How Do I Make a Will and Why Should I Make One?

Spanish Law of Succession

If a foreigner dies in Spain without a Will, his/her estate will be distributed according to the Spanish laws of succession, and as of yet the law does not recognize childless cohabitating couples. This can have very serious consequences as highlighted by the following scenario:

A partner dies and leaves no will, there are no children and they owned a property in Spain jointly. By law the parents of the deceased are legally entitled to the estate, not the  partner.

The Importance of Having a Spanish Will

Let us assume that you have died and the only Will you have in place covering your assets is the one from the UK. Spanish law will look at your Will from your home country and may take this as an intent of your wishes, but your executors will still need to prove that no Spanish Will exists by checking with the Spanish Central Wills Registry in Madrid. The foreign Will is then taken as the main document for deciding probate, subject to the rights of the spouse and children. However, before the authorities accept the Will the executors must translate it through an official translator and provide copies of:

1. Probate
2. Death Certificate
3. Birth Certificate
4. Marriage Certificate

All of the above documents need to be certified for use in Spain by your countries foreign office with a Hague Apostle stamp.

A Spanish representative will also have to be appointed in order to prepare a certificate to prove to the authorities that the disposals in the Will are lawful and not in breach of Spanish law. If the Will does not follow the Spanish scheme of dispersals then your direct inheritors (children or wife) can mount a legal action on the assets transferred under Spanish legal system, this could cause your intended beneficiaries (if not your children or wife) considerable loss.

If you died as a non-resident in Spain then the executors should prepare a Power of Attorney to sign the inheritance documents and pay the associated tax for the beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries would need to collect together the money needed for the taxes and send it to Spain.

As you can see the associated processes are expensive and time consuming and the costs and taxes can even start to outweigh proportionally the value of the remaining estate.

If you rely solely on the Will from your home country, no action can be taken until the Probate of the estate in your home country has been settled, and with this taking some time, your beneficiaries run the risk that the Spanish authorities will impose penalties if the deadlines are missed.

How to Make a Spanish Will

We will give you a checklist to complete and make an appointment for you to come and discuss your wishes with regards to the disposal of your assets in Spain. The draft Will is then drawn up in two columns; one will be Spanish and the other in English, when you have read the draft Will and approved it, it will be sent to the notary to be checked and a notary date for signing agreed upon.

On the day of signing we take you to the Notary  and it is signed in his presence, this is called an open Will. The notary keeps the original, you will receive an authorized copy and a notification is sent to the Wills Registry in Madrid.

The charge for this is 110€ per person.

What Happens If I Die?

The inheritance procedure in Spain is quite a complicated and drawn out process. It is standard to give power of attorney to your representative who will follow the procedure from start to finish ensuring that taxes are paid and the property is transferred into the new owners name.

For more details on this service please contact us.