Short answer. Yes. Either spouse may transfer the administration of exclusive property to the other during the marriage, but it must be done by a public instrument, recorded in the registry of property where the land is located. You keep ownership throughout; only management moves.

What the law says

Either spouse may, during the marriage, transfer the administration of his or her exclusive property to the other by means of a public instrument, which shall be recorded in the registry of property of the place the property is located.

Family Code, Article 110 — Ownership and Administration of Exclusive Property. Read the full provision →

Inherited land stays yours

Start with the first sentence of the article, because it answers the anxiety behind the question: the spouses retain the ownership, possession, administration and enjoyment of their exclusive properties. Property you inherited does not fall into the community by the fact of marriage, and it does not become half your spouse's because he or she has been looking after it. Handing over management changes none of that. Administration is one of the four things the article lists, and it is the only one that moves; ownership, and the right to the fruits as an incident of it, stay where they were.

A public instrument, not an arrangement

The form is prescribed and it is not satisfied by practice. A transfer of administration must be by means of a public instrument — a notarised document, executed for that purpose — and it shall be recorded in the registry of property of the place the property is located. A spouse who has simply been collecting the rent for years, with everyone's knowledge, has not been given the administration in the sense the article means. That distinction becomes concrete the first time a tenant, a buyer or a bank asks on what authority the administering spouse is acting, and there is nothing to show them.

What the administrator may and may not do

What is being handed over is management: leasing, collecting, repairing, paying taxes, dealing with occupants. It is not a licence to sell or mortgage. A person who holds administration of another's property does not hold the power to dispose of it, and the instrument you sign should say so in terms rather than leave it to inference. If you do intend your spouse to be able to sell on your behalf, that is a different authority, it must be given expressly, and it is worth thinking hard about before granting it over land you inherited.

Drafting it so it can be undone

Because the instrument is public and recorded, the two questions to settle at the outset are scope and ending. Identify the property by its title and technical description, state precisely which acts of administration are covered, and provide for how the arrangement terminates and how that termination is itself recorded — otherwise the registry will continue to show an authority you have withdrawn. Bring the title, the settlement or extrajudicial documents by which you acquired the land, and the current tax declaration when you have it drawn.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.