force in the country.” Art. 657 then provides that the grant of a mandate is subject to the form required by law for the act to be performed. A representative who signs a public deed therefore needs a public power of attorney — a procuração pública.

“Public” here refers to the form, not to the place. The instrument is public when it is drawn up by an officer with notarial authority: a Brazilian tabelião de notas, a Brazilian consular officer acting abroad, or a foreign notary whose act is then recognized in Brazil through legalization, translation and registration. A private instrument with a notarized signature (procuração particular com firma reconhecida) is valid for many purposes — it can support the preliminary contract, for instance — but it will not carry the deed.

Thirty times the minimum wage is a low ceiling — a figure in the tens of thousands of reais, well below the price of any ordinary flat. In practice every urban property purchase by a foreign buyer falls inside art. 108. Do not plan around the exception.

The notary’s own duties are set nationally. Since 2023 the rules for Brazilian notaries and registrars have been consolidated in a single instrument: Provimento CNJ nº 149, de 30 de agosto de 2023, which instituted the Código Nacional de Normas da Corregedoria Nacional de Justiça — Foro Extrajudicial (CNN/CN/CNJ-Extra). It has been amended many times since — by more than forty later provimentos through 2025 — so the consolidated text on the CNJ site, not a copy of the original, is the one to read. Art. 150 of that Code is the provision a remote buyer feels most directly: before drawing up a notarial act, the notary must verify that the powers in a power of attorney are current, and must decline to act if aware that they have been revoked or modified.

Legal basis: Código Civil, arts. 108 and 657. The notarial form and the notary’s duties are regulated by Lei nº 8.935/1994 and by the Conselho Nacional de Justiça’s Código Nacional de Normas — Foro Extrajudicial, instituted by Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023 and amended since (art. 150 on verifying that powers are current).

Where is the instrument signed — consulate, foreign notary, or Brazil?

There are three realistic routes, and they converge on the same result: a Portuguese-language public instrument that a Brazilian notary and registrar will accept.

Route	How it is executed	Legalization needed	Translation needed	Registration at RTD
Brazilian consulate abroad — buyers who hold Brazilian nationality (LINDB, art. 18)	Consular officer draws up the procuração pública in Portuguese; buyer signs in person	None — already a Brazilian public document	None	Generally not required for a consular instrument, though some registrars ask; confirm locally
Foreign notary (Hague Convention country) — the standard route for a foreign national	Local notary notarizes the instrument, usually in the local language or bilingual	Apostille under the Hague Convention (Decreto nº 8.660/2016)	Sworn translation into Portuguese by a tradutor público	Yes — Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 129, 6º
Foreign notary (non-Hague country)	Local notary notarizes; then consular legalization by a Brazilian consulate	Consular legalization instead of apostille	Sworn translation	Yes
In Brazil, during an earlier visit	Brazilian tabelião de notas draws up the instrument	None	None	Not required

The consular route produces the cleanest document — for the buyers to whom it is open. Under art. 18 of the LINDB (Decreto-Lei nº 4.657/1942), Brazilian consular authorities exercise notarial and civil-registry functions abroad for Brazilian nationals. Where the buyer holds Brazilian nationality, the post draws up the power of attorney in Portuguese on its own forms, identifies the grantor by passport, and keeps the instrument in its books, so a certidão (certified copy) can later be issued to show the mandate is still in force. The limitations are the nationality condition and logistics: appointments can be scarce and the grantor must attend in person. A buyer who is a foreign national uses the local-notary route — notarisation, apostille (or consular legalisation where the country is not a Hague party), sworn translation and RTD registration.

The foreign-notary route is often the quickest to start and the longest to finish. The notary’s act is a foreign public document; to produce effects in Brazil it must be apostilled by the competent authority of the issuing country under the Hague Apostille Convention, which Brazil has applied since 2016, then translated into Portuguese by a sworn translator, and then — together with the translation — registered at a Registro de Títulos e Documentos in Brazil, which the registry law requires for foreign documents to produce effects before Brazilian authorities and registries. Each step is straightforward; the sequence adds days or weeks.

Signing in Brazil on an earlier trip is worth considering when the buyer visits to view properties: a public power of attorney drawn up by a local notary on that visit avoids every legalization step, and can be drafted broadly enough to cover the eventual purchase by fixing a price ceiling and describing the target property or area.

Whichever route is used, the instrument should be executed in, or translated into, Portuguese with legal terminology a Brazilian notary recognizes. A literal translation of a common-law “power of attorney” form frequently lacks the specific Brazilian powers the deed requires and has to be redone.

Legal basis: Decreto nº 8.660/2016 (Hague Apostille Convention); Lei nº 14.195/2021, arts. 22–34 (sworn translators); Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 129, 6º, which subjects “all documents of foreign origin, accompanied by their respective translations” to registration at the Registro de Títulos e Documentos in order to produce effects before federal, state and municipal authorities or in any court. Consular notarial and civil-registry functions are exercised abroad for Brazilian nationals under LINDB (Decreto-Lei nº 4.657/1942), art. 18, and the consular service rules of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; confirm the procedure and the documents with the post, because consular practice varies by post.

What must the power of attorney say?

The Civil Code distinguishes general powers, which cover ordinary administration, from special powers, which must be granted expressly for acts such as disposing of property, settling disputes or any other act that requires them (art. 661, §1º). Acquiring real estate through a public deed is treated in notarial practice as requiring special, express powers, and the instrument is drafted accordingly. Notaries and registrars read the powers narrowly: an act not named is an act not authorized.

A purchase power of attorney typically contains:

• Full identification of the grantor — name exactly as in the passport, nationality, marital status and property regime, profession, passport number, CPF, and address abroad. The name must match the CPF record and the passport character for character.
• Full identification of the attorney-in-fact — for a Brazilian lawyer, name, CPF, OAB number and address.
• The property — matrícula number, registry office, address and, where useful, the seller’s name. Where the buyer has not yet chosen between properties, the instrument can describe a class of property and a municipality, but the narrower the description the fewer questions at the deed.
• The price — a fixed amount or a ceiling, and the power to pay it, give receipts and agree the payment mechanics.
• The specific acts — to sign the preliminary contract and any amendment; to sign the public deed of purchase and sale; to pay the ITBI, notary and registry fees; to obtain certificates in the grantor’s name; to register a CPF or update its record; to open, operate or close bank accounts and to close exchange contracts; to present the deed for registration, answer requisitions and request rectifications; to take possession and deal with utilities and the condominium; to appoint a tax representative and sign the related filings.
• Substitution (substabelecimento) — whether the attorney-in-fact may delegate to another, with or without reservation of their own powers (art. 655), which is useful when signings happen in a distant city.
• Term — a stated validity or none; and a clause that the powers are granted for the specified transaction.

What it should not contain is a power to sell or encumber the property once acquired, unless that is genuinely intended. A purchase mandate and a disposal mandate are different instruments, and combining them without need creates exposure the buyer does not want.

Legal basis: Código Civil, arts. 654 (contents of a private instrument, applied by analogy to drafting), 655 (substitution), 661 (general and special powers), 667 (duties of the attorney-in-fact).

How does the representative actually close?

With the instrument legalized and in hand, the closing proceeds in the same sequence as any Brazilian purchase; the difference is who signs. Due diligence comes first and is not the subject of this guide — our matrícula and certidões guide covers it — but nothing below should happen until it is complete.

Step	What the representative does under the POA	What the buyer still does personally
Preliminary contract	Negotiates and signs the compromisso; pays the deposit as instructed	Approves the terms, the price and the deposit
CPF	Registers or regularizes the buyer’s CPF at Receita Federal	Supplies passport and data; confirms the name form to use everywhere
Money in	Coordinates the exchange contract with the bank; signs it where the POA allows	Orders the wire from their own account abroad; supplies source-of-funds evidence
ITBI	Requests the guide from the municipality and pays it	Funds it
Deed	Signs the escritura pública before the notary as the buyer’s attorney-in-fact	Nothing — this is the step the POA exists for
Registration	Presents the deed at the Registro de Imóveis; answers any nota devolutiva; collects the updated matrícula	Nothing, beyond funding fees
Possession	Takes the keys, transfers utilities, notifies the condominium	Decides on management, insurance and letting
After closing	Signs tax-representation documents; keeps the CPF regular	Keeps records; instructs on rental and future sale

Two steps deserve emphasis.

The deed. The notary will examine the power of attorney before drawing up the deed: the form (public), the powers (specific and sufficient for this property and price), the identification (matching the CPF record and passport), the legalization chain (apostille, translation, RTD registration) and its currency (evidence it has not been revoked). The notary will also verify the buyer’s CPF status and the seller’s certificates, and record in the deed that the ITBI has been paid. A defect in any of these usually means the signing is postponed, not that the notary improvises.

The registration. The registrar performs an independent examination (qualificação registral) of the deed and the underlying power of attorney, and may issue a requisition listing what must be corrected before the title is entered. Common items are a name inconsistency between documents, a missing certificate, a marital-status error, or an unlegalized page.

Two deadlines matter here, and both were shortened by Lei nº 14.382/2022, which rewrote the relevant articles of the registry law. First: having protocolled the title, the registrar must proceed to register it or issue a nota devolutiva within ten days of the protocol date (Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 188), and where there are no requisitions and the fees are paid, purchase-and-sale deeds without special clauses, documents presented electronically through the SERP, and titles re-entered with all earlier requisitions satisfied must be registered within five days (art. 188, §1º). Second: the prenotação — the protocol entry that fixes priority while the examination runs — ceases automatically twenty days after it was entered, if the title has not been registered because the applicant failed to meet the requisitions (art. 205). That twenty-day window is why a power of attorney should expressly authorise the representative to answer requisitions and request rectifications: losing priority means going back to the queue behind anything filed in the meantime.

The buyer becomes the owner only when the entry is made on the matrícula (art. 1.245, §1º); the entry, once made, is presumed accurate until altered (arts. 1.245, §2º, and 1.247).

Legal basis: Código Civil, arts. 1.245–1.247; Lei nº 6.015/1973, arts. 167, 176, 182–186 (protocol and priority), 188 and 205 (registration deadline and lapse of the prenotação, both in the wording given by Lei nº 14.382/2022), 198 et seq. (requisitions and disputes), 212 et seq. (rectification); Lei nº 7.433/1985, art. 1º, §2º, in the wording given by Lei nº 13.097/2015 (the notary records the presentation of proof of the transfer tax and the tax, title and encumbrance certificates).

What is changing: electronic notarial acts and electronic registration

Two developments have shortened the physical chain for remote buyers, though neither yet removes the need for a properly formed power of attorney in most foreign-buyer cases.

e-Notariado — and why it is probably not your route. Brazilian notaries may perform notarial acts electronically, by videoconference. The framework began with Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020, which is no longer in force: it was revoked by Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023, and the rules now sit inside the Código Nacional de Normas at arts. 284 and following. Anything you read that cites Provimento 100/2020 as current is citing a revoked act — worth knowing, because a great deal of foreign-buyer material still does.

The substance largely survived the move, and it contains two gates that a buyer sitting abroad usually cannot pass:

• The certificate must be issued after identification in person. Access to e-Notariado is by digital signature using a certificado digital notarizado (art. 292), which the Code defines as “the digital identity of a natural or legal person identified in person by a notary vested with public faith” (art. 285, II). The notary issues it free of charge to clients of the notarial service, for exclusive and time-limited use (art. 292, §4º), and since 2025 a user may ask for it to be revoked and re-issued by any other notary (§6º). A buyer who has never been to Brazil, and has never been identified in person by a Brazilian notary, does not have one and cannot obtain one remotely.
• Territorial competence is absolute. Art. 289 states it flatly: competence for the acts regulated in that section “is absolute and shall observe the territorial circumscription in which the notary received their delegation”. For an electronic deed, that means the notary of the property’s circunscrição or of the acquirer’s domicile, remotely and exclusively (art. 302); for an electronic public power of attorney, the notary of the grantor’s domicile or of the location of the property (art. 303, sole paragraph).

Every electronic act also requires a notarial videoconference capturing the parties’ consent, with the notary signing under an ICP-Brasil certificate (art. 292, §3º), and remote identification of the parties against the original electronic identity document plus whatever further verification the notary considers adequate (art. 301).

What the Code does not do is provide a route for a grantor located outside Brazil. There is no provision contemplating a signatory abroad, no certificate obtainable without in-person identification by a Brazilian notary, and no relaxation of the territorial rule for someone with no Brazilian domicile. Treat e-Notariado as a convenience for people who are in Brazil, or who have been identified there before — not as a substitute for the consular power of attorney or the apostilled foreign instrument. Those two routes, described above, remain the ones that work from abroad.

SERP and electronic registration. Lei nº 14.382/2022 created the Sistema Eletrônico dos Registros Públicos, and deeds are increasingly presented and examined electronically through the registrars’ national platform — with a payoff: a document presented electronically through the SERP falls in the five-day registration bracket of Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 188, §1º, rather than the ten-day default. This changes how the representative files, not what must be filed.

Neither development changes the substance: the powers must be special and express, the form must match the act, and the identities must align.

Legal basis: Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023 (Código Nacional de Normas — Foro Extrajudicial), arts. 284 ff. on electronic notarial acts, in particular arts. 285, II (notarised digital certificate; identification in person), 289 (absolute territorial competence), 292 and §§3º, 4º and 6º, 301, 302 and 303, sole paragraph; Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020, revoked by Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023; Lei nº 14.382/2022 (SERP) and Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 188, §1º.

What still requires the buyer personally?

The power of attorney moves signatures, not responsibilities. The following remain with the buyer regardless of who signs the deed:

• The decision and the price. A representative acts within the instrument; a good instrument fixes the property and the price precisely so that the decision is visibly the buyer’s.
• The source of funds. The exchange bank identifies its client and asks where the money came from. The wire has to leave an account in the buyer’s name, or the relationship between payer and buyer has to be documented. Our companion guide on sending money to Brazil for a property purchase covers this.
• The CPF and its data. The buyer supplies the passport and personal data, and decides which form of the name will be used everywhere — see CPF for foreigners buying property in Brazil.
• Marital status and regime. The buyer states them; the notary records them; for couples married abroad the regime is generally the one applicable at the first marital domicile (LINDB, art. 7º, §4º), and a marriage certificate, apostilled and translated, may be required.
• Restricted land. A power of attorney does not lift the restrictions on the acquisition of rural land by foreigners under Lei nº 5.709/1971, nor the special rules that apply to land in the border strip. If the property is rural, coastal or near a frontier, that classification is answered before anything is signed.
• Ongoing ownership. A non-resident owner needs someone in Brazil to receive notices and, if the property is let, to withhold and report tax on the rent. That representation can be included in the same power of attorney or granted separately.

An illustrative scenario

Hypothetical illustration — not a real client.

Imagine a Canadian buyer who has agreed a price for a house in a coastal town in Bahia and cannot travel before the seller’s deadline. She signs a power of attorney before a notary in Toronto naming a Brazilian attorney, with express powers to sign the preliminary contract and the deed for that specific matrícula at a stated ceiling price, to pay the ITBI and fees, to close exchange contracts, to register her CPF and to present the deed for registration. The instrument is apostilled in Ontario, couriered to Brazil, translated by a sworn translator and registered at a Registro de Títulos e Documentos.

Before anything is signed, the attorney’s due diligence classifies the land as urban and clears the seller’s certificates. The CPF is registered, the exchange contract is closed in her name, the ITBI is paid, and the attorney signs the deed before the local notary. The registrar’s examination returns one requisition: the translation renders her middle name differently from the passport. The translator issues a corrected version, the RTD registration is updated, and the deed is entered on the matrícula three weeks later. She receives the updated matrícula by e-mail and visits the house for the first time the following season.

Every distinguishing detail here is invented to show how the steps connect. Real transactions turn on their own facts and require individual analysis by a licensed professional. Nothing in this example predicts any outcome.

What are the most common mistakes?

• Using a private instrument for a public act. A notarized-signature power of attorney will not carry the deed; the form must be public (Código Civil, arts. 108 and 657).
• Generic powers. “All acts necessary” is not a special power. Name the property, the price and each act (art. 661, §1º).
• Skipping a legalization step. A foreign notarial instrument needs apostille, sworn translation and RTD registration, in that order; missing any one of them stops the deed.
• Inconsistent identity. Name, marital status and nationality must match across passport, CPF record, power of attorney and deed.
• Appointing an interested party. The seller’s broker, the seller’s lawyer or a co-party is not an independent representative.
• Letting the instrument go stale. Notaries ask for evidence of non-revocation; plan to refresh a consular or foreign instrument if the closing slips by months.
• Forgetting the spouse. A co-owning spouse needs their own CPF and powers; marital regime must be stated correctly even when only one spouse buys.
• Assuming the POA cures a rural or border-strip restriction. It does not; classify the land first (Lei nº 5.709/1971 and the rules on the border strip).

Remote closing at a glance

Question	Short answer	Anchor
Can the deed be signed by a representative?	Yes, with express special powers	Código Civil, arts. 653, 661, §1º
What form must the POA take?	Public — because the deed is public above 30× the minimum wage	Código Civil, arts. 108, 657
Where can it be executed?	Brazilian consulate, for a grantor who is a Brazilian national; otherwise a foreign notary with apostille, translation and RTD; or a Brazilian notary on an earlier visit	LINDB art. 18; Decreto 8.660/2016; Lei 6.015/1973, art. 129, 6º
What must it name?	Grantor and attorney-in-fact, property, price, each act, substitution, term	Código Civil, arts. 654, 655, 661
When does ownership pass?	On registration of the deed on the matrícula	Código Civil, art. 1.245
Who should be appointed?	An independent professional with duties to the buyer	Código Civil, art. 667; Estatuto da Advocacia
Can it be revoked?	Yes, at any time, by the grantor — and the notary must check it is still current	Código Civil, art. 682; Prov. CNJ 149/2023, art. 150
How fast must the registrar act?	Register or issue a requisition within 10 days of protocol; 5 days for a clean purchase deed or a SERP filing	Lei 6.015/1973, art. 188 and §1º
How long does priority last?	The prenotação lapses 20 days after protocol if requisitions go unanswered	Lei 6.015/1973, art. 205
Can it be signed electronically from abroad?	No — the Code makes no provision for a grantor abroad; the certificate requires in-person identification by a Brazilian notary and territorial competence is absolute	Prov. CNJ 149/2023, arts. 285, II, 289 and 292

Key terms

• Procuração — the instrument of a mandate; the power of attorney.
• Procuração pública — a power of attorney drawn up by a notary, or by a Brazilian consular officer for a grantor who holds Brazilian nationality (LINDB, art. 18); required for signing a public deed.
• Poderes especiais — special powers that must be granted expressly for acts such as disposing of property or, in notarial practice, acquiring it by public deed.
• Apostila — the Hague Convention certificate that authenticates a foreign public document for use in Brazil.
• Tradução juramentada — translation by a sworn public translator, required for foreign-language documents to produce effects in Brazil.
• Registro de Títulos e Documentos (RTD) — the registry at which foreign documents and their translations are registered so that they produce effects before Brazilian authorities.
• Escritura pública — the public deed drawn up by a notary; its registration transfers ownership.
• Nota devolutiva — a registrar’s requisition listing defects to be corrected before registration.
• Substabelecimento — delegation by the attorney-in-fact of some or all powers to another person.

Key takeaways

• A foreign buyer can complete the entire purchase — preliminary contract, CPF, exchange operation, ITBI, deed and registration — through a representative under a power of attorney.
• The instrument must be public in form because a public deed is essential above thirty times the minimum wage (Código Civil, arts. 108 and 657), and must grant special and express powers (art. 661, §1º).
• It can be executed at a Brazilian consulate (no legalization) where the buyer holds Brazilian nationality (LINDB, art. 18); otherwise before a foreign notary (apostille, sworn translation, RTD registration under Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 129, 6º), or in Brazil on an earlier visit.
• It should identify the property and the price, name each act — including answering registry requisitions — and match the buyer’s passport and CPF exactly.
• Ownership passes on registration, not on signing (art. 1.245). The registrar must register or return the title within ten days of protocol, five for a clean purchase deed or a SERP filing (Lei nº 6.015/1973, art. 188), and the prenotação lapses after twenty days if requisitions go unanswered (art. 205).
• Notaries must verify the powers are current before acting (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023, art. 150) — so plan to refresh an instrument that is more than a few months old.
• e-Notariado is not a route from abroad. The Código Nacional de Normas (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023, arts. 284 ff.) requires a certificado digital notarizado issued after identification in person by a Brazilian notary (art. 285, II) and treats territorial competence as absolute (art. 289). It makes no provision for a grantor located outside Brazil. Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020, still cited in much online material, is revoked.
• The power of attorney does not change who must supply the funds, who decides, or whether the land is restricted under Lei nº 5.709/1971 and the border-strip rules.

Related guides on this site

• CPF for foreigners buying property in Brazil — the number every step of the closing runs on
• Sending money to Brazil for a property purchase — the exchange contract and the record that supports repatriation
• Brazil real estate due diligence: matrícula guide — what must be cleared before anyone signs
• Foreigners buying property in Brazil: complete guide — the end-to-end process
• Real estate due diligence checklist for Brazil — printable document list
• Regularizing Brazilian rental-income tax as a non-resident — what the representative does after closing if you let the property

Related service pages: closing by power of attorney · buying property in Brazil · power of attorney guide · choosing the right power of attorney for a Brazilian property · CPF for a property purchase.

Estimate the ITBI, notary and registry costs for your city with our property closing cost calculator, and see how we structure a remote purchase on our buying property in Brazil page.

How ZS Advogados can help

A remote closing is a sequencing problem. The power of attorney has to be drafted for the specific property and price, executed in the right form, legalized in the right order and kept current; the CPF, the exchange contract and the ITBI have to line up under one consistent identity; the deed has to satisfy the notary and the registrar on the first examination. When those pieces are planned together, buyers who never travel receive an updated matrícula in their name as a matter of routine.

Our team drafts and legalizes purchase powers of attorney, runs the due diligence, coordinates the exchange contract with the bank, signs the deed and presents it for registration on the ground, and sets up the ongoing representation a non-resident owner needs. We work in English and Portuguese and coordinate with your advisers abroad. Every purchase is different, and no general guide replaces individual analysis of your property, your seller and your circumstances.

• Real estate law — contracts, deed, registration and closing for foreign buyers
• International law — powers of attorney executed abroad, apostille, translation, foreign-exchange compliance
• Tax law — non-resident ownership, rental withholding and the eventual sale

Book a consultation to have the power of attorney drafted for your property before the seller’s deadline arrives.

Technical review by the ZS Advogados Associados team, including co-founding partner Karina Peres Silvério (OAB/SP 331.050) and founding partner Zachariah Zagol (OAB/SP 351.356). Contact: zac@zsassociados.com — +55 (18) 3908-1653 — Presidente Prudente, SP.

Sources and legal basis

• Lei nº 10.406/2002 — Código Civil, arts. 108, 653–692, 1.245–1.247, 1.647 (Planalto)
• Lei nº 6.015/1973 — Public Registries Law, arts. 129, 167, 176, 182–216 (Planalto)
• Lei nº 7.433/1985 — requirements for public deeds of real estate (Planalto)
• Lei nº 8.935/1994 — notarial and registry services (Planalto)
• Decreto nº 8.660/2016 — Hague Apostille Convention (Planalto)
• Lei nº 14.195/2021 — sworn translators, arts. 22–34 (Planalto)
• Lei nº 14.382/2022 — Sistema Eletrônico dos Registros Públicos (Planalto)
• Lei nº 5.709/1971 — acquisition of rural land by foreigners (Planalto)
• Decreto-Lei nº 4.657/1942 — LINDB, art. 7º (Planalto)
• Conselho Nacional de Justiça — Provimento nº 149, de 30 de agosto de 2023: Código Nacional de Normas — Foro Extrajudicial (consolidated text)
• Conselho Nacional de Justiça — Provimento nº 100/2020, e-Notariado (revoked by Provimento nº 149/2023; retained for reference)
• Ministério das Relações Exteriores — consular services: powers of attorney

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This guide is for informational and educational purposes only, in line with Provimento No. 205/2021 of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). It is not legal advice, an opinion, or an offer of services, does not refer to any specific case, and does not guarantee any result. It describes Brazilian law and practice. Notarial and registry practice varies by state and by office, consular procedures vary by post, and the rules on electronic notarial acts continue to evolve; always confirm against official and current sources. Rules and provisions are cited as of August 2026; changes after that date are not reflected. Each situation requires individual analysis by a licensed attorney. Last updated August 2026.