When a relative dies leaving a bank account in Brazil, the family in Texas often has to prove who they are and how they are related before the bank will release a cruzeiro. That proof usually starts in Texas: a death certificate, heirship or estate documents, and a power of attorney authorizing someone in Brazil to act on the family's behalf. Before any of those Texas papers can be used in Brazil, they have to be apostilled.
What an apostille is
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates a public document — a notary's signature, a court seal, a registrar's certification — so it will be accepted by authorities in another country. For countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, the apostille is the finish line. For countries outside it, the same Texas certificate is the first step in a short legalization chain.
Does an apostille work in Brazil?
Yes. Brazil has been a member of the Hague Apostille Convention since 2016, so a document that carries a valid Texas apostille is accepted in Brazil without any further consular legalization. A single apostille from the Texas Secretary of State is the recognized international certification.
How the Texas Secretary of State apostille works
Texas apostilles come from a single office: the Secretary of State's Authentications Unit in Austin. There is no county-clerk step — a document notarized by any Texas notary, in any of the 254 counties, goes straight to the state. Since October 2023 Texas issues one Universal Apostille (Form 2102) that works for every destination, whether or not the country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention.
The state fee is $15 per document. Mailed requests can take up to 25 business days; in-person and appointment service in Austin is same-day for up to 10 documents, and a bulk drop-box handles larger batches in 24–48 hours. There is no online submission — every request is handled by mail or in person. Certified copies of vital records (birth, death, marriage, divorce) must be less than five years old.
Federal documents — FBI background checks, USCIS naturalization certificates, IRS letters — cannot be apostilled by Texas; they go to the U.S. Department of State. We confirm the correct authority before anything is filed, so your documents are never rejected on a technicality.
Claiming or operating a Brazilian bank account from the United States
In Brazil, releasing or transferring a deceased person's assets normally requires an inventário — the formal proceeding that identifies the heirs and distributes the estate. If all the heirs are adults and in agreement, the inventário can often be handled extrajudicially through a cartório (a notary's office), which is faster than the judicial route. If there are minor heirs, or the heirs disagree, the proceeding must go through the courts.
Your Texas documents — the death certificate and any heirship or estate paperwork — do not simply arrive and get used. In Brazil they must be apostilled, then translated by a sworn translator (tradução juramentada), and then registered with a Registry of Titles and Documents (Registro de Títulos e Documentos, or RTD) before a cartório or bank will rely on them.
Because the family is in Texas, the practical answer is usually a representative in Brazil who handles the inventário and deals with the bank. That representative can act under either a Brazilian consular power of attorney (executed in Portuguese at a Brazilian consulate, which does not need an apostille) or an apostilled foreign notarial power of attorney signed in Texas, then translated and registered in Brazil.
Documents you'll need
- The deceased's death certificate (Texas), apostilled
- Proof of your relationship or heirship (birth/marriage certificates, or Texas heirship documents), apostilled
- A power of attorney appointing your Brazilian representative — either consular or apostilled notarial
- Identification for the heirs and the representative
- The bank's own account and estate forms
- Sworn Portuguese translations (tradução juramentada) of each foreign document
Translation
Every foreign-language document must be rendered into Portuguese by a sworn translator (tradutor público juramentado) registered in Brazil; ordinary translations are not accepted for the inventário or the RTD registration. Have the translation done after the apostille is attached, so the apostille itself is translated along with the document. Build in time for both the sworn translation and the RTD registration, as these steps happen in Brazil and can add days or weeks before the bank will act.
We handle the whole apostille — you don't travel to Austin
Our firm provides full-service apostille handling: we prepare your document, coordinate Texas notarization or certified copies, file the Universal Apostille request with the Secretary of State, add U.S. Department of State and embassy legalization when a country requires it, arrange certified translation, and deliver the finished documents to you or your recipient abroad.
We also coordinate directly with your counsel overseas — a barrister or solicitor in Commonwealth countries, an advocate in South Asia, a notario público in Latin America — so the document is drafted with the exact wording their registry, court, or bank requires before anything is apostilled.
- 📞 Phone: (281) 348-6723
- 📧 Email: busbytexas@gmail.com
- 📍 715 E. Whitney, Houston, TX 77008
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A note on accuracy
Apostille and legalization requirements change, and each receiving institution — a foreign land registry, bank, pension office, or consulate — can impose its own rules. This article reflects requirements verified in 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. Contact us so we can confirm the current requirements for your specific document and destination before you file.
For the full statewide process — fees, timelines, document types, and the Hague vs. non-Hague paths — see our complete Texas Apostille Guide.