The advisable structure for owning property in Costa Rica will most likely be oriented towards owning a Costa Rican corporation. The most typical companies will be the Sociedad Anonima, which is the most similar to the U.S corporation, or the Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada or Limited Liability Company, similar to the U.S LLC.
The reason for that is that owning property by way of a company will allow you to structure your assets in a way that if the natural person who is behind the ownership of the stock passes away or is not no longer present, the company is able to run the property itself if it’s towards a sale if it’s towards making a decision in a general stockholders assembly.
In summary it’s a structure that will allow you to sell the property, move on, if one of the owners of these stocks or the shares is no longer present to make the decision. This is a question that is more common every day. Following covid-19 many people started to take that into consideration. How should I own my property? On a personal level or not?
Perhaps the main reason for that is that if the property is owned by a way of a natural person directly, if that person dies, a procedure will have to be opened, which allows legally for the property to be transferred. If this happens in a property owned by a corporation, the company will instead be able to sell the property directly.

Choosing a Legal Structure for Property Ownership in Costa Rica

Several legal structures exist for owning property in Costa Rica. While it’s possible to own the property at a personal level, even as a foreigner, often  the best option of  legal structure for property ownership in Costa Rica involves using a Costa Rican corporation, LLC, or similar.

This approach ensures that if the individual who owns the company passes away or becomes unavailable, the corporation can continue to manage the property, whether for sale or decision-making during shareholder meetings.

In essence, using a corporation ownership structure offers flexibility for selling the property and moving forward, even if one of the stockholders can no longer participate. Opting for direct personal ownership can result in complex legal procedures if the owner passes away. In contrast, corporate ownership allows for a smoother property transfer process in such situations.

It’s worth noting that the most common types of companies used for this purpose are a Sociedad Anonima, which closely resembles a U.S. corporation, or Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, similar to the Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the U.S. Both options are viable and provide the opportunity to own property in the country through the most recommended approach.

General content provided by Javier Sauma at Sauma Rossi law firm in Costa Rica.

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