Licensed attorney and notary · San Salvador
Lawyer in El Salvador: do you need one, and what does it cost?
We are a licensed attorney and notary practice in San Salvador that works for foreigners in English, with our fees published on this page. Most people who search this are not in El Salvador. They are buying a house, inheriting one, selling a car they left behind, or trying to sign something from Houston or Milan. This page explains what a Salvadoran attorney actually does for you, what it costs, and the mistakes that cost foreigners the most — before you pay anyone a retainer.
The one thing that confuses almost every foreigner
In El Salvador, a "notario" is a lawyer. Not the person at a US bank branch who stamps a signature for fifteen dollars. A Salvadoran notario is a licensed attorney authorised by the State to give public faith to documents — deeds, powers of attorney, company formations, inheritance acceptances. When you read that a deed "must be authorised by a notario", that means a qualified lawyer draws it and answers for it.
This matters for your wallet. In many countries the title check, the drafting and the signing are three separate bills. Here they are usually the same professional, which is cheaper — but it also means that if you pick badly, nobody independent is checking the work.
What people actually come to us for
These are the real cases, in the order we see them.
Buying or selling property
Ask about a closingInheritance from abroad
Ask about an inheritancePowers of attorney
Ask about a power of attorneyCompanies and residency
Ask about a company or residencyWhat it costs, and why nobody tells you
There is no official tariff that fixes what a lawyer in El Salvador may charge. Fees are agreed between you and the attorney. That is precisely why so few firms publish numbers — and precisely why you should insist on one in writing, before any work starts.
Two separate things go into every quote, and they should never be mixed in one figure:
Our fee
What the firm charges for the work, fixed in writing before you pay anything. Here are ours, in full:
- Property title check (Title Guard) — $199. We read the registry before you commit money.
- Turn-key real estate closing — from $1,500. $1,500 for purchases up to $500,000; above that, 0.3% of the full purchase price.
- Residency — from $1,995.
- Power of attorney — $249. So you can sign from where you live.
These are professional fees only. Government costs are separate, itemised, and passed on with the receipt, with nothing added.
Official costs
Registry duties, stamps, taxes. These are not ours; they go to the State. We itemise them and give you the receipts.
If a quote is a single lump number with no breakdown, ask which part is the fee and which part is the government's. A firm that will not separate them is telling you something.
Five mistakes that cost foreigners the most
1. Paying before the title is checked
Money moves first, the problem appears later. The registry check costs a fraction of the deposit you are about to send.
2. A power of attorney in the wrong form
Signed in the United States in a form El Salvador will not accept. Rejected, repeated, weeks lost.
3. Using the seller's lawyer
Convenient and cheap right up to the moment your interests and the seller's stop being the same.
4. Trusting a promised deadline
No lawyer controls how long a government office takes. Anyone who promises you a government date is promising something that is not theirs to give.
5. Accepting an inheritance without checking the debts
You can inherit the mortgage and the tax arrears along with the house.
How to choose among lawyers in El Salvador — and how to check one is actually licensed
If you are not in the country, this is the check that protects the rest of the transaction. It takes a few minutes and almost nobody does it.
In El Salvador, lawyers are licensed by the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia), which is also the body that authorizes notaries. There is no state notary office you can walk into — you are choosing a person, and that person is the one who answers for your deed.
A licence can be lost. The Supreme Court licenses attorneys and notaries, and it can also suspend them. A document authorized by someone who was not licensed at that moment leaves you holding a defective instrument — and you usually find out later, when you try to register or resell.
1. Check the licence before you sign or wire anything
The Supreme Court publishes a public check of the status of attorneys and notaries at csj.gob.sv. Ask for the person's full legal name and check it. The direct link to that search moves every so often, so start from the Court's own site rather than from a link someone sent you. For notaries, see 5 checks before you sign.
2. Get the fee fixed in writing
With government costs itemized separately. No official tariff fixes legal fees here, so a written fee agreed before the work starts is the only real protection. A "roughly" is a number that grows once you are committed.
3. Ask who actually signs
The person you spoke to, or someone else? You are entitled to know which notary will authorize your deed, because that is the person who is responsible for it — not the firm, not the agent who introduced you.
4. Ask whose side they are on
If the lawyer was introduced by the seller, the developer or the agent, they are not neutral. This is the third of the five mistakes above, and it is the one that costs the most, because it looks like convenience.
One more, specific to buying from abroad: make sure you understand what you sign. The deed itself will be in Spanish — that is normal and it is the version that governs. What is not normal is signing it without having had its terms explained to you in a language you actually read. Ask for that explanation in writing before the signing date, not on it.
Run the same check on us. The attorney is Nelson Pérez and the notario is María Isabel Morales, both licensed in El Salvador. Look us up in the Supreme Court's search before you hire us — it is exactly what we are telling you to do with anyone else.
Honest answers first
We will tell you when you do not need us. Some of what people write to us about is a form you can file yourself, or a matter for a different professional. Saying so costs us a fee and saves you one.
We do not promise outcomes. Registration, residency and court results are decided by the State, not by the firm you hire. What we commit to is the work, the price, and telling you where you stand.
Nothing on this page is legal advice for your case. It is general information about how things work in El Salvador. Your situation needs its own answer, and the first conversation costs you nothing.
Tell us your case
Write in English or Spanish, whichever is easier. Say what you need and where you are. You get an answer from a licensed Salvadoran attorney, not a form.
Larger purchase, or you cannot visit the property?
Two published options. Fixed in writing before you commit; official costs itemized apart.
Step 1 — On-site property visit: $950
A lawyer visits the property, with you or for you, and compares what is on the ground with the registry record. Written report before you sign or pay a deposit. Credited toward your closing if you hire us for it.
Certainty Closing — 0.75% of the price, minimum $5,000
For purchases above $500,000: full title study and on-site visit, deed by our notario filed at the registry, every wire verified by voice, follow-up until the title is in your name, CNR registry alert and a final written report. Example: $1,250,000 = $9,375.