By Luísa Fernandes Pereira, Felipe Pinheiro Auge and Jéssica Heinzen 

In early April, the Bahamas took an important step toward becoming an even more attractive jurisdiction for Brazilians with offshore structures, especially when it comes to estate planning.

In February 2026, a bill was presented to the local Parliament to regulate usufruct, a concept well known in Brazil. Just over a month later, on April 1st, the law came into force.

But what does this mean in practice?

Usufruct is a tool widely used in Brazil to organize estate succession: it allows, for example, the transfer of assets to heirs in advance, while the original owner retains control and the right to use them. It is an efficient way to provide predictability and security in succession, avoiding conflicts and reducing risks.

The major development is that the Bahamas (traditionally a country with a legal system different from Brazil’s) is beginning to incorporate mechanisms familiar to our model. This greatly facilitates the lives of Brazilian investors who have or intend to structure an offshore.

In addition, it is worth noting that the Bahamas is already among the few relevant international offshore investment jurisdictions that recognize the concept of corporate spin-offs and continues to advance in adopting other concepts common in Brazil. In practice, this means an environment that is increasingly compatible with structures that are already widely used here.

The new law also brings some noteworthy points:

the possibility of structuring usufruct with more than one beneficiary at the same time;

the provision of so-called successive usufruct, allowing the right to automatically pass from one beneficiary to another over time (which is not even recognized in Brazil);

the maintenance of usufruct even in cases of corporate reorganizations (such as mergers or spin-offs);

broad coverage of assets, including equity interests, financial investments, and even digital assets;

greater legal protection, including in insolvency scenarios.

This movement reinforces an important trend: the Bahamas is positioning itself not only as an environment with tax efficiency, but also as a jurisdiction increasingly aligned with the estate planning needs of Brazilian families.

For those who already have an offshore structure (or are considering setting one up), this may be a good time to review estate planning and assess new possibilities.

The Marins Bertoldi team is available to support the analysis and implementation of the most appropriate strategies for each case.