Spanish Wills

Although there is no legal requirement to have a Will either in the United Kingdom or Spain it is strongly advisable to make a Will to ensure that your estate is left as you would wish. You do not have to have a Spanish Will specifically and you can deal with your Spanish Estate within your English Will. However, there are some advantages to having a separate Spanish Will which can be registered at the Last Wills Registry in Madrid.

A Spanish Will (drafted in dual column Spanish/English) would allow your Spanish estate to be administered entirely independently from your English estate. Because you have a relatively short period in which to pay Inheritance Tax in Spain (currently 6 months after the date of death), it is important to be able to deal with the paperwork for Spain quickly and this can become a problem when an estate has been disposed of within an English Will and the application for a Grant of Probate is delayed for any reason.

We can prepare Spanish Wills which are registered in Spain and we will advise you on Inheritance Tax implications.