Making a Will

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Making a Will ensures that your worldly goods go to the people you want to inherit. A Will for each country where you have assets with each Will stating that it does not affect the other(s), is what we always strongly advise, rather than a “worldwide Will”.

In your Spanish Will, you can include your house, car, valuable objects etc just as you can in an English Will. Just because you own a Spanish asset in joint names with a person does not mean that they will inherit your share when you die. It all has to be spelt out in your Will.

Dying without a Spanish Will makes things more complicated and expensive for those left behind. It cannot be assumed that having an English Will covers everything. For a start, there is the cost of obtaining probate in England and then having the Grant of Probate legalised for use in Spain and translated. The Spanish notary may also insist on additional documents such as a certificate of law. This all adds to the cost and delay and remember your heirs only have 6 months to deal with the Spanish estate and pay any inheritance tax before interest and penalties are applied.

If there are no assets in England at the time of death, probate cannot even be applied for in England which means that the heirs then have to deal with an intestacy situation which is an even more complicated process.

Also bear in mind that the wording of an English Will may not “translate” easily into Spanish law with the result that the estate ends up being distributed in a way you did not intend. We have seen this happen where the English Will had been worded in an ambiguous way so that the Spanish notary had to interpret it to try to give effect as nearly as possible to what the deceased person wanted which, unfortunately, did not work in the surviving partner´s favour.

Making a Spanish Will is straightforward and the costs involved are far less than the heirs would have to pay if there was no Spanish Will. Remember you should now elect in your Spanish Will for your national law to apply to the distribution of your Spanish estate; this is highly relevant for people with children from prior marriages / relationships who do not want the Spanish law of forced heirs to apply.

The new intestacy laws which came into force in England in October 2014, mean that for childless couples, the surviving spouse or same sex civil partner, will now inherit the entire estate. Under the old law, the entitlement was the first £450,000 plus half the rest of the estate. For those with children, the surviving spouse will get the first £250,000, as previously, but will now get half the rest of the estate instead of just the interest on that amount. Unmarried partners (“common law” couples) will not benefit from these changes, however, and remain especially vulnerable, both in Spain and England.

We can review your existing English and Spanish Wills for you at no charge and advise on ways to help ensure that the Wills are not later challenged. If you need a new English Will, we can prepare this and help you to ensure that it is correctly signed and witnessed. We can also handle all aspects of making a Spanish Will and accompany you to the notary´s office to sign it, ensuring that you are entirely happy with the contents before you sign.

Finally, If you have assets in other countries such as the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, sound legal and financial advice should always be taken.