Who Gets Your Puerto Vallarta Home? You Decide.

Over the years we have had clients pass away, and in some cases their beneficiaries had never even been to Mexico. They expected the worst, because that is what inheriting a house in another country sounds like. What they found was a plan that had been settled on the day of closing, years earlier. One family needed about eight months to gather the documents, get their passports and sign the deed, and they kept the property and love it today.

I tell every buyer the same thing: the best time to decide who gets your home is when you buy it.

Here is how it works. Along the coast you hold your property through a fideicomiso, which is a bank trust. The bank holds the title for your benefit, and you keep every right an owner has. When we set up the trust, you name substitute beneficiaries. If you pass away, those people step into your place, and there is no Mexican probate court involved. I have confirmed this with a Mexican attorney we work with, and it works the same way at every bank.

What I like most is how flexible it is. You can name as many people as you want, put them in order, split the property by percentage, and even name a company. For couples, I suggest naming each other first and then your children or whoever you choose next, so the plan still works if something happens to both of you at the same time.

What your family will do someday

They will need the death certificate, with an apostille and a Spanish translation if it came from another country. They will show ID and a passport, fill out a know-your-customer form and sign a new deed that makes them the owners. If they live abroad they can give a power of attorney so someone signs for them. Once the paperwork is in order, the transfer itself takes about six weeks. Gathering documents, passports and apostilles from abroad can add a lot of time, and the family I mentioned needed about eight months from start to finish.

Let me be straight about costs

Mexico has no inheritance tax, but there is a transfer tax any time a property changes hands, and it is the biggest piece. Depending on the assessed value it runs roughly $7,000 to $20,000 USD. It is better to know that now than to have your family find out later, and it is one more reason to ask for an itemized estimate early.

Three things I ask every owner to do

1. Check your names after any life change. A name stays on the trust until a new deed changes it, so an ex-spouse who is still named is still the beneficiary. Changing it later takes a new deed, about a month and roughly $3,000 USD.
2. Keep your Mexican property out of your US or Canadian will. The trust wins unless a will specifically revokes the beneficiary, and leaving it out avoids any confusion.
3. Tell someone you trust where your deed, your trust number and the bank's contact are.

The other things people ask about are easier. For a car, you sign the back of the invoice (the factura) over to the person you choose, and that person pays the annual plate fee and puts the plates in their name. For a bank account, you name the people who should receive the funds and give them a copy of the contract.

Why I want your plan settled before you do anything else

Because once it is settled, you get to enjoy this place. Chuck and I moved to Puerto Vallarta at the end of 2018, and the evenings still stop me. Most nights the sun drops behind the hills and the whole bay turns orange.

There is a practical side too. Our property taxes on the home in Nuevo Vallarta and the condo in Zona Romántica come to about $290 a year each. When I left Austin I was paying around $15,000 a year on my house there. Numbers like that are a big part of why so many of our clients decide to own here, and they are one more reason to make sure your family keeps something that is easy to hold onto.

Then there are the days that have nothing to do with real estate. Take a boat out on the bay and the coast turns into small beaches and coves with only a few buildings on them. Down the coast there are little villages where the road runs out and the boats pull up on the sand.

I want you to be able to enjoy your home here, knowing the people you love will be taken care of.

If you own here and you are not sure who is named on your trust, ask Hannah or me. We will point you to a notary who can check it. You can find us at luxuryvallartarealty.com.

This article provides general information. Your bank and a Mexican legal adviser should confirm the requirements for your specific trust.

Written October 2026.