Spanish will (testamento) for foreign property owners

Why a Spanish will speeds up inheritance

When a foreign property owner dies without a Spanish will, the heirs face a long bureaucratic chain: get a death certificate from the home country, apostille it, sworn-translate it, find the foreign will (or court-determined heirs), apostille and translate it, then present everything to a Spanish notary who issues a declaration of heirs. Total time: 6-18 months. Costs: €3,000-€10,000+ in legal/notary fees.

With a Spanish will, the process collapses: heirs request a copy of the will at the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad (Madrid), present it to a notary along with the apostilled death certificate, and within 4-8 weeks the inheritance is registered. Costs: €500-€1,500 in notary fees. Speed and cost differential alone justifies making a Spanish will.

A Spanish will does NOT replace your foreign will — it complements it. Best practice: have a foreign will covering all worldwide assets EXCEPT Spanish ones, and a Spanish will covering ONLY Spanish assets. Both must cross-reference each other to avoid revoking the other unintentionally.

EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 — the game changer

Since 17 August 2015, the EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 lets you choose which country's succession law applies to your estate via a clause called 'professio iuris'. Without this clause, the default rule is: succession is governed by the law of your habitual residence at death.

For a UK national living in London but owning a Spanish flat: default → English succession law applies (testamentary freedom, no forced heirship). With professio iuris electing English law in your Spanish will, this is made explicit and enforceable.

For a Spanish-resident foreigner (e.g. retired Brit living in Marbella): default → Spanish succession law applies, including forced heirship rules. Professio iuris electing their nationality's law overrides this — useful if you want to disinherit a child or leave everything to spouse (impossible under Spanish forced heirship).

The Regulation does NOT apply to UK, Ireland or Denmark even within the EU — they opted out. But it DOES apply to nationals of those countries who own property in EU countries that adopted it (like Spain). Confusing but practically: a UK national with Spanish property CAN elect English law via professio iuris in their Spanish will.

Spanish forced heirship (legítima)

Spanish common-law (Código Civil) imposes 'legítima' — a mandatory share for descendants. The estate is divided into thirds: legítima estricta (1/3 equal among children — cannot be touched), mejora (1/3 among descendants — distribution flexible), libre disposición (1/3 — disposed freely).

A surviving spouse has a 'usufructo' (right to use, not own) on part of the estate. Parents have rights if no descendants exist.

This is very different from common-law systems (UK, US, Ireland) where testators have full freedom. For non-Spanish nationals, the professio iuris election in a Spanish will lets you bypass legítima entirely by applying your nationality's law.

Some Spanish autonomous regions have their own civil law (foral): Catalonia, Aragón, Navarra, País Vasco, Balearic Islands, Galicia. Their inheritance rules differ from the common-law system. If your Spanish property is in one of these regions, check the local rules.