Sutton
McKenna y Santafé, at their office in Coín.
to have a separate Spanish Will?
will to cover all your assets, moveable or immoveable throughout the world. The
Spanish Civil Code permits this in
However, the practicalities are somewhat different. The procedure to utilise an
English form will in
is tortuous and can lead to delays of several months if not years.
Spanish will for their Spanish assets. This should be drafted by a Spanish law
firm accustomed to dealing with British clients. It can be drafted in both
languages. It must be signed in front of a notary. A translator (usually a
representative from the law firm) must attend if the testator cannot speak good
Spanish. The notary is then obliged to register the will with the central wills
registry in
even possible to sign a Spanish will in your home country.
However it is possible (but not mandatory) to name ‘Albaceas’ whose permission
must be sought when dealing with the estate, although the property does not
legally vest with them. The partners of the law firm who draft the will are
often named as Albaceas.
does not accidentally revoke an existing English will and vice-versa. This is
why it is important to use a firm which is accustomed to dealing with British
clients. Similarly, lawyers should use an appropriately worded revocation and
jurisdiction clause when drafting English form wills for clients who already
have a Spanish will.
will save beneficiaries a significant amount of money and complications in the
future.
for
residents who own property there?
the inheritance tax payable is charged to the beneficiary individually rather
than to the estate. This means that each beneficiary has their own tax free
allowance which depends upon their relationship to the deceased and their
residential status. Also the tax is charged on a sliding scale basis, starting
at 7.65% (for the first €7993.46 after the tax free allowance) up to 34% (for
anything over €797,555.08). The consequence of this is that it is tax efficient
to have as many beneficiaries as possible, particularly if they are related
through blood or marriage. A parent, spouse or child (over 21) receives a tax
free allowance of just under €16,000, younger children receive more,
grandparents and grandchildren receive an allowance of just under €8,000. There
is an uplift of tax if the beneficiary has pre-existing personal wealth in
of over €402,678.11. There is also an uplift of 100% if the beneficiary is not
related to the deceased. This means the maximum rate of inheritance tax that
could be applied is a horrendous 81.6%. Thankfully, this is very rare.
has its own tax allowances. However, these only apply to residents of that
region. For example in Andalucía, if a parent, spouse or child receives less
than €175,000 and both the beneficiary and deceased were residents of Andalucía
at the time of death, there is no tax to pay for that beneficiary. This appears
to be discriminatory in that residents of other EU states do not qualify and
could well be challenged in the European Court of Justice.
property, assistance should be sought from a lawyer practising in the region
concerned.
Sutton
and Registered Foreign Lawyer at De Cotta McKenna y Santafé, a law firm
specialising in dealing with all aspects of Spanish Law for English speaking
clients. Their new offices are at:
Trocha,
Spanbox B220,
Apartado 178
29100 Coín Málaga
Tel (0034) 951 315
161
Fax (0034) 951 315
162
or
Email [email protected]
website: www.decottalaw.com