You almost certainly need both, and this page explains exactly why. We set out the legal functions of each will, how they coordinate, the specific risks of relying on one alone, and the correct drafting that makes the pair work together rather than fight each other. By the end you will understand precisely what each will does, how they cover your complete estate between them, and why using a single "global" will is usually the worst of both options.
The most common question we are asked on discovery calls is some version of: "If I have a UK will already, do I really need a Spanish one?" or "Can't I just have one will that covers everything?" The short answer is that for any British national with assets on both sides of the Channel, two wills — one Spanish, one UK — drafted to work together is the correct structure. A single "global" will is usually the worst of both options: it operates slowly in both jurisdictions, it creates revocation risks, and it rarely contains the Brussels IV election that protects your Spanish estate from forced heirship.
This page is a plain-English comparison of the two systems. It is written for British expats (and by extension Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish and Commonwealth testators whose home-country position is similar), but the logic applies equally to American, Canadian, Dutch and other foreign nationals with Spanish assets. We go through each function a will performs, how the UK and Spanish systems treat it, what the interaction looks like, and where the common pitfalls lie.
A UK will (specifically an England and Wales will, or Scots / Northern Irish equivalent) is designed to be admitted to probate in the UK, to grant a named executor authority over the UK estate, and to direct UK assets to beneficiaries under English, Scots or Northern Irish succession law. A Spanish will is designed to operate through a Spanish notary rather than a court, to direct Spanish assets to named beneficiaries, and to make an explicit Brussels IV election that keeps the law of the testator's nationality applicable to their Spanish estate. The two wills exist because the two jurisdictions operate in fundamentally different ways — and trying to make a single document do both jobs is the source of most of the problems we untangle in our inheritance practice.
The "one will to cover everything" approach sounds efficient. In practice it creates four specific problems:
The correct structure is two wills, each drafted by a specialist in its own jurisdiction, each explicitly confined to the assets in that jurisdiction, each carrying a scope clause that preserves the other. That is the template we follow on every expat file.
| Function | UK Will (England & Wales) | Spanish Will |
|---|---|---|
| Assets covered | UK and foreign assets (but see below) | Spanish assets only (by scope clause) |
| Formality | Signed, witnessed by two independent witnesses | Signed before a Spanish notary; read aloud |
| Storage | With solicitor, testator, or the Principal Registry | Notary's protocol; registered in Madrid |
| Post-death procedure | Grant of probate by UK court | Notarial acceptance deed (no court) |
| Timeline after death | Grant typically 3-6 months from application | Acceptance deed available immediately once documentation is ready |
| Governing succession law | English & Welsh succession law | Elected national law under Brussels IV, or Spanish default |
| Forced heirship | Testamentary freedom (subject to family provision claims) | Spanish legítima unless Brussels IV elected |
| Executor role | Central — named executor obtains grant and administers | Optional albacea; most estates run directly through beneficiaries |
| Inheritance tax | UK IHT (national, progressive, with nil-rate band and spouse exemption) | Spanish IS (regional, varies by autonomous community and relationship) |
| Tax deadline | IHT return within 12 months of death | Spanish IS within 6 months (one-off 6-month extension) |
| Revocation | By later will or deliberate destruction | By later Spanish will; superseded on Madrid registration |
The UK system runs succession through the courts. An executor applies to the Probate Registry, obtains a grant, and uses the grant as authority to deal with banks and the Land Registry. The Spanish system runs succession through notaries. An acceptance deed (escritura de aceptación y adjudicación de herencia) is signed before a Spanish notary and is itself the authorising document. No court is involved unless the estate is contested. This difference drives everything: the speed, the cost, the documentary requirements, and the professional who coordinates the process.
English law gives testators substantial freedom (subject to family provision claims from those financially dependent on the deceased). Spanish law, by default, reserves two-thirds of the estate for the testator's children under the legítima. For a British national resident in Spain, the default under Brussels IV is that Spanish succession law governs — bringing forced heirship into play. The Brussels IV election in a Spanish will is what restores English testamentary freedom over the Spanish estate.
Each will operates at native speed in its own jurisdiction. The UK grant of probate runs through the UK courts; the Spanish acceptance deed runs through a Spanish notary. Neither is waiting on the other.
The Spanish will carries an explicit election of English law, displacing Spanish forced heirship for the Spanish estate. This preserves your testamentary freedom.
The UK will drives UK inheritance tax treatment (nil-rate band, spouse exemption, residence nil-rate band). The Spanish will drives Spanish regional tax treatment. No cross-contamination.
Your UK executor deals with UK assets under the grant of probate; your Spanish beneficiaries deal directly with Spanish assets via the acceptance deed. Neither needs to act in the other jurisdiction.
With a Spanish will on the Madrid register, there is no UK grant to translate into Spanish. Your family skips weeks of sworn translator work at exactly the time they need things to move.
Two specialist wills drafted during life cost far less than one global will re-validated in two jurisdictions after death. It is the single clearest legal-efficiency gain an expat can make.
We draft and coordinate with your UK solicitor to make sure both documents work together.
Book a ConsultationThe coordination sits in four specific clauses. Done correctly, these clauses make the two wills operate as complementary instruments rather than competing ones.
The Spanish will contains a clause expressly limiting its operation to Spanish assets and preserving the UK will. The UK will, drafted or amended to account for the Spanish will, contains a mirror clause limiting its operation to non-Spanish assets. This is the core drafting principle.
Standard "I revoke all prior wills" clauses are removed or narrowed. The Spanish will's revocation language is confined to prior Spanish wills. The UK will's revocation language is confined to prior non-Spanish wills. This prevents accidental global revocation.
The Spanish will contains an explicit election of English and Welsh law (or Scots, Northern Irish as applicable) under Article 22 of Regulation 650/2012. This disapplies Spanish forced heirship and brings the testator's freedom of disposition to Spain.
The UK will references the existence of the Spanish will by date and notary protocol number, not to incorporate it but to acknowledge it. This helps the UK executor understand at a glance that there is a parallel Spanish document covering Spanish assets.
We do not touch it. We draft the Spanish will so it operates alongside your UK will without requiring changes to that document. However, where the UK will is silent on Spanish assets or contains a global revocation clause that could cause problems, we flag it and recommend you raise it with your UK solicitor for a short codicil. We can provide a template wording for your UK solicitor to adapt.
Where you do not yet have a UK will, we recommend drafting one in parallel. Our Spanish drafting work and your UK solicitor's drafting work can run concurrently, and we are happy to coordinate directly.
Scotland has its own succession law, distinct from England and Wales, with its own concept of legal rights for spouses and children. A Scots testator electing Scots law under Brussels IV in a Spanish will gets Scots testamentary treatment on their Spanish estate. Northern Irish law broadly tracks England and Wales for succession purposes; a Northern Irish testator can elect Northern Irish law. Welsh law follows England and Wales for succession (the jurisdiction is the same). Our drafting specifies whichever unit of UK law is relevant to the particular testator.
The Brussels IV election remains valid for British testators. The Regulation operates at the Spanish end: Spain recognises the election by a national of a non-EU state. The UK's own withdrawal from the EU does not affect Spain's recognition. The election is relied on in practice every week in our drafting. The tax position has some Brexit-era nuances (CGT base, non-resident surcharges), but the testamentary structure is unchanged.
The two-will structure is the right answer for any foreign national with Spanish assets. For Irish testators the parallel is a Spanish will + Irish will. For Americans, a Spanish will + state-level estate plan (state will, revocable trust, or both depending on the state). For Dutch, German, Belgian and other EU nationals, a Spanish will + home-country will. The Brussels IV election is made to the appropriate national law in each case.
There is one narrow scenario where a single UK will can work: a British national who has only a very small Spanish current account, no Spanish property, no other Spanish assets, and who does not plan to acquire any. In that case the small Spanish balance will usually be released on presentation of the UK grant without needing a formal acceptance deed. Even here, a Spanish will is not wrong — just not strictly essential. For any other profile, two wills is the right structure.
A Spanish will with a default "I revoke all prior wills" clause can revoke the UK will entirely. The family discovers this only when applying for a UK grant and finding nothing to probate.
Drafted locally without specialist input, many Spanish wills skip the election. Spanish forced heirship then applies and overrides the testator's intended distribution.
Families attempt this every month. The Spanish notary refuses, and the family restarts with the correct documentation — losing months.
Where executors are named differently in the two wills without a scope clause, they can end up claiming jurisdiction over the same asset. Scope clauses prevent this.
A Spanish will drafted before Brussels IV entered force will not contain the election. Redrafting after August 2015 is the fix.
Happens when one will says "my savings" and another will says the same. Careful scope drafting eliminates this.
UK home or savings + Spanish residential property. Two wills, coordinated drafting.
Splitting the year between the UK and Spain, with assets in both. The two-will structure is essential for smooth administration.
UK tax-resident, Spanish property. Two wills, UK will primary, Spanish will narrow scope.
UK children from first marriage, Spanish second spouse, Brussels IV election essential.
UK company + Spanish SL or property. Coordinated wills with business continuity drafting.
Home-country law election in the Spanish will, home-country will for home assets.
Book a consultation and we will review where you are, what is missing, and how to get both sides coordinated.