Our main law firm is located in Dominical de Osa, on the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. We’re in the business of helping people with their business. We create corporations, handle real estate transactions, write labor contracts, and take care of documents for the sale/purchase of automobiles, just to name some of the most common things clients need. We offer the full line of Notary Services, assist with residency, and help solve legal issues regarding real estate development including: water rights, easements, subdivisions, condominiums, and CCRs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions).

Pacific Coast Law offers the following services:

  • Notary Services
  • Real Estate Transactions: all the necessary legal steps for a real estate closing including the Offer to Purchase (OTP), the Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA), due diligence, Guarantee documents such as mortgages and liens, the closing to finalize the deal, and post closing.
  • Title transfer in all vehicles: all the necessary legal steps for the sale/purchase of vehicles, plus the placement or removal of liens.
  • Commercial Law: all the necessary legal steps for the creation of corporations such as a Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) or a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (S.R.L.), transfer of shares, modifications to corporations (bylaws, boards of directors, its domicile, representative passport numbers, etc.). Also, corporation acknowledgement certifications and the establishment/management of associations and trusts.
  • Family Law: marriage documents and ceremonies; also divorces for mutual consent.
  • Labor Law: worker contracts and legal advice on how labor law works in this country.
  • Probate Law: preparation of wills and information on how to deal with probate.
  • Condominium Law: analysis of projects vis-à-vis current regulations, including applicable rules for gated and other communities.
  • Environmental Law: including preparation and analysis of potable water supply strategies for construction projects; applications for Water Concessions (surface and groundwater) from the Water Department of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE – Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía); advice on legal environmental compliance for wastewater management for construction projects such as single family homes; preparation of Preliminary Environmental Assessments (Due Diligence) prior to the acquisition of properties and/or projects in order to identify the legal environmental requirements according to applicable regulations and also identify any environmental hazards; advice on fulfilling requirements regarding protected areas and maritime zones; legal support in the environmental impact assessment process done by SETENA (La Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental); and advice on activities and projects regarding renewable energy and waste management.
  • Judicial processes: Adverse possession cases – “Información posesoria” – and property line disputes.
  • Others: construction contracts, rental agreements, affidavits, certifications, passport certifications, power of attorney (POA) documents, zoning letters and other documents related to municipality. Formation of easements for: water, power and environmental purposes.
  • Translations: from Spanish to English and English to Spanish (see below)

Services We Offer for Corporations

Pacific Coast Law offers storage and management of your Costa Rican corporation’s books. Specifically, we will perform the following services annually on your behalf (for pricing contact us at info@pacificcoastlawcostarica.com):

  1. Store the books at our offices and allow you in-and-out privileges, subject to stringent controls to protect your privacy
  2. Do an annual check of the Registry to make sure the corporation has not been modified by third parties and inform you immediately if changes have been made. This is done by obtaining a “personería jurídica” which has no short equivalent in English. It’s a document that shows the legal structure of your corporation and lists each of the individuals who are authorized to act on its behalf. As part of this we also do a title search of your property to be sure it is still clean and held only by your corporation.
  3. Serve as the Resident Agent for the corporation
  4. Check the CCSS (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social) to make sure no debt claims have been registered against your corporation

Any additional legal work for the corporations we manage, such as payment of taxes, modifications of the articles of incorporation, proxies, Shareholders Assemblies etc., will have an extra cost, but we will do no such work without your prior written authorization.

Translations by Tammy Hansen Snell

Do you need a document translated?

Tammy is a certified healthcare interpreter for Spanish/English, and also a member of the American Translators Association. She has more than 5 years of experience and loves to work with carrying concepts from one language into another. As a U.S. citizen living in Costa Rica, she continually adds to her extensive vocabulary in both languages.

¿Le hace falta traducir algún documento?

Tammy es una intérprete médica certificada en español/inglés, y también miembro de la Asociación Americana de Traductores. A ella le encanta trabajar con conceptos y llevarlos de un idioma a otro, y tiene más que 5 años de experiencia. Como una ciudadana estadounidense viviendo en Costa Rica, siempre está ampliando su vocabulario en los dos idiomas.

Contact us for more information.