abogado.uk Spanish law, for clients in Britain

Someone has died, and there is property in Spain

The English or Scottish estate is one job. The Spanish property is a separate one, governed by different law, on a different clock, and it will not wait for the grant.

Six months from the date of death

Spanish inheritance tax falls due within six months of the death. Not six months from probate here, and not from when you found the paperwork. An extension can be requested, but only inside the first five months. Surcharges and interest run after that. If the death was recent, start now. If it was a while ago, tell us how long and we will tell you plainly where you stand — late estates are routine work.

What actually has to happen

  1. Establish what is there. A search of the land registry and of the central register of wills tells us what the deceased owned in Spain and whether they left a Spanish will. Families are often wrong about both.
  2. Work out who inherits, under which law. This is where a Spanish estate becomes genuinely technical, and it is dealt with below.
  3. NIE numbers for every heir. Nobody can inherit Spanish property without one.
  4. The deed of acceptance, signed before a Spanish notary. By power of attorney, so nobody has to fly out.
  5. The inheritance tax return, and the municipal land-value tax where a property is involved.
  6. Registration of the heirs' title at the land registry. Until this is done, the property cannot be sold.

Which law decides who inherits

Spain applies the EU Succession Regulation, under which succession is governed by the law of the deceased's habitual residence at death, unless they validly chose the law of their nationality. The United Kingdom never opted in, which means the two systems do not mirror each other.

In practice, for someone who lived in Britain and holidayed in Spain, English or Scottish law usually governs and Spanish forced heirship does not bite. But "usually" is doing real work in that sentence. If the deceased had begun spending most of the year in Spain, or made a Spanish will that says something unexpected, or held more than one nationality, the answer can change entirely — and the difference is who gets the flat.

We establish this before anything else, because everything downstream depends on it.

What it costs

£2,400 for a straightforward estate: one property, one bank account, a valid Spanish will, heirs who agree. £4,500 to £7,000 where there is no Spanish will, several heirs, property in more than one region, or an estate that has sat untouched for years — priced once we have seen the papers, and fixed from that point.

Those figures are our fee. The Spanish inheritance tax, the municipal land-value tax, and the notary and registry fees are separate, are paid by you directly to the Spanish authorities or to the notary, and never pass through our account. We put every one of those numbers in writing before you commit to anything.

If you do not yet know what you are dealing with

Most families do not. For £350 we search the registers, establish what the estate contains and who inherits, work out what tax falls due and by when, and send you a written report in English. If you then instruct us on the estate, it comes off the fee in full.

Start with the £350 report

Paid securely by card. You have the right to cancel within 14 days; if you ask us to start work sooner, you will be charged only for the work done up to the point you cancel.

Questions people ask

Do we all have to travel to Spain?

No. A power of attorney, signed at a notary here in the UK, lets us do everything on your behalf. Each heir signs one.

Can we sell the property to pay the tax?

Not before the estate is registered in the heirs' names, which is the problem: the tax is due first. Usually the answer is that the Spanish bank releases funds from the deceased's own account to pay the tax, which is ordinary practice and needs no separate arrangement. Where there is no Spanish account, we will tell you the options early rather than late.

The English will mentions the Spanish flat. Is that enough?

Often yes, and one of the more useful things we do is tell people they need less than they feared. But a Spanish notary has to be able to work from it: it needs translating, apostilling, and sometimes a sworn statement of English or Scottish law to satisfy the notary that it does what you say it does.

My solicitor here is dealing with the estate.

Good — they should be, and we will not get in the way. Put them in touch with us and we will deal with the Spanish assets and report to them. There is a page for firms.