Having a Spanish Will:
- Ensures your Spanish assets are passed to the beneficiaries you choose
- Provides an easier and quicker process in administering your Spanish assets
- Avoids unnecessary costs when finalising your estate and distributing your Spanish assets
- Allows you to mitigate and possibly reduce any Spanish inheritance tax due
Whilst you may have a will in your own country, having a separate Spanish will allows for your beneficiaries to have the paperwork relevant to Spain when the time comes. This ensures a quick and easier process for distributing your assets in accordance with your wishes.
Making a Spanish will allows you to consider the tax implications and how if possible you could minimise any tax impact on your beneficiaries.
A Spanish will means there is no need to involve legal professionals and notaries to translate various paperwork from your home country (for example grant of probate and the will) in order that you can dispose of the Spanish assets. Upon your death, your Spanish assets cannot be managed until your heirs present the relevant paperwork in Spanish to the authorities.
A separate Spanish will (of your Spanish assets) can be written and automatically lodged in safe keeping with your local Spanish notary’s office. It will be a lot easier and quicker for the executor handling your estate to dispose of your Spanish assets – enabling your assets to be passed to loved ones with minimum delays at what will no doubt be a stressful time for them.
Put simply, a Spanish will outlines clearly who will get what in Spain and follows the necessary protocols for those items to be passed to your beneficiaries quickly and easily.
YourSpanishWill.com provides an online service to help you make a Spanish will which will enable your Spanish possessions to be distributed quickly and easily in accordance with your wishes when the time comes.
Please complete our online form and start the process of gaining a Spanish Will.
If you have any questions please do contact our qualified English Lawyers and Spanish Abogados who are on hand to assist.
Lasting Power of Attorney
Use our Online Application Form to help someone you trust manage your affairs should they need to.
Knowing which process you need to follow
Depending on where you are when you write the documents will have a bearing on which process you will need to follow. Please click on the process relevant to you:
- 1: Process for signing a Spanish Will if you are in Spain:
- 1: Complete the online form and arrange payment.
- 2: We will draft your Spanish will in English and Spanish.
- 3: Draft will document is sent to you for approval
- 4: Once approved, we will arrange for an appointment for you with a local notary in Spain.
- 5: You visit the notary to sign your Spanish will and pay the notary fees (together with any translator fees if required).
- 6: The notary will provide you with a certified copy of the will, they keep the original signed will and inform the Civil Registry that you have signed a Spanish will.
- 2: Process for signing a Spanish Will outside of Spain:
- 1: Complete the online form and arrange payment.
- 2: We will draft your Spanish will in English and Spanish.
- 3: Draft will document is sent to you for approval.
- 4: Once approved, you need to book an appointment with your local notary to sign the will.
- 5: Sign Spanish will in front of the notary and pay the notary fees.
- 6: The notary arranges the stamp of the Apostile of the Hague.
- 7: Courier the signed Spanish will with the stamp of the Apostile of the Hague to us.
- 8: We will register your Spanish will with the Spanish Central Wills Registry.
- 9: Once registered, we will return the original Spanish will to you.
General advice and tips to be taken into account when considering your Spanish Will
Heirs.
Consider who you want to inherit your Spanish assets and then who you would like to inherit if your first choice of heirs die before you. For example this could be firstly your spouse, then your children and then your children´s children. The first and second heirs would normally be named in the Spanish will and after you have named your children we tend to refer to your children´s descendants so we do not have to name all of the family, unless of course you wish to.
Trusts.
Unlike other countries Spain does not formally recognize trusts so you have to leave your assets to individuals or officially registered charities/associations/foundations.
Life interest.
Consider if you would like to leave a life interest in a property to someone? Normally a life interest would be left to a spouse/partner and the legal title to the children.
If you leave a life interest in a property to someone they will be able to stay in the property until they die and they will be entitled to any income generated from the property. If the people to whom you leave the legal title in the property wish to sell the property, they would require the life interest holders´ consent.
Executors.
It is not normal for executors to be named in Spanish wills as Spanish wills tend to concentrate on who the assets are being left to and then the heirs come forward and manage the estate similar to the role of executors in other countries.
Children as heirs.
If you leave assets to minors, then bear in mind that their parents can accept the inheritance on their behalf however the parents will not be able to dispose of the assets without the consent of a court.
Spanish Property – Who to leave it to?
- Think about who you want to leave it to?
- What will your heirs do with it on your death? Keep or sell?
- Will your spouse/partner want to keep the property or sell it?
- Do you want your children to eventually own the property and for the property to be kept in the family? (If so consider leaving a life interest to your spouse/partner and the legal title to the children).
If your surviving spouse would like to sell or manage the property after your death then we would suggest you first leave it to your spouse and then to your children.