Making a will in Spain

Even if you have a will in your home country, it is also wise to make a Spanish will that disposes of your property here. Spanish succession law is quite complicated and may differ greatly from what you are used to at home.

The Spanish law on wills is designed primarily to protect heirs within the family. A number of restrictions are therefore placed on the testator’s freedom to dispose of his estate as he wishes. If a foreign resident dies intestate his property will be distributed according to Spanish succession law. A summary of Spanish succession law follows:

if somebody dies leaving children, one third of the estate passes to his surviving children in equal parts.
a further third also passes to the children, but the testator is free to divide this part as he sees fit, for example by giving one child more than the others. In the case that the deceased has not made a will this third will also be divided in equal parts.
a surviving spouse of the deceased will have a lifetime interest in this second third, in other words the children will not be able to dispose of it freely until the spouse also dies.
the remaining third may be willed to whoever the testator chooses.
if a child has died leaving children (grandchildren of the deceased) they will automatically inherit his share.
if the deceased has no children, surviving parents of the deceased have a statutory right to one third of the estate, if there is a surviving spouse, and one half of the estate, if there is no surviving spouse.
You may have made provisions in the will you made in your home country for the disposal of your assets in Spain and in theory these dispositions should be respected here too. However, the legal procedure to enforce this in Spain is very lengthy and expensive and any final decisions are subject to the discretion of the courts. Your heirs may become involved in protracted and distressing legal procedures. Furthermore, if you have a definite idea about how you would like your estate to be distributed, particularly if this is not in line with the provisions of Spanish succession law, it is imperative that you make a Spanish will

Once you have made a will in Spain it is very important to ensure that your home country will excludes your Spanish assets and that any subsequent wills made abroad do not supersede the provisions made in your Spanish will either.