Spanish will

We strongly recommend making a Spanish will to make the distribution of your Spanish assets easier and to avoid costly and time-consuming legal issues for your heirs.

Once you have purchased a property in Spain, you should make a Spanish will setting out who will inherit your property after your death.

As a foreign national, the Spanish Civil Code allows you to leave your assets in Spain in accordance with the law of your country of origin. If the law of your country allows free disposal of assets, this exempts you from Spain’s forced heirship rules, under which the testator must leave part of their estate to close family members. As English law allows free disposal of assets, an English citizen would not be required to leave part of their estate to family members in the same way as a Spanish citizen.

The Spanish will should be limited to your assets in Spain and should be drafted in two columns, one in Spanish and the other in English or in the language spoken by the testator. If you have made a will in your country of origin, you should inform your lawyer of the existence of the Spanish will so they can ensure that its content does not conflict with it, or that your English will has not inadvertently revoked the Spanish one.

Once the will has been signed before a public notary, a copy will be sent to the Central Registry of Wills in Madrid as an official record. All Spanish wills are kept on file to ensure that a legal copy can always be found, so your heirs will not need to appoint the same lawyer who prepared your Spanish will.