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Useful Information
Inheriting Property in Mexico
If you have inherited property in Mexico it is recommended that you move into first position and establish new beneficiaries in trust.
If you are from Canada, you'll need to have the death certificate certified and then take it to the nearest Mexican consulate to be ratified. At the same time you'll all sign a letter of instruction to the bank holding the trust, have it notarized and take that to the consulate as well. The letter will instruct the bank to recognize you as the new primary beneficiaries. Once that is done the Notario will draw up a public instrument establishing you as the primary beneficiaries and that will be registered with the city authorities. Contact us for information of costs and time involved. If the heir is in the US, the same process applies except that you would have to use an Apostille for the paperwork instead of having to go to the Mexican Consulate.
What is a FIDEICOMISO?
It’s a real estate contract whereby a foreign national acquires the benefits of using an immovable asset located within the Country’s restricted area for a period of 50 years. This trust may be renewed when certain conditions are complied with. Title of the property in question is held for a fee by a Mexican bank officially authorized to celebrate this type of transactions.
Under Mexican law the beneficiary of the trust (i.e. the foreign national) may lease, sell or transfer the beneficiary rights in question, in compliance with the applicable statutes. The official involvement of a Public Notary is of the essence in the entering of a Fideicomiso. This cumbersome system which has been in operation since 1973, was legally devised to allow foreigners to have the beneficiary rights in question when one considers that, pursuant to Article 27 (I) of the Constitution of Mexico, foreigners are prohibited from acquiring any direct ownership over any immovable assets located within Mexico’s Restricted Zone. This kind of trust contract allows foreigners to enjoy Real Estate located along the Mexican coastline without violating Mexico’s Constitution.
Legally three parties are involved in this contract:
1) The beneficiary (Fideicomisario), who is the individual foreigner (or corporation ) who enjoys the beneficiary use of the piece of real estate in question; 2) A fiduciary institution (Institucion Fiduciaria), e. g. a duly authorized Mexican bank, who hold title of the asset for the duration of the Fideicomiso contract charging an agreed fee for each of the services it provides to the beneficiary; and 3) the trustor (fideicomitente), a Mexican national who receives from the beneficiary the agreed price for the piece of real estate which is placed under the Fideicomiso contract, to be administered by the fiduciary institution.
Under the Mexican Law, the Fideicomiso contract is governed by:
1) the General Act of Negotiable Instruments and Credit Operations (Ley General de Titulos y Operaciones de Credito); 2) the Foreign Investment Act of 1993, as amended in 1996 and its Regulations.