If you own property or assets in Spain, you need Spanish Wills
All of this advice below regarding Spanish Wills applies to people owning money, property or vehicles in Spain. If you own assets and property in Spain, you need Spanish Wills.
They are easy to arrange and inexpensive. Not having a Spanish Will is going to cost more money and make matters difficult for your heirs. You do not want to work all your life and your money and property not go to whom you want it to.
If you are Resident and domiciled in Spain you need a Spanish Will, so if you have one this is good. However, it is important it has a clause choosing your National Law if you are certain nationalities. We can check your Spanish Wills free of charge to see if they need changing. Please note we do not recommend changing a Will unnecessarily.
In this case, Resident and domiciled in Spain and no Spanish Wills, you should make a Spanish Will as the Spanish authorities will need a Grant of Probate to prove the legal heirs.
(This document is expensive and can take a long time to obtain). And as you are Resident in Spain, the Will and Probate could be contested. We strongly urge you to make a Spanish Will.
Yes, the Will can be used, however, a Grant of Probate is needed, and, as above, it is not cheap and takes a long time. This is especially annoying for people to arrange when there are no assets in their Home Country.
In this case, you will save a lot of money by making Spanish Wills. It costs very little and otherwise you need Letters of Administration or an official document from your country to prove the next of kin from back home.
This generally costs say 1,000 to 5,000 pounds in the UK. Costs vary country to country but are likely to be much more than Spain. As part of that process someone could make a claim on your Spanish assets who you did not want to inherit.
Keep it simple. Have a Spanish Will. It is cheap and easy to make and saves a lot of problems and expense.
Lastly, If you have children by a first marriage and have remarried and wish your assets to pass to your spouse, we must emphasise that you need to make a Spanish Will (or have it re-checked). This is very important. Please don’t leave matters to chance. Contact us to discuss a Spanish Will.