Spanish/English Wills

Sat up with a bit of a start when I looked at info on another forum - about wills - the other day.  Not sure if I can mention the forum, but if I'm not meant to I'm sure that it will be deleted.  It was British Expats/Spain. 

Was feeling very complacent about having had made out wills in both countries - not that I'm planning to "kick the bucket" any time soon, but thought that I had got everything tied up for my nearest and dearest in the event of my demise!

However, it says that English wills shouldn't carry the heading "This is my last will and testament..." otherwise it nullifies the Spanish will.  Guess what - my English will says just that!  And my Spanish will, made out by a Spanish lawyer is a mirror image.  

Will (no pun intended!!) have to look into this a bit more. 

Has anyone else heard about this?  Am now going to some serious checking,

Hi,
Both of our wills spanish and english say LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
but my spanish will says ONLY REGARDING ASSETS IN SPAIN, and my
english will says ALL REAL AND PERSONAL ESTAE WHATSOEVER IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
Our english solicitor said scotland have different laws.

Our Spanish wills say ... (I wished I knew  )

We have copies of them from our (then) fiscal rep who wrote them & took us to the notary. The notary keeps the original wills we were told. There's nothing at the top of our Spanish wills (the copies) but I understand they just work in conjunction with each other. Spanish will is about your Spanish assets.

Got to go into our safe to read English wills. Bit of a carry on so won't bother just now.


This message was last edited by morerosado on 8/12/2008.

We had our Spanish wills made out about a month ago. Our wills stated that as we were British citizens and residents, we required our Spanish property to be dealt with in the same way as it would be in our home country (i.e. instead of part of the property having to be inherited by a child, it automatically goes to the spouse, as it would in the UK).

Mark

Many thanks for all that info.

I think that a trip to the solicitors in both countries is required!

Will have to make sure that I drive carefully until then

And DO remember WHERE you leave your car, Abbbb

(In another thread she said she never remembers where she leaves her car & has to write a note to herself).

And who "spilled the beans" over the notes????

Whoops, just remembered that it was me!!!

Just proves the point about my memory!

This message was last edited by abbbb1 on 8/13/2008.

 Sorry if this has been dealt with several times before, or if I haven't picked the most appropriate thread but ...

 

is it right that as British passport holders, though resident in Spain these last 8 years, we must make a UK will?

And if we don't, we will die intestate?  

Thanks!

If you own property or have assets  in Spain you MUST make a spanish will to deal with these assets in SPAIN

If you own property or have assets in the UK you MUST make a will to deal with those assets

In either case if you do not you will die intestate and the rules of inheritance (of each country) will come into play ... and you might not like them!

 

Thanks for the reply Spirit of Spain.  That's pretty clear. 

What I intend to do is to start by writing an English will and then move on to the Spanish one.

Coleen

It is not compulsory to have a Spanish will. Your UK will is perfectly valid in Spain. However it is always adviseable to draw up a will in every jurisdiction in which you have assets.

Unlike in the UK where you can write your own will, in Spain you have to execute a will before a notary, who keeps the original on file and notifies the central registry of wills in Madrid of its whereabouts etc. You will probably need to engage a lawyer to instruct the notary if you don't speak the lingo. The Spanish notary will normally prepare the will in dual column format (Spanish/English) and the fee for that version is approximately EUR70 to EUR80. A solicitor will probably charge you between EUR200 to EUR300 for taking instructions, instructing the notary, and accompanying you to notary etc.

The main benefit of a Spanish will is that if your UK affairs are complicated then you do not want the Spanish tax authorities trying to interpret a UK will and imposing harsh tax rules which could happen if they cannot easily identify the benefiiciary of the Spanish based assets.

Am just in the process of making a new Spanish Will as events have made the original well and truly out of date

The Lawyer costs are 170 euros then of course there will be the notary costs.

 

http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/spanish-will.aspx

 Hi Spiritofspain,

Our wills cost us 48euros each direct at the notarys office and it was printed in english and spanish at no extra cost. If it is a straight forward Will you can go direct to the notary (I have posted on this issue in previous posts) just make sure that the notary speaks English or you take somebody with you that speaks good Spanish.

First you have to make an appointment at the notary, then go on the day go and make your Wills which should be ready within one month for collection. Make sure you take passports etc with you. It is more complicated if you have been married more than once or have children to different partners.

Yes, if you are clear on your will and can communicate with the Notary, there is really no need of a lawyer advising you. Some Notaries offer this type of advise to people. They all should.

If your will is not simple or have some specialties, it is not a bad idea to consult with a lawyer with this specialty as it can save you taxes, expenses...

Of course, a good english speaking notary would need to work fine with this too. They are, in most of the cases, proffessionals with a Law degree and a posterior great training/studies in Law before becoming Notaries.

An obvious next question... where would we find an English-speaking notary around Costa Blanca South?

Ta

Irene

Call into any Notary office and ask if they speak English it doesn't have to be the one in your town as all Will gets registered in Madrid.

We went with Glyn Moran he took us to the Notary and translated for us in San Javier.