The Spanish Wills we provide have the following features:

• They are written under the supervision of a Spanish-speaking solicitor.
• They deal only with your Spanish assets.
• They have a professional English translation alongside the Spanish text.
• They are designed to be signed in front of a Notary in Spain, in the location most convenient for you, on your next visit to Spain. Our Spanish representatives make the Notary appointment for you and liaise with the Notary’s office on your behalf.*
• After they have been signed, the wills are registered at the Central Wills Registry in Madrid and the original wills are stored by the Notary. You are provided with an official copy for your records.

*(please note that the Spanish Notary’s signature fee is not included within the Spanish Wills fees.)

Introduction

If you are resident in England or Wales, you are domiciled in this country and your worldwide estate is considered for Inheritance Tax in this country.

If you own property in Spain you need to have a Spanish Will and an English Will to complement your Spanish Will. They should be specifically written to complement each other. A Spanish Will is as much part of your estate planning as an English Will.

Spanish Law

A Spanish citizen does not have the freedom to distribute his/her estate in the way that an English person does. As a married person, he or she is obliged by law to follow the national Spanish succession provisions, which (if there are children) specify that:

• A third has to be distributed equally amongst the children
• A further third must also be given to the children in equal shares, but with a life interest in favour of the surviving spouse
• The remaining third can be distributed by the testator in his/her Will as he/she wishes

As a result of this, many Spanish lawyers writing Wills for UK married couples seem to give no thought as to how the estate should be distributed.

The surviving spouse can therefore finish up owning part of the holiday home, while ownership of the remainder is divided equally between the children. Would you write your Will this way if this was a holiday home a Torquay?

You can see from this that a Spanish Will which is not prepared by experts in dual jurisdiction estate planning can put your family at a considerable disadvantage

As a British citizen, you are not obliged to follow Spanish succession laws. You can distribute your estate in Spain as you like

We therefore recommend you take great care if you are offered a Spanish Will from another source as they can contradict your English Wills and your English and Spanish Wills can even cancel each other out.

These are quoted misconceptions

Not true. You have one, world-wide estate. If you are domiciled in the UK, the value of your immovable Spanish property and any other foreign assets will be included within your estate for UK Inheritance Tax calculation purposes, even if they are covered by more than one Will

Again, not true. If you write a Spanish Will whilst buying your property abroad and then come home and write an English Will with the universally standard opening phrase “…This is the last Will and Testament of me…. by which I revoke all previous Wills and testamentary dispositions…..” you have just cancelled your Spanish Will. Problems may also arise if the two documents contradict each other.

We recommend you do not go there. It would be classed as tax evasion, which is a criminal offence. This is the subject of a recent government crackdown.

How do you know how much you will save? Does it consider Inheritance Tax implications? Does it say what you want it to say?

Definitely not true. As a UK-domiciled individual you can distribute your Spanish estate however you wish. In fact it is very much to your advantage not to follow the Spanish succession rules.

The Solution

We have a very effective UK Inheritance Tax saving solution for married couples. This consists of:

• Two Spanish Wills
• Two complementary “mirror” English Wills

In your English Wills you

• Exclude your foreign property
• Nominate your choice of Trustees and Executors
• Appoint guardians for any children under the age of eighteen
• Distribute your estate as you wish
• State any preferences you may have for your funeral arrangements

In your Spanish Wills you

• Deal only with your Spanish assets
• Have an English translation alongside the Spanish text
• Ensure the appropriate professional drafting input
• Incorporate appropriate provisions for signature before a Spanish Notary *
• Employ the format for registration at Madrid Central Wills Registry *(please note that the Spanish Notary’s signature fee is not included within the Spanish Wills fees.)

We will visit you in your own home and discuss with you the requirements for both sets of Wills.