TAX LAW · ESTATE PLANNING · RELOCATION IN COSTA RICA

Legal clarity,
human warmth.

Behind every tax restructuring and every family decision, there's a life's plan worth protecting.

  • Domestic and international tax
  • San José, Costa Rica

Our areas of focus

Four starting points, depending on what you need: businesses, families, independent professionals, and those choosing Costa Rica as their new home.

Corporate & Business Solutions

We protect your company's tax health. We design compliance strategies, preventive reviews, and efficient corporate restructurings so you can focus on what you do best: growing your business with full legal certainty.

Family & Estate Planning

We protect what matters most: your family's well-being and the security of your legacy. We offer deeply empathetic, human, and clear guidance through family law, divorce, and division of marital property. We also help you organize the legal and succession structure of your assets, creating a safe space to make life's most important decisions with complete peace of mind.

Advisory for Professionals & Independent Workers

Your tax support in a fast-moving environment. We help you meet your tax obligations clearly and efficiently, with practical tools and ongoing advice to secure your financial peace of mind, keep your Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) filings current, and shield your income.

Relocation & Welcoming Advisory

Your move to a new home, without uncertainty. We provide full legal and tax guidance for foreigners and investors, walking you step by step through residency, safe real-estate purchases, and international tax planning. Welcome to your peace of mind.

RELOCATION & WELCOMING ADVISORY

Costa Rica: your next home, with complete legal certainty.

Premium legal, tax, and real-estate guidance for foreigners, investors, and globally mobile families.

Deciding to settle, invest, or retire in Costa Rica is the start of an extraordinary chapter. But finding your way through a new legal and tax system can be unsettling. At MO Espacio Legal, we turn the move into a smooth, secure, and predictable process. We combine high-level legal strategy with the human warmth you need so that you — and your assets — feel at home from day one.

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Melany Obando Vargas
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Melany Obando Vargas

Founder of MO Espacio Legal & Specialist in Tax and Family Law

High legal strategy and technical rigor prove their real worth when they're practiced with empathy — turning the complexity of the law into certainty and peace of mind for people.

My name is Melany Obando Vargas, and I see the law as a living tool to protect what matters most: your business, your family, and your legacy. With 9+ years of experience in law and tax, I've built my practice on one non-negotiable premise: technical excellence should never come at the expense of human warmth.

My career took shape in settings of the highest technical and corporate demand. I've had the privilege of leading teams and designing complex strategies for multinational corporations, local companies, and high-net-worth individuals within global consulting firms (the Big Four), multinationals, and respected tax advisory firms in Costa Rica.

Experience
  • Advisory & Strategy: Designing efficient corporate restructurings and preventive tax reviews.
  • Buy- and Sell-Side Audits: Managing tax due diligence to identify and mitigate contingencies in mergers and acquisitions.
  • Defense & Litigation: Technical lead in tax litigation and representation of clients in administrative and judicial proceedings before the tax authorities.
  • Social Security: Complex procedures and regularizations before the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).
  • Family Planning: Divorce, division of marital property, trusts, and more.

A Complete, Human Approach

Experience showed me that behind every corporate restructuring, every tax assessment, and every transfer of wealth, there's always a life's plan to protect. So I decided to bring that same analytical sharpness and rigor from the corporate world into deeply human areas — specializing as well in the clear-headed handling of family law, divorce, and division of marital property, and in complete legal and tax guidance for foreigners who choose Costa Rica as their home. At MO Espacio Legal we break with the rigidity and distance of the traditional profession. What I offer is a strategic partnership built on absolute trust, practical solutions, and transparent communication. Let me guide you under our signature promise: legal clarity, human warmth.

SpecializationPostgraduate specialization in International Taxation — University of Costa Rica (UCR)
Law DegreeLicentiate in Law (Tax emphasis) — University of Costa Rica (UCR)
CertificationCertified Tax Specialist — Deloitte Academy
Our philosophy

Why we call it Espacio

Many of the people who write to us start by apologizing. Sorry for writing on a Saturday, for not understanding a term, for asking what they think is a silly question. That reflex says a lot about how the law feels from the outside: like a place you arrive at already at a disadvantage.

We call it Espacio Legal because we wanted to build exactly the opposite. A place you can come to afraid, with your papers in disarray and your questions half-formed, and still leave understanding what's happening and what comes next.

Read our philosophy →
CONTACT

Let's open a space for your peace of mind.

Let's talk about your business, your family, or your plans in Costa Rica.

We know that taking the first step can raise doubts. That's why you'll find here a direct, confidential, and human channel to lay out your situation. We'll assess your case with the technical rigor it deserves and give you a clear path to a solution.

[email protected]·San José, Costa Rica