"Yo soy española, casada con un británico. No tenemos hijos pero nos preocupa irnos a vivir a España para no dejar al que enviude primero en mala situación económica. En el Reino Unido, la casa familiar pasa de un cónyuge al otro sin coste alguno. Nos dicen que en España, no. Si es cierto, es absurdo que el que enviuda tenga que volver a pagar por lo que ya pagó, o que tenga que vender su hogar para cumplir esos deberes impositivos."
The person above posted a comment in our last post on probate, she is asking what happens with marriage couples Spanish woman- UK man and that they live in the UK and are reluctant to move to Spain to avoid inheritance tax when one of them dies.
Lots of clarification needed here. Of course we would need more details for a most accurate appraisal such as: assets in the UK? domicile in the UK? Anyhow let´s show some tips that may help:
Let´s suppose they move to Spain, take the Spanish residency and she dies first.
Her inheritance will be under the rule of nationality, so Spanish Law will apply. If she left a will which respects the legal portions of legal heirs ( ascendants as they have no children), this will be valid. Their heirs will be taxed worldwide by the Spanish taxman because of residency of the deceasor. There are important reductions to cohabitants in the IHT if the inherited good was the permanent home.
Let´s suppose now that they move to Spain, take the Spanish residency and he ( UK nationality) dies first:
His inheritance will be ruled by UK Law unless the only asset they had was a real estate in Spain. In this case his inheritance will be ruled by Spanish Law and will follow very similar features as his wife´s as described above. If he had assets in the Uk too, Uk Law will apply and therefore there will be no restrictions to limit his freedom to testate. In terms of taxations, his residency in Spain will always drive him to the Spanish taxman for his assets worldwide, with same clarification as above regarding the important reduction on IHT corresponding to the permanent home for cohabitants.
Hope this helps. I am happy to answer more questions if you need
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Bolonia beach ( Tarifa, Cadiz, Spain) by Vicox01 at Flickr.com