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Legal system in Mexico

The legal system in Mexico is a solid system and institutionalized by the government and the different governmental departments that negotiate and apply it.
There are many and different opinions in the legal system in Mexico, the reality is that the system is very developed, and even though it counts with differences with the systems in other countries like the one of USA, Canada, or Europe, it is an effective system, one of the differences compared to the other systems is undoubtedly the slowness of the complex legal processes, which does not happen with simpler and everyday life laws.

CIVIL RIGHTS

The civil Mexican procedure is the way in which a judicial process is developed in the competent tribunal court of law in Mexico and declares the right in favor of who is right. The stages of the civil process are: probation stage, conclusive stage, and resolutory stage.
Differently from the judicial processes in USA and Canada, in Mexico the attorney presents in the appropriate court a written complaint or written lawsuit with all the documents and proves with the witness declaration; the appellee presents in the same court a written response with all the documents to support him and the declaration of witnesses.
The lawyers of the two parts are not authorized to be present in the moment of holding the evidence of both parts and witnesses. The judge makes a revision of the case and documents and declarations of the witnesses, if he considers it necessary, he can ask for more proves, all written, once he has with all the elements, he takes a final resolution; obviously this process takes time and with no doubt is slow and difficult to apply, moreover people can have “amparo”, protection of the law, which can result in a litigation that lasts several years, which is why most of the cases are expensive and require great patient.

THE CONTRACTS

The written contracts in Mexico are one of the most powerful instruments that count with a great effectiveness to generate a commitment and fulfillment between the parties, and if it is notarized in some cases this will help to legally certify its content and responsibilities. Be sure to count with qualified lawyers for the development of these legal instruments to be well protected.

REAL ESTATE LAWS

Surely, you will not have any problem acquiring a property in Mexico, but it is very important to be cautious and prudent, besides investigating the laws and the appropriate ways for the purchase process. Get counsel from and consult professionals and do the necessary investigations by yourself in the competent governmental departments to avoid surprises.
A principle that you must know is that as a foreigner you can acquire real estate in Mexico and be the only owner to be in the deeds (the document that proves you as owner) of the real estate and you will be the only owner of it, it is not necessary by law to have a national in the deeds to acquire a property in Mexico.

The areas and lots owned by the agricultural communality, and indigenous territory are protected zones by the federal government and cannot be owned by the private sector, which is why it is important to be sure that the lots you will purchase do not belong to these kind of territories.

In Mexico, you can acquire properties but with some restrictions in zones like the coastline and near borders named as “restricted areas” according to the article 27 of the Mexican constitution which establishes that “foreigners cannot own estates within 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border and 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the coastline”, which is why it is important to check the legal matters en this aspect.

For Mexico, the foreign investment is important, that is why there are 2 ways to do it: through trusteeship in the Trust Bank; or through a Mexican company. There are three important parts in a transaction which are the trustor (owner of the property); the bank (the trustee); and the beneficiary of the trusteeship (the buyer).
It s important to know that the trusteeship does not recognize as direct beneficiary of the property to the foreigners, it does establish the juridical basis in which the trustee band has the capacity of acting in name of the foreigner, having the tranquility and trust according to the foreign investment law that the buyer keeps all the rights and privileges of the estate. The buyer is the only beneficiary and has all the rights and control over the properties or estates acquired to rent, mortgage, sell, transfer or inherit if that server his purposes. If you would like to acquire or build on a property, to know more about this topic please contact us clicking here, and we will be happy to help.