La herencia

Here is our guide to understanding how to act in relation to an inheritance with assets located in Spain. Whether you are the designated heir in a Spanish will or in a foreign Will or you have the status of executor of the Will, we can help you throughout the procedure.

Bear in mind that when talking about inheritance the document preparation takes quite a long time as some documents need to be legalised and translated. It is very important to know that the tax obligations must be fulfilled within six months whether or not you have to pay taxes.
Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney is very convenient because it is very useful and makes things easier for us and avoids trips and time to our customers. If any the heirs has not a NIE (Identification Number of Foreigners), necessary to file the taxes, we apply for it. Of course signing the adjudication deed and, in general, avoiding the client some unecessary trips when you are in your country. Not so many years ago, service companies such as banks, municipalities and different agencies used to collaborate a lot, but nowadays the protection of personal data means that access to information that was previously open is now only possible if we represent to the person with a Power of Attorney.

We have to say that in Ferrández Solicitors we may be a little different in this matter.

We do not ask or prepare General Powers of Attorney. Not with us, and our advice is not to do it with anyone. Especially since 99% of the cases most of the faculties included are not necessary.
The powers that are prepared in our office are those that we need to be able to carry out the work that you entrust us, of course we try to include all those faculties that may be necessary since this way we avoid bothering our clients, but in the same way we avoid everything that is not necessary.
For your peace of mind.

In order to be able to obtain the deed of adjudication of inheritance (Inheritance Deed), it is necessary to prove before the Notary who the heirs are. In order to determine who or who the heirs are, it is necessary to know if there is a Will. In order to know if there is a Will granted in Spain, it is necessary to request a certificate from the Register of Last Will Acts, which is a record containing the Wills granted before Notaries in Spain.

To obtain this certificate it is necessary to attach the death certificate. We need you to provide us with this death certificate, if you also have a copy of the Will made in Spain it will be easier to ask for the Certificate of Last Will Acts.

Along with the death certificate we will need the following documents:

  • Deed of the property.
  • Last receipt of the Tax on Real Estate (IBI).
  • Certificate of the balance of current accounts at the date of death.
  • Certificate of the value corresponding to any investment made in Spain.
  • Vehicle documentation.
  • Balance of loans or other existing debts at the date of death.

When you let us have the documentation we will do the following:

We will request the Certificate of Last Will Acts which is necessary to obtain the authorized copy of the Will.

If it is a death certificate issued in the United Kingdom, we proceed with its legalization by means of the Apostille of the Hague Convention and its translation.

We prepare an assessment of the inheritance and the calculation of taxes, notary fees, registration, fees, etc.

If the deceased does not have a will granted in Spain but in his country the initial procedures are the same as it is necessary to prove that there is no will here. For United Kingdom citizens at the same time the client must obtain Probate of the UK Will as well as the Grant of Representation.

The preparation of the documentation is not simple, especially when there is no will and the deceased is a non-resident.

In these situations it is necessary to determine who are the legal heirs. All of the resultant documentation will need to be translated and legalised for use in Spain.

Depending on the case, it may be necessary to obtain a certificate of law, a document proving that the laws of the country of origin of the deceased person have been followed. When we advise having a Will in Spain, it is to avoid all these complications for our clients. Something that in your country would be a simple procedure gets complicated a lot when you need to have all documents sent to a different country.

As with the sale and purchase of property, it is possible to carry out all the processing of the inheritance without your presence in Spain, provided that a power of representation is granted (Power of Attorney). Please read our information on



Power of Attorney

Our office prepares the documentation and the valuations of the assets of the inheritance and ask the Notary for the corresponding deed of inheritance adjudication to be prepared.

A deed is necessary whenever there is a real estate property and it is necessary to change the name of the owners in the Property Registry. In other cases, a private document and the payment of taxes is usually (but not always) sufficient to be able to gain access to the existing balances in current accounts.

Basically, the last processes are very similar to that of a sale with the difference that when there are current accounts, deposits, etc. It is necessary to take all the documentation to the bank or banks. Their legal department will carry out the relevant checks of the documents and if all is in order, release the funds.

We then prepare and pay the inheritance tax (IS), notify the City Council and settle the Tax on the Increase in the Value of Urban Land (IIVTNU) and present the deed to the Land Registry .
We make the change of owner in the cadastre (register) so that the Real Estate Tax (IBI) details are changed to those of the new owner.

Where there are ongoing payments to be made (IBI and Utility Bills) we will set up Direct Debits in your Bank Account so that the transfer is as seamless as possible for you.

One of the first concerns when someone dies is related to the situation with the Bank Account. In general, there is fear that banks will block their accounts and it is true, sometimes they do. This is possible because when a bank knows about the death of a client, it is obliged to hold on to the funds until the Inheritance Deed is granted. This applies even when there is no tax to be paid.

Regarding this situation you need to know the following:

  • If the account or current accounts are in co-ownership, this block can ONLY be made over 50% of the balance at the date of death. You can withdraw 50% of that balance, it is normal to do so and open a new account.
  • Banks often try to block 100%. The easiest way to rectify this is to Call us, it's usually the most direct way to act.
  • If this is not possible, talk to the director, ask for his or her name and file a report at the Police Station or the Civil Guard for attempted misappropriation.
  • The block that is carried out does not affect direct debit payments. Water, electricity, telephone, taxes that are charged to the current account will continue to be taken care of by the bank.

 

All this work usually takes between four to six weeks. Once concluded we arranged a meeting with our clients. The purpose of this meeting is to provide all the documentation related to the registration of the property, what we call the property title. Also to finalise the budget that we were working to and return any excess or collect any difference in our favour. In general we allow in the budget for the maximum but there are expenses such as the Notary or Registry that are estimated and there could be differences at the end.
When the client is not in Spain, a copy of all the documentation and the settlement is sent by e-mail, keeping the originals until the client picks them up from our office.