Wills and inheritance · Costa Brava
Spanish wills for foreign owners, and the full inheritance process when someone has died. In English, French and Spanish, from our office in Figueres.
Why it matters
A foreign will is generally valid in Spain. The problem is proving it. Your family will need the original, an apostille, a sworn translation, and often a formal statement of your national succession law — all obtained from another country, in another language, while a Spanish deadline is running. A Spanish will removes every one of those steps.
A testament obert is signed in front of a notary in a single short appointment. We prepare the draft beforehand so there are no surprises in the room.
The notary keeps the original and registers it in the central register of last wills. Whoever has to deal with your estate will find it, even if they do not know it exists.
A Spanish will can be limited to your Spanish assets, so it sits alongside the one you already have at home instead of cancelling it. Getting that wording right is the part worth paying for.
The Catalan difference
This is the single thing most people are not told, and it changes the answer.
When someone has died
If you are reading this because you have just lost someone, this is the sequence. We can take all of it off your hands.
The death certificate, the certificate from the central register of last wills showing whether there is a Spanish will and which notary holds it, and the life insurance register certificate.
From the Spanish will, from a foreign will with its apostille and sworn translation, or — where there is no will at all — through a notarial declaration of heirs.
Property, bank accounts, vehicles, insurance. Banks will not release anything until the tax is settled, which catches families out when there are funeral costs to cover.
Signed before a notary by all heirs, in person or by power of attorney. This is the document that turns an entitlement into ownership.
The inheritance tax return has a statutory deadline of six months from the date of death, with an extension available if it is applied for in time. Catalonia applies its own reductions, and non-residents are entitled to the same regional rules as residents. Missing the deadline brings surcharges and interest.
Six monthsEntering the property in the heirs’ names at the Land Registry, then the bank accounts, the utilities, the IBI and the annual non-resident tax that now belongs to whoever inherited.
Where we work
Alt Empordà · northern Costa Brava
Baix Empordà · central and southern Costa Brava
Questions
You do not need one, but it is almost always worth having. Your foreign will is valid; proving it in Spain is slow, costly and happens at the worst possible moment for your family. A Spanish will covering only your Spanish assets removes that.
Not if it is drafted properly. The wording limits it to assets in Spain and expressly preserves the other. A badly drafted one can revoke it, which is exactly the kind of mistake that is only discovered when it is too late to fix.
If you are a foreign national, generally yes, under the EU Succession Regulation, and the election is normally made in the will. Whether you should is a separate question — it changes who must inherit, not the tax, and for some nationalities Catalan law gives a better outcome.
No. A power of attorney signed at a Spanish consulate, or before a notary at home with an apostille, lets us sign the acceptance deed for them.
It depends on the relationship, the value, and which reductions apply — Catalonia has its own, including a substantial one for the family home if the heirs keep it. We work the figure out for your actual situation rather than quoting a range that will not match it.
Yes. Certificates, declaration of heirs, the notary, the tax and the registry can all be handled from here with powers of attorney. It is a large part of what we do.
Next step
Tell us whether you are planning ahead or dealing with an estate, and we will explain what is involved and what it costs before you commit to anything.
See everything we do for foreign owners on this coast: English-speaking lawyers on the Costa Brava →
MigratioLex · Carrer Joan Reglà, 5, 3-B · 17600 Figueres (Girona) · contacto@migratiolex.com · +34 602 54 15 16
This page is general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Rules and deadlines change, and what applies depends on your circumstances.
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