Do we need a Spanish will?

If you live in Spain or own property there, a Spanish will makes things faster and cheaper for your family. Without a choice of law, Spanish succession rules, including fixed shares for children, can apply to everything you own.

Which country’s law applies

Spain applies the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) to deaths since 17 August 2015, and it applies even when the chosen law is from outside the EU, such as UK law. The default is the law of the country where you were habitually resident when you died. If you live in Spain, that means Spanish law.

• You can choose the law of your nationality to govern your whole estate. The choice must be made expressly in a will, or be clear from its terms. Many Britons in Spain choose, for example, the law of England and Wales or Scots law
• Without a choice, Spanish succession law applies, and in some regions it is regional civil law: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and others have their own rules
• A choice of law decides who inherits. It does not change who pays Spanish inheritance tax

Forced heirship if Spanish law applies

Under the Spanish Civil Code, some relatives are “forced heirs” who must get a share:

• Children: two thirds of the estate is reserved for children and descendants. One of those thirds can be shared among them as you choose (the mejora); the last third is free to leave to anyone
• Your spouse: with children, a surviving spouse (not separated) gets a life interest (usufructo) in the third used for the mejora; without children but with parents, in half the estate; with neither, in two thirds
• Parents: if you have no children, parents are forced heirs to half the estate, or a third if there is a spouse
• Catalonia: the forced share for children is a quarter of the estate, so you can leave more freely

Making a Spanish will

The usual form is an open will (testamento abierto) made before a notary, who writes it from your wishes and reads it to you before you sign. The notary’s fee is set by a national scale; most simple wills cost around €40 to €80, more for complex ones. If your Spanish isn’t fluent, ask the notary in advance how they handle translation.

• A later will cancels an earlier one under Spanish law unless it says otherwise. If you keep a UK will for UK assets, make sure each will says what it covers and doesn’t revoke the other
• Name executors who can act in Spain
• Keep copies, and tell your family which notary has the original

After a death

1. Get the certificate of last wills (certificado de actos de última voluntad) from the Ministry of Justice. You can apply 15 working days after the death, online, with fee 006. If it is used abroad it must be legalised
2. Get a copy of the will from the notary named on it
3. File inheritance tax within 6 months of the death, using form 650 (or the regional version). You can ask for 6 more months within the first 5, but interest still runs
4. Pay the plusvalía on Spanish homes to the town hall: on death the deadline is 6 months, extendable to a year
5. Register the property in the heirs’ names

Spanish inheritance and gift tax

Spain taxes each heir, not the estate. If the heir lives in Spain, they pay Spanish inheritance and gift tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones, ISD) on what they receive from anywhere in the world, so a Spanish resident inheriting from a parent in the UK is taxed in Spain too. A heir who lives abroad pays on Spanish assets only. The state scale runs from 7.65% to 34%, but regions add large reliefs. The law now lets non-resident heirs use the regional rules too.

On a €300,000 inheritance from a parent in the Valencian Community, for example, the bill after reliefs is about €319 (about £270). Reliefs often depend on filing on time. Lifetime gifts between close family get similar relief in most of these regions, but conditions differ.

UK inheritance tax may still apply

Since 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets depends on long-term UK residence: UK resident for 10 of the previous 20 tax years. After you leave you stay in scope for up to 10 tax years, fewer if you lived in the UK for less time. UK property is always in scope. The UK rate is 40% above the £325,000 threshold. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds count towards your estate.

The UK has inheritance tax treaties with only a few countries, and Spain isn’t one. Spain lets a resident heir deduct foreign tax paid on the same assets, up to the Spanish tax on them. Because the UK taxes the estate and Spain taxes the heir, timing and who pays can be awkward: get advice before you plan gifts or sell property. See your UK tax, pension and property.