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SPANISH WILL · BRUSSELS IV

Leave your Spanish estate exactly as you mean to.

Own a home or assets in Spain? Under Brussels IV (EU Regulation 650/2012) you can elect the law of your own nationality — opting out of Spanish forced heirship, la legítima — and spare your heirs a probate of translations and apostilles. We draft it, notarise it and register it. In plain English.

Make your Spanish will (in English) Why it matters

A will is the one document you never get to see used. The kindest thing you can do is make the day it’s needed the easy part.

A SHORT STORY (NOT ABOUT PAPERWORK)

Two neighbours, two holiday homes, one very different afternoon

Two Brits bought apartments in the same block, a few doors apart. Both spent their springs on the same terrace, both meant to “sort the will out one day”. One of them actually did — a short Spanish will electing English law, signed before the notary and registered. It took an afternoon. She barely thought about it again.

The other kept his tidy UK will and left it at that. His family, he assumed, would simply inherit the flat. What could be simpler than a will?

When the time came, the difference was stark. The first family found the Spanish will in the register within days; the estate passed exactly as she’d written, and it was settled in weeks. The second family met sworn translations, apostilles, a foreign grant to recognise — and Spanish forced heirship rules quietly colliding with what he’d actually wanted. Same block, same view. Months apart, and thousands of euros, decided by one signature that was and one that never happened.

A Spanish will isn’t about admitting anything — it’s about choosing. Choose your national law under Brussels IV, choose who inherits, and choose to hand your family a clean afternoon instead of a foreign probate. The document is short. Not having it is the long part.

WHY A SPANISH WILL MATTERS

Four reasons it’s worth the afternoon

Owning something in Spain changes the maths of your estate. A Spanish will, drafted under Brussels IV, is how you keep control of it.

Your assets are in Spain

A holiday home, a bank account, a car in the garage — anything you own here sits under Spanish succession rules unless you say otherwise. A Spanish will deals cleanly with the Spanish estate, in the country where the property and the paperwork actually live.

Brussels IV lets you choose your law

EU Regulation 650/2012 — “Brussels IV” — lets a foreign national elect the law of their nationality to govern their whole estate. For a British owner that means English (or Scottish) succession rules can apply instead of Spanish ones, so you decide who inherits rather than the Civil Code deciding for you.

It opts you out of la legítima

Spanish law reserves a fixed share of the estate for certain heirs — the forced heirship known as la legítima — which can override what you actually want. Electing your national law in the will is how you step outside that regime and leave your Spanish estate as you intend.

It spares your heirs a probate nightmare

With no Spanish will, your family faces sworn translations, apostilles and a foreign grant of probate before they can touch the Spanish asset — months of cost and delay at the worst possible time. A Spanish will, registered here, makes succession far faster and cheaper.

The right to elect your national law comes from Brussels IV (EU Regulation 650/2012); how it interacts with la legítima and your home-country will is confirmed for your specific estate.

HOW IT WORKS

From your kitchen table to the register

1

Take stock & choose the law

We map exactly what you own in Spain and confirm the succession law of your nationality that you want to govern the estate — the Brussels IV election that sits at the heart of the will.

2

Draft in two languages

We draft the will in Spanish with a parallel English column, so you sign knowing precisely what it says. It’s written to cover your Spanish estate and to sit alongside — never contradict — your home-country will.

3

Sign before a notary

The will is signed before a Spanish notary (notario), who confirms your identity and capacity and holds the original. We arrange the appointment and interpret throughout, so nothing is lost in translation.

4

Register it

The notary records it in the Registro de Últimas Voluntades — the central register of last wills — so that when the time comes your heirs, and their lawyer, can find it at once and act on it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

The questions we get first

Do I need a Spanish will if I already have a UK one?

You don’t strictly need one, but it saves your family real time, cost and stress. A UK will can govern your Spanish assets, but to use it here your heirs must have it translated by a sworn translator, apostilled and recognised — a slow, expensive process at a hard moment. A separate Spanish will, dealing only with your Spanish estate and written to complement your home-country will, sidesteps all of that. The two should sit side by side, not on top of each other.

What is Brussels IV and how does it help me?

Brussels IV is the nickname for EU Regulation 650/2012 on cross-border succession. Its key gift to expats: you can elect the law of your nationality to govern your entire estate, rather than the law of the country where you’re resident. For a British national living in or owning property in Spain, that means you can have English or Scottish succession rules apply instead of Spanish ones — so you decide who inherits, within your own familiar legal framework. We put that election clearly into the will.

What is la legítima — the Spanish forced heirship?

Spanish succession law reserves a set portion of your estate for certain relatives — typically children and, in part, a surviving spouse. This is la legítima, the forced heirship, and it can override the wishes you’d take for granted at home, such as leaving everything to your spouse. By electing your national law under Brussels IV, you generally step outside la legítima for your Spanish estate and leave it as you actually intend. It’s one of the main reasons to make a Spanish will rather than rely on chance.

Will a Spanish will cancel my home-country will?

Not if it’s drafted properly, and that’s exactly the risk we guard against. A carelessly written “I revoke all previous wills” clause can wipe out your UK will by accident. We draft the Spanish will to deal only with your Spanish estate and to work alongside your home-country will, so the two cover different assets without contradicting one another. If you’re updating one, tell us about the other — the interplay is the whole point.

Where is the will kept, and how will my heirs find it?

The will is signed before a Spanish notary, who keeps the original and registers its existence in the Registro de Últimas Voluntades, the national last-wills register in Madrid. When someone dies, their lawyer checks this register to find whether a Spanish will exists and which notary holds it. That single step is why a properly notarised, registered will is found and acted on quickly, rather than lost in a drawer.

Can you handle the whole thing in English?

Yes. We’re a bilingual, colegiado firm on the Costa del Sol, so we take your instructions in plain English, draft the will bilingually and interpret at the notary. You sign a document you fully understand, elect the law you want and leave with a will that does what you meant — no guessing, no rough translations after the fact.

Alberto García López

Reviewed by a lawyer

Reviewed by Alberto García López

Immigration lawyer · ICA Málaga, reg. no. 11.441

We check every page against current Spanish law. This is general information, not advice on your individual case.

Signature of Alberto García López
BEFORE ONE DAY BECOMES NEVER

Tell us what you own here. We’ll draft the will.

A clear plan for your Spanish estate — your national law elected under Brussels IV, drafted bilingually and registered — sitting neatly alongside your home-country will, not against it.

Make your Spanish will (in English)

+34 667 77 02 19 · infoglobalextranjeria@gmail.com

P.S. — the Spanish will is an afternoon and a signature. The version where you didn’t make one is the version your family has to live through. Do the afternoon.