Costa Rica is a tropical country with two distinct seasons—dry and wet. However, within these seasons, there is a significant variation between different regions of the Country. The Guanacaste Province on the northwest Pacific Coast is the driest. The Caribbean Coast has [...]
In 1977, Costa Rica passed the Maritime Zone Law, which established property ownership rights for beachfront property in Costa Rica. Under the Costa Rica Constitution, the initial fifty meters inland from the high-tide line on beachfront properties, as established by the Costa Rica National Geographic Institute, has always been reserved for public use and [...]
Learn the important issues about moving to and living in Costa Rica. It's important to do your legal due diligence and to know the relevant questions to ask. If you are considering Costa Rica as your new home, consult with someone who has been living your dream [...]
Costa Rica has a Roman (Napoleonic) Civil Law System as its Judicial System, which is the System of laws used primarily throughout the countries of Latin America and continental Western Europe. This is a very different Legal System than English Common Law, which is the dominant Legal System utilized in Canada, the United States, the U.K., [...]
Before you purchase property in Costa Rica you may want to know more about Squatters’ Rights. These are formally referred to in legal terminology as Prescriptive Rights and Adverse Property Possession. They have largely been abolished by Statute during the last one hundred and twenty year period, in English Common Law jurisdictions such as the U.S., Canada, and [...]
As a Costa Rica Lawyer, I am often asked by expat clients, if they require a Costa Rica Will to provide for the disposition of their Costa Rica assets on their demise. The strict legal answer is that they don’t, so long as they have a legally enforceable Will in their country of [...]
An interesting article appeared in the August 21, 2020, edition of the Costa Rica newspaper, “La Republica”. Two legislators from the National Assembly have proposed some significant changes to the Investor (Inversionista) Residency Category and some tax benefits affecting all of the Residency Categories, including Pension Recipient (Pensionado) and [...]
I have lived and worked in Costa Rica for over twenty-two years. I can say without a doubt, that the natural beauty and the climate in Costa Rica is very easy to adjust to, as being very pleasant in both regards, however, as an expat American, Canadian, or European, it will not be “business as usual”, in most other respects. [...]
Purchasing and/or renting property in Costa Rica can be confusing for foreigners. One of the most confusing and little understood legal concepts, is the difference in the applicability and the enforceability of the HOA By-laws in the circumstances of a Condominium entity, versus that of a […]
