Does deed name change need to be made on selling?

The deeds on my Spanish property have both myself & my wife's name on it in 2005. We were both UK passport holders at that time.

I have an Irish passport & my wife has still got a UK passport.

I know that the capital tax for EU citizens is 19.5% while it is 25% for UK citizens.

Therefore, is it necessary for me to get the name changed to me solely on the Deeds? Or does the fact that I am an EU citizen mean that I will get the lower rate for CGT?

If I do need to change the deed's name to my name only do I have to use a solicitor for this & how long is the process, usually take?

Many thanks for any assistance anyone can give.

I asked this question regarding non-resident tax to our lawyer. My wife has an Irish passport, I'm a UK passport holder. We both live in the Uk. Our lawyer told us that as we are both taxpayers in UK then we have to pay our NRT at the higher 24% rate now rather than the pre brexit rate of 19%. I would guess it's the same for you but check with an expert.

Thanks for the reply.

I get the NRT as that's a non-resident illegal tax which is going through the EU court process. So like you, I have continued to pay this now at the higher rate. 

 I believe it might be a different case with the selling of a house in Spain, as the law will be well established.

So I am hoping a solicitor/legal expert or someone who has gone through the process with the same situation as myself might be able to let me know if I can reduce the CGT as I laid out as it makes quite a difference.

If I am the sole EU citizen on the deeds, I believe that I can not be discriminated against compared to any Spanish seller it is against EU law. As you point out, I really need confirmation, worse case scenario is I will have to pay for legal advice. Just thought that many people must have gone through the same selling process since Brexit changed the rules.

For what it's worth, after my wife and I divorced in 2012, I had her name removed from the deeds in order to sell the house and have it in my name only.  I remained a resident whilst she returned to the UK. The cost was some 3k.  So I suppose you would have to balance out the cost of having the house in your name solely against any CGT!

3K is quite a hit, Jimbofinn. Was that the cost for the solicitor & legal charges? Can I ask how long approximately did it take for the process to change the name on the deeds?

Hi, The process didn't take long at all and yes 3k was a big hit but that included all the changes i.e. solicitor,notary, land registry etc etc.  Having remarried in 2015 my wife needed to have her former husbands name removed from the deeds to their house (he had passed away sometime  ago).  The cost of doing so was virtually the same.  My property was in Murcia and hers in the Cadiz region.  The process is called The Dissolution of Property.

This is a copy of the final settlement for my property: