Spanish Wills & Estate Planning in Spain
No matter how large or small your assets, if you are an adult living in Spain or you own Spanish property, you should have a legal Will in Spanish. Perez Legal Group can help residents and non-residents with estate planning and writing a Will in Spain that aligns with your wishes.
Contact our English-speaking team for all your legal, property, and accounting needs.
Do you need help making a Will in Spain?
Making a Spanish Will isn’t a legal requirement if you live in Spain or have Spanish assets, but it’s advisable to have a valid legal document declaring what you want to happen to your estate in Spain when you pass away. Otherwise, your assets will be subject to Spanish succession laws.
If you don’t live here or speak fluent Spanish, it can be helpful to have a legal representative in Spain who can manage your Will and communicate with the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad (General Registry of Last Will and Testament Acts) for you.
Should you pass away and leave behind property in Spain, if the Spanish Will registry (or the equivalent in your home country) does not hold a copy of a valid Will, the Spanish government will apply La Legítima (forced heirship rules) to your Spanish assets as follows:
- Descendants (children) – Receive equal shares of two-thirds of the estate.
- Spouse – Receives a life interest over the remaining one-third of the estate.
- Ascendants (parents) – Receive half of the estate if there are no surviving descendants.
- Siblings – Receive equal shares of the estate if there are no surviving spouses, descendants, or ascendants.
- Unmarried partners – Receive no automatic inheritance rights under Spanish intestacy law.
- No surviving family – The Spanish government inherits the deceased’s estate.
Here at Perez Legal Group, we have the expertise to assist clients both in and outside of the country with Spanish Wills and estates. From managing property ownership and tax obligations during your lifetime to administering your Will in Spain when you die, you can rely on us to distribute your Spanish assets exactly as you intended, making the process as stress-free as possible for your named beneficiaries.
How to make a Will in Spain:
There are several different types of Wills in Spain, but the most commonly used Spanish Will is a Testamento Abierto (Open Will).
Creating an Open Will in Spain involves the following steps:
- Preparing your wishes – Gather all the relevant details about your assets and heirs to present them to the notary.
- Drafting the Spanish Will – An English-speaking lawyer or the Spanish notary must compose the Will in Spanish.
- Signing your Will in Spain – Unless you have a lawyer with Power of Attorney who can attend for you, you must visit the notary’s office in person and sign the document in front of them.
- Registering your Spanish Will – You take a copy home with you, and the notary keeps the original and notifies the Ministry of Justice that this is your latest official Will.
Should you need to update this document, you must follow the same steps to register the most recent version of your Spanish Will. With Perez Legal Group by your side or acting on your behalf, this process can become much simpler and faster!
Our Spanish Will planning services:
With detailed knowledge of Spanish Wills and inheritance laws in Spain (both national and regional), Perez Legal Group can guide you through the process of drafting and submitting a legal Will in Spain.
When you come to us to help you write a Spanish Will, we can:
- Advise you on the Spanish inheritance laws applicable to your estate based on your individual circumstances.
- Help you to achieve your desired heirship goals, with the freedom to leave your assets to whomever you like.
- Ensure that your Spanish Will complements your English Will, with compatible instructions for beneficiaries.
- Assist with estate planning in Spain to legally minimise Spanish inheritance tax liability for your heirs (based on local tax-free allowances) and avoid double taxation.
- Help you to prepare and file all the necessary documents.
From your NIE application through to submitting your notarised Spanish Will, whether you want to grant us Power of Attorney or to attend in-person appointments, we’re here to help.
Contact Perez Legal Group to register a Spanish Will
Whether you have already moved to Spain, own a holiday home in Spain, or are planning to retire to Spain, registering a Will for the assets you own here is essential if you want your chosen beneficiaries to inherit them when you pass away.
From Spanish Wills for expats living in Spain to Spanish Wills for non-residents who only own assets in Spain, we tailor our services to your situation. Should you need a fiscal representative in Spain, or further advice on Spanish non-resident tax or Spanish wealth tax, we can help you and your heirs to avoid time-consuming and costly processes later by optimising your Spanish estate management now.
To get started, call 020 36 95 23 30 (UK) or +34 952 833 169 (Spain), or submit the contact form below and we’ll get back to you soon.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is an English Will valid in Spain?
A Will validly executed in England can generally be recognised in Spain if it covers assets located in Spain. However, whether all its provisions can be applied will depend on the deceased’s nationality and habitual residence, the wording of the Will, and the applicable succession law.
To use an English Will for a Spanish inheritance, the relevant documents normally need to be translated into Spanish by an authorised sworn translator. Certain official documents, such as a Grant of Probate, may also require a Hague Apostille before they can be accepted in Spain.
Additional documents or evidence of English law may be required, depending on the circumstances. This can make the administration of the Spanish estate slower and more expensive for the beneficiaries.
For this reason, owners of Spanish property often make a separate Spanish Will limited to their Spanish assets. This can simplify the local inheritance process, but it must be carefully coordinated with any foreign Wills to prevent conflicting provisions or accidental revocation.
Please note that cross-border succession planning should always be reviewed by suitably qualified professionals in both jurisdictions.
What happens if you die without a Will in Spain?
If you were to die without a Will in Spain, your estate may be automatically disposed of under the Spanish Civil Code regarding obligatory heirs.
Under Spanish law, when someone dies, their death certificate must be provided to the Ministry of Justice to order the deceased’s Certificado de Últimas Voluntades (Certificate of Last Will and Testament). This document states which notary office holds their Spanish Will, if they made one.
If the deceased didn’t have a Spanish Will or a valid Will in another country that can be legally recognised in Spain, then Spanish intestacy law will apply, which may not distribute their Spanish assets the way they would have wanted.
This means that if you’re a Spanish resident and you pass away without leaving a Spanish Will, the hierarchical succession laws in Spain will automatically apply. Any foreign Will may only be accepted with a Grant of Probate from that country, which can take up to a year to obtain.
If you’re a non-resident with assets in Spain and pass away without a Spanish Will, the succession laws of your country of residence will apply.
However, if you have a Will in your home country, the process of requiring a Grant of Probate also applies. Should you die completely intestate (with no foreign Will or Spanish Will), the Spanish notary will require a notarised, apostilled statement of law from your home country.
Preparing a Will in Spain means you can decide how your estate is divided without the restrictions of obligatory heirship rules.
Can I make a Will without my husband, wife, or partner?
Yes. In fact, this is a requirement in Spain – under Spanish law, Wills must be individual documents, so joint Wills are not accepted.
This means that if you’re married, you and your spouse must both write your own separate Wills in Spain. Each Will states your personal wishes, but you should discuss them with each other to make sure your estate planning is as consistent as possible.
In Spain, a surviving spouse retains all assets acquired before marriage, half the assets acquired during the marriage, and all personal gifts or inheritances which have come directly to the spouse. The remaining assets must be disposed of under the law of “obligatory heirs”.
Under the compulsory heirship rules of Spanish civil law, you typically cannot disinherit a spouse, child, or parent entirely. A spouse is usually entitled to a usufruct (lifetime interest in a portion of their deceased spouse’s estate).
That said, if you’re an EU national, you can state that you want to apply your home country’s inheritance laws to your Spanish assets instead.
Additionally, there’s no such thing as common law marriage in Spain – so if you aren’t married, your partner won’t have the same automatic inheritance rights as a married spouse. In this case, writing individual Spanish Wills is even more important.
How much does a Spanish Will cost?
The cost of making a Will in Spain depends on the complexity of the circumstances, but it will at the very least include mandatory notary fees.
If you don’t speak Spanish fluently and/or need to translate a Will from another country, then the cost will also include fees for a translator and apostille. Hiring legal representation to assist with the process will also incur legal fees for their services.
These upfront costs will help you to save money and time in the long run, as your legal Will in Spain will be ready without delay when you pass away. Ensuring that everything is done correctly now can prevent avoidable conflicts, confusion, and expenses later.
To get a tailored quote for our will writing services in Spain, contact Perez Legal Group today and book a consultation with our friendly team!
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