Guatemalan law gives a parent in the United States three ways to put a house in a child’s name: a donation (donación entre vivos), a sale (compraventa), or a donation in which the parent keeps a lifetime usufruct. Contracts that must be inscribed in the registries go in an escritura pública, and a donation can be signed from the US before a Guatemalan consul or through a power of attorney that names the child and the house. Since Decreto 6-2026, donations between parents and children fall inside an IVA exemption, and the old inheritance and donation tax law, Decreto 431, is repealed in full. A donation can also be revoked: the Código Civil keeps that door open for ingratitude, even when the parent reserved the usufruct. Law texts below were read on 1 November 2026 unless another date is shown.
Quick summary
| Donación entre vivos | Donación with reserved lifetime usufruct | Compraventa (sale) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Transfer of ownership free of charge (Art. 1855) | The child receives ownership; the parent keeps a usufruct, which carries the natural and civil fruits of the house (Art. 703) and lasts for life if no term is set (Art. 706) | Transfer of ownership for a price paid in money (Art. 1790) |
| Form | Escritura pública, granted and accepted (Art. 1862) | Escritura pública (Art. 1862) | Escritura pública, as a contract that must be inscribed in the registries (Art. 1576) |
| Child is a minor | Accepted by the legal representatives; conditional or onerous donations need prior court authorization (Art. 1861) | Same | Not covered on this page |
| Guatemalan tax on the transfer | IVA exemption for donations entre vivos up to the second degree of consanguinity (Decreto 6-2026, Art. 4) | Same exemption for the donation | Second and later sales: timbres fiscales at 3% (Decreto 37-92, Arts. 2 and 4); a first sale is an IVA event (Ley del IVA, Art. 3) |
| Can the parent undo it? | Revocable for ingratitude in the cases of Art. 1866; reducible if the donor’s fortune declines (Art. 1876) | Same; the reserved usufruct did not block revocation in the case law below | The ingratitude rules sit in the donation title of the Código Civil, not in the sale title |
| US side | A gift; $19,000 annual exclusion per donee in 2026; Form 709 is the gift tax return | A gift; ask a US tax professional how the retained usufruct affects its value | A price below full value falls within the IRS definition of a gift |
Route 1: the donación entre vivos
The Código Civil sets out the donation in Articles 1855 to 1879. The rules that shape a parent-to-child house transfer:
- Definition. A donación entre vivos is a contract by which a person transfers to another the ownership of a thing free of charge (Art. 1855). It can also be remuneratory or onerous; in an onerous donation only the excess over the burdens counts as a donation (Art. 1856).
- Form for real estate. A donation of real property must be granted and accepted in an escritura pública (Art. 1862). The Corte Suprema case law printed with that article rejected a claimed verbal donation of land for that reason.
- Acceptance. The child can accept at the moment of the donation or in a separate act; if acceptance comes later, it must be notified to the donor in authentic form for the contract to be perfected (Art. 1857).
- Value. Every donation must be valued (estimada) in the instrument (Art. 1863).
- Minor children. A donation to minors is accepted by their legal representatives; conditional and onerous donations require prior court authorization (Art. 1861).
- The donor’s creditors. The child answers to the donor’s creditors, the donor’s alimentistas (people the donor must support) and a child born to the donor afterwards, only up to the value of the donated property at the time of the donation, if the donor has no means to meet those obligations (Art. 1864).
- Reduction. A donor whose fortune declines can reduce the donation by the part needed for the donor’s support (Art. 1876). The action to request reduction or rescission lasts six months from the day the cause arose (Art. 1879).
For the deed itself, the movable-versus-real-estate forms and a downloadable model, see the donation deed guide.
Route 2: donate the ownership, keep a lifetime usufruct
A usufruct gives its holder the natural and civil fruits the property produces (Art. 703). It can be created by contract or by a last will (Art. 704), for a fixed term, for life, outright or under a condition, but never in perpetuity (Art. 705). If the deed sets no term, the usufruct is understood to last for the usufructuary’s whole life (Art. 706). It ends, among other causes, at the usufructuary’s death, at the end of its term, and when usufruct and ownership come together in the same person (Art. 738).
The combination of a donation of the house with a reserved lifetime usufruct appears in the Supreme Court case law that the Organismo Judicial prints in its Código Civil Comentado: in casación 19-2012 (judgment of 4 March 2013), a father had donated a property to his son with a reserved usufruct vitalicio. The Cámara Civil held that reserving the usufruct did not mean the father could not revoke the donation for ingratitude, and that the reserved usufruct did not prove he had means to live on. The father had asked his son for help and been refused.
The revocation rules every parent and child should read
Article 1866 lets the donor revoke a free donation, and an onerous one in the part that is a real donation, for the donee’s ingratitude. The right is personal to the donor and cannot be waived. The cases, as printed in the Código Civil Comentado:
| Numeral | Case | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1° | The donee commits a crime against the person, honor or property of the donor, the donor’s spouse, de facto partner, ascendants or descendants | In force |
| 2° | The donee accuses or reports the donor for a crime (with exceptions) | Declared unconstitutional by the Corte de Constitucionalidad, judgment of 14 July 2016, Expediente 5009-2013 |
| 3° | The donee refuses without good reason to support a donor who lacks property, or abandons the donor when in need of assistance | In force |
The procedure has short clocks:
- The right to revoke for ingratitude lasts six months from when the donor learned of the facts (Art. 1874).
- The revocation is made by escritura pública and has no effect unless notified to the donee or the donee’s heirs within sixty days of that deed (Art. 1869).
- The donee can oppose it and have a court decide (Art. 1870); if not opposed within sixty days of notification, the revocation is consummated (Art. 1871).
- For real estate, the revocation affects third parties from the moment the deed is presented to the Registro (Art. 1873).
- Remuneratory donations, donations made because of a marriage that took place, and the customary gifts given for social reasons or out of piety are not revocable (Art. 1872).
Route 3: a sale (compraventa)
In a compraventa the seller transfers ownership and the buyer pays the price in money (Art. 1790). The tax treatment differs from a donation:
- The first sale or exchange of a property is a taxable event under the Ley del IVA (Art. 3, numeral 8; SAT consolidated text read 24 September 2026), at the 12% rate (Art. 10).
- The second and later sales or exchanges of real estate are documents subject to the impuesto de timbres fiscales (Decreto 37-92, Art. 2, numeral 9), at 3% of the value of the act (Art. 4). That value is the one stated in the document, and it cannot be lower than the value in public registries, cadastres or official lists (Art. 4).
A second or later sale at a token price does not escape that floor on the Guatemalan side, and on the US side the IRS counts a transfer for less than full consideration as a gift (see below).
Taxes on a donation to your children after Decreto 6-2026
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Ley del IVA, Art. 3, numeral 9 | The donación entre vivos of movable and immovable property is an IVA taxable event (SAT consolidated text read 24 September 2026) |
| Decreto 6-2026, Art. 4 | Rewrites the IVA exemption in Art. 7, numeral 3, literal b) to read: “Herencias, legados y donaciones por causa de muerte y donaciones entre vivos, hasta el segundo grado de consanguinidad y primero de afinidad.” |
| Código Civil, Arts. 193 and 196 | Each generation is a degree; in the direct line there are as many degrees as generations, so a parent and child are in the first degree |
| Decreto 6-2026, Art. 1 | Repeals Decreto 431, the Ley sobre el Impuesto de Herencias, Legados y Donaciones, in full |
| Decreto 6-2026, Art. 5 | Rewrites Art. 8, numeral 4 of the Ley de Actualización Tributaria (Decreto 10-2012) to read: “4. Las herencias, legados y donaciones por causa de muerte.” The new text does not mention donations entre vivos |
| Decreto 6-2026, Art. 6 | The decree takes effect thirty days after its publication in the Diario Oficial; it was issued by Congress on 10 February 2026 |
Two questions this page leaves to the notary who drafts the deed: whether the impuesto de timbres reaches a donation that is IVA-exempt (Decreto 37-92 lists civil contracts among taxed documents in Art. 2 and exempts documents with acts taxed by IVA in Art. 11), and whether a donation entre vivos creates ISR for the child after Art. 5 of Decreto 6-2026. For the annual property tax (IUSI) and its 2026 reform, see the 2026 IUSI reform.
Signing from the United States
You do not need to fly to Guatemala to sign. The law gives two routes:
- Sign before a Guatemalan consul. The Código de Notariado (Art. 6, numeral 2) lets consuls and diplomatic agents of Guatemala, accredited and resident abroad, exercise as notaries if they are qualified notaries under that law. Ask your consulate whether its consul authorizes escrituras.
- Give a power of attorney to someone in Guatemala. Article 1860 of the Código Civil allows a donation through an apoderado, with a condition that a generic power does not meet: the power must name the donee and specify the property donated and the conditions of the donation. The consular route for that power is covered in poder consular.
If the child is the one in the United States, the child can accept in the deed itself or in a separate act notified to you in authentic form (Art. 1857).
Costs you can calculate in advance
| Cost | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notary’s fee | Notary and client are free to agree on fees; only without an agreement does the legal scale apply (Art. 106) | Código de Notariado |
| Legal scale for a deed of determined value | From Q300 base plus 10% of the value (up to Q5,000) down to Q500 base plus 2% of the value (over Q1,000,000), in six bands (Art. 109) | Código de Notariado |
| Registro de la Propiedad inscription, value determined | Minimum Q160.00 when the value is under Q10,000; from Q10,000 upward, an additional Q1.50 per thousand or fraction of the excess (Art. 2.1) | Acuerdo Gubernativo 325-2005, published by the RGP |
| Registry certification | Q50.00 for up to ten pages, plus Q5.00 per extra page (Art. 2.8) | Acuerdo Gubernativo 325-2005 |
| Timbres on a second or later sale | 3% of the value (Decreto 37-92, Art. 4) | SAT |
The Registro de la Propiedad inscribes the titles that prove ownership of real estate (Código Civil, Art. 1125, numeral 1). The child is not the owner of record until the deed is inscribed there.
The US side: gift tax figures for 2026
From the IRS frequently asked questions on gift taxes:
- A gift is any transfer to an individual, directly or indirectly, where full consideration (measured in money or money’s worth) is not received in return.
- The IRS says the donor is generally responsible for paying the gift tax.
- The annual exclusion is $19,000 per donee for 2026; when spouses give away property they own together, each spouse is entitled to the annual exclusion on the gift.
- Gifts not more than the annual exclusion are among the gifts the IRS lists as generally not taxable. The gift tax return is Form 709.
- The Instructions for Form 709 set two limits that matter here. The filing rules are written for a donor who is a citizen or resident of the United States; a nonresident who is not a citizen is subject to US gift tax only on gifts of real or other tangible property situated in the United States. And “A gift of a future interest cannot be excluded under the annual exclusion”: future interests include “reversions, remainders, and other similar interests”, and a future-interest gift needs Form 709 even when it is under $19,000. A donation that keeps a lifetime usufruct for you leaves the child with ownership whose use starts later, so have a US tax professional classify it before you count on the annual exclusion.
- The basic exclusion amount for gifts made in calendar year 2026 is $15,000,000, under Public Law 119-21.
How these rules apply to a house in Guatemala depends on your US tax status and the property’s value; a US tax professional should confirm before you sign. If your child, rather than you, is the US person receiving property from Guatemala, the reporting runs the other way; see inheritance or gift from Guatemala and Form 3520.
Related pages
- Buying property in Guatemala from the USA
- Selling property in Guatemala while living in the USA
- Hiring a lawyer in Guatemala from the USA
Sources
- Organismo Judicial (CENADOJ), Código Civil Comentado, Decreto-Ley 106 (Arts. 193, 196, 703-706, 738, 1125, 1576, 1790, 1855-1879 and annotated case law): http://ww2.oj.gob.gt/es/QueEsOJ/EstructuraOJ/UnidadesAdministrativas/CentroAnalisisDocumentacionJudicial/pdfs/Codigos/CodigoCivilComentado_CENADOJ.pdf (read 1 November 2026)
- Organismo Judicial (CENADOJ), Código de Notariado, Decreto 314 (Arts. 6, 106, 109): http://ww2.oj.gob.gt/es/QueEsOJ/EstructuraOJ/UnidadesAdministrativas/CentroAnalisisDocumentacionJudicial/pdfs/Codigos/CodigoNotariado_CENADOJ.pdf (read 1 November 2026)
- Congreso de la República, Decreto Número 6-2026 (Diario de Centro América legal archive): https://legal.dca.gob.gt/GestionDocumento/DescargarPDFDocumento?idDocumento=349740 (read 1 November 2026)
- SAT, Decreto 37-92, Ley del Impuesto de Timbres Fiscales y de Papel Sellado Especial para Protocolos: https://portal.sat.gob.gt/portal/descarga/1899/legislacion-tributaria/18272/decreto-numero-37-92-ley-del-impuesto-de-timbres-fiscales-y-de-papel-sellado-especial-para-protocolos (read 1 November 2026)
- SAT, Decreto 27-92, Ley del Impuesto al Valor Agregado (consolidated text, Arts. 3, 7 and 10): https://portal.sat.gob.gt/portal/descarga/1899/legislacion-tributaria/53964/decreto-no-27-92-ley-del-impuesto-al-valor-agregado-decreto-numero-27-92 (read 24 September 2026)
- Registro General de la Propiedad, Acuerdo Gubernativo 325-2005, Arancel General para los Registros de la Propiedad: https://website-admin.rgp.org.gt/storage/pdf/ACUERDO_GUBERNATIVO_325_2005.pdf (read 1 November 2026)
- IRS, Frequently asked questions on gift taxes: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/frequently-asked-questions-on-gift-taxes (read 1 November 2026)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 709 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i709 (read 1 November 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I give my house in Guatemala to my children while I live in the US?
Yes. The Código Civil defines a donación entre vivos as a contract by which a person transfers ownership of a thing to another free of charge (Art. 1855), and requires a donation of real estate to be granted and accepted in a public deed, an escritura pública (Art. 1862). From the US you can sign through a Guatemalan consul who is a notary, since the Código de Notariado (Art. 6) lets consuls and diplomatic agents accredited abroad exercise as notaries, or through an attorney-in-fact: Art. 1860 allows a donation by apoderado, but the power must name the donee and specify the property and the conditions of the donation.
Is there tax on donating a house to my children in Guatemala?
Decreto 6-2026 changed the answer. Its Article 1 repeals Decreto 431, the inheritance, legacy and donation tax law, in full, and its Article 4 rewrites the IVA law so that the exemption in Art. 7, numeral 3, literal b) covers donations entre vivos up to the second degree of consanguinity and first degree of affinity. Parents and children are one generation apart, which is the first degree under Arts. 193 and 196 of the Código Civil. Whether the impuesto de timbres or ISR reaches a particular donation is not settled on this page; ask the notary drafting the deed.
Can I keep living in the house after I give it to my children?
The Código Civil lets a usufruct be created by contract (Art. 704), for a fixed term or for life (Art. 705); if no term is set, it lasts for the usufructuary’s whole life (Art. 706), and it ends at the usufructuary’s death (Art. 738). A donation in which the parent reserves a lifetime usufruct appears in the Supreme Court case law printed in the Código Civil Comentado. That same case also shows the limit: reserving the usufruct did not stop the father from revoking the donation for ingratitude.
Can I take the house back if my children do not help me?
Article 1866 lets the donor revoke a free donation for the donee’s ingratitude in listed cases, including refusing without good reason to support a donor who lacks means, or abandoning the donor when in need. Numeral 2, on accusing the donor of a crime, was declared unconstitutional by the Corte de Constitucionalidad on 14 July 2016. The right lasts six months from when the donor learned of the facts (Art. 1874), the revocation deed must be notified to the donee within sixty days (Art. 1869), and the donee can oppose it in court (Art. 1870).
Does the US gift tax apply when I give my children a house in Guatemala?
The IRS defines a gift as any transfer to an individual, directly or indirectly, where full consideration in money or money’s worth is not received in return, and says the donor is generally responsible for paying the gift tax. The annual exclusion is $19,000 per donee for 2026, the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 for gifts in calendar year 2026, and the gift tax return is Form 709. A US tax professional should confirm how these rules apply to your property and your citizenship or residence status.
Is selling the house to my children for a token price simpler than a donation?
A sale is a different contract: the seller transfers ownership and the buyer pays a price in money (Código Civil, Art. 1790). A second or later sale of real estate is a document subject to the 3% timbres fiscales (Decreto 37-92, Arts. 2 and 4), and the value used cannot be lower than the value in public registries, cadastres or official lists. On the US side, the IRS counts a transfer where full consideration is not received as a gift, so a below-value sale can still be a gift for US purposes.
