UK and Spanish Wills

The Importance of Having a Spanish Will

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Unlike other countries there are no communal goods in Spain, this means when a husband and wife buy a property together they own 50% of the property each. When one part passes away the surviving spouse has to inherit the other half of the house in order to sell it. The same applies to a joint bank account, on notification of death 50% of the funds held in the account will be frozen until the inheritor can prove their right of ownership.

If a foreigner dies in Spain without a Will, his/her estate will be distributed according to Spanish law of succession unless there is a British Will then the government will demand that probate is done in the UK before it makes a decision on the right to inherit. 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 deadlines are missed.

How to Make a Spanish Will

It is imperative that the wording on the will is correctly written so it is best to appoint someone to prepare the paperwork for you, after you have approved a draft version of the document, drawn up in two columns, one in Spanish and the other in English, an appointment will be made to go to the notary to sign the original testament.

At the notary the draft document is checked and amendments made if necessary then it is signed in the notary’s presence, this is called an open will. The notary archives the original so it can’t get lost or altered and you receive an authorized copy. A notification is sent to the Wills Registry in Madrid. If at a later date you write another will, this will supersede the one done previously.

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The Importance of an English Will

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For goods in your own country, it is important to have a separate will covering them. Whilst the Spanish will can be accepted at a push it will have to be translated and apostilled before use which can be expensive.