When someone leaves a home in Spain, you inherit a process as well as a property — Spanish probate, an acceptance deed before a notary, inheritance tax with a strict deadline, and a Land Registry that needs everything done in order. We carry that weight for you, remotely, in plain English.
If you are reading this, the chances are you have recently lost someone, and you have discovered that part of what they left behind is a property in Spain. That is a lot to hold at once — grief on one side, an unfamiliar foreign legal system on the other, often hundreds or thousands of miles away from the home in question. The first thing worth saying plainly is this: inheriting Spanish property as a foreigner is entirely routine. It is done every week, the steps are well established, and you do not need to fly back and forth or learn Spanish probate law to get through it. With the right help, most heirs never set foot in a Spanish office at all.
Inheriting a house in Spain is not a single event but a sequence. You establish which country's succession law governs who inherits; you confirm whether there is a Spanish will, a foreign will, or no will at all; you gather and legalise a defined set of documents; you sign a deed of acceptance of inheritance before a Spanish notary; you file and pay Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax within a strict deadline; and you register the property into the heirs' names at the Land Registry. Only once that chain is complete is the property truly yours to keep, sell or rent. Each link has its own rules, and the order matters — but none of it is mysterious once it is laid out, which is what this page sets out to do.
The first real legal question in any cross-border estate is not "what does Spanish law say about who inherits?" but "whose law applies in the first place?" Since 2015, this is governed across most of the European Union by the EU Succession Regulation, known formally as Regulation 650/2012 and informally as "Brussels IV". Its default rule is that the law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at the time of death governs the whole succession — the entire estate, not just the Spanish part. So a British national who had genuinely settled in Spain and died there will, by default, have Spanish succession law applied to their estate, including any forced-heirship rules.
The Regulation also allows a person to choose, in their will, that the law of their nationality should govern their succession instead. This election is enormously important for foreigners. A British or Irish citizen who has made a valid will electing the law of their nationality can keep English, Scottish, Northern Irish or Irish succession rules — including full testamentary freedom — over their Spanish property, rather than falling under Spanish forced heirship. Whether such an election was made, and whether it was made validly, is one of the first things we check, because it determines who is legally entitled to inherit before anything else can proceed.
A point of caution: the United Kingdom never opted into the Regulation, so the picture can be more nuanced than the headlines suggest, and the interaction between the Regulation, the deceased's domicile and any election in the will needs to be read carefully in each case. The practical effect, though, is straightforward — the framework usually lets a foreign owner keep their home-country rules over their Spanish estate if they planned for it, and it falls back to the law of habitual residence if they did not.
Once you know which law governs, the next question is what testamentary documents exist. Many foreign owners of Spanish property sensibly made a separate Spanish will dealing only with their Spanish assets, signed before a Spanish notary and registered centrally. Where one exists, it usually makes the process faster and cleaner, because it is in the right form, in the system, and intended precisely for this situation. We confirm its existence and contents through the Spanish central register before relying on it.
Where there is no Spanish will, a foreign will can still govern Spanish assets — but it must be made usable in Spain. That typically means obtaining the foreign grant of probate or its equivalent, having the will and grant apostilled, and arranging an official sworn translation into Spanish so a notary can act on it. This is slower and more document-heavy than relying on a Spanish will, but it is entirely workable; we do it regularly. Where there is no will at all (an intestacy), the applicable succession law determines the heirs, and a declaration of heirs (declaración de herederos) is obtained to establish formally who is entitled, before the estate can be accepted.
Spanish probate is, at heart, a paperwork exercise, and the single biggest cause of delay is a missing or improperly legalised document. Knowing the list in advance removes most of the friction. For a foreign heir, the core documents fall into a handful of groups, and almost all foreign-issued documents must be both apostilled and accompanied by an official sworn translation into Spanish before a notary will accept them.
The moment the estate genuinely passes to the heirs is the signing of the deed of acceptance of inheritance — the escritura de aceptación de herencia — before a Spanish notary. This single deed does several things at once: it formally accepts the inheritance on behalf of the heirs, it inventories the estate, it allocates the assets among the heirs in the shares to which they are entitled, and it provides the legal title that the Land Registry needs to record the new ownership. Until this deed is signed, the heirs have a right to the property but are not yet its registered owners.
For a foreign heir, the obvious worry is "do I have to travel to Spain to sign this?" In almost every case the answer is no. The deed can be signed on the heirs' behalf by their lawyer under a power of attorney — either a Spanish POA signed before a notary, or a POA signed in your own country, apostilled and translated. This is the mechanism that lets us handle an entire inheritance without you leaving home. We prepare the deed, agree its contents with you, and attend the notary on your behalf, sending you the completed escritura afterwards.
The feature of our service that heirs find most reassuring is that the entire process can be run without you travelling to Spain. The instrument that makes this possible is the power of attorney. By signing a POA — either before a Spanish notary, or in your own country before a local notary with an apostille and a sworn translation — you authorise us to act for you at every Spanish step: obtaining the wills certificates, applying for NIE numbers, signing the acceptance deed before the notary, filing and paying the taxes, and presenting the deed for registration. You stay informed and in control of the decisions; we carry out the procedural work on the ground.
This matters most when there are several heirs scattered across different countries, when the heirs are elderly or unwell, or when the emotional cost of returning to the property so soon after a death is simply too high. Rather than coordinating multiple international trips to a single notary appointment, each heir signs a POA where they live, and we bring the matter together in Spain on everyone's behalf. We keep every heir updated in plain English, explain each document before it is signed, and make sure no one is asked to sign something they do not understand. Where the estate also involves wider property legal work — checking the title, resolving registry issues, or preparing a later sale — we can carry that through under the same authority.
Not every estate is straightforward. These are the situations that most often complicate an inheritance, and none of them is a dead end.
Where the deceased left only a foreign will or none at all, the foreign grant must be imported, apostilled and translated, or a declaration of heirs obtained. It adds time and paperwork, but it is routine work we do regularly — it does not stop the inheritance.
When several heirs share a property and cannot agree whether to keep or sell, the matter can stall. There are legal routes to break a deadlock, from a negotiated buy-out to a court-ordered division. We explain the options in our guide to co-heir disputes.
An inherited property may carry a mortgage, unpaid community fees or tax arrears, and these pass with the estate. Accepting with benefit of inventory can protect the heirs from inheriting more debt than the estate is worth — we assess this before accepting.
Old deeds, an unregistered extension, or a title that does not match reality can hold up registration. We resolve these through the routes set out in our guide to title & registry problems so the property can pass cleanly.
The common thread through all of these is that they are problems with known solutions, not roadblocks. The danger is not the complication itself but leaving it unaddressed while the six-month tax clock runs. The earlier a difficulty is identified, the more options remain open — which is the single best argument for getting proper advice at the start rather than after a deadline has passed. If, having inherited, you decide the property should be sold, our guide to selling inherited property in Spain picks up the story from there.
Inheriting property abroad arrives at the worst possible time — when you are grieving, when energy is short, and when the last thing you want is to learn a foreign legal system from scratch. Our role is to take the entire Spanish process off your hands and turn it into a small number of clear decisions you make from home. We are an independent English-speaking practice with a team of bar-registered solicitors and legal specialists, with extensive experience helping expats and their families deal with Spanish property and estates. We act for heirs across every region of Spain, and the vast majority of our inheritance clients never need to travel.
In practice, that means we obtain the wills and insurance certificates, confirm which succession law applies and who the heirs are, arrange NIE numbers, gather and legalise every document with the apostilles and sworn translations a notary requires, prepare and sign the acceptance deed under power of attorney, calculate and file the inheritance tax and plusvalía within the deadline, and register the property into your names. From there we advise on whether to keep, rent or sell, and carry through whichever you choose. We explain everything as we go, in plain English, and we never leave you guessing about what happens next.
On cost, every estate is different — the number of heirs, the documents required, whether there is a Spanish will, the region and the value all affect the work involved — so rather than quote a one-size figure we look at your specific situation and give you a clear quote before any work begins. Extras such as sworn translations, apostilles, notary and registry fees and the tax itself may apply on top, and we will set those out plainly so there are no surprises.
In almost every case, no. By signing a power of attorney — either before a Spanish notary or in your own country with an apostille and sworn translation — you authorise your lawyer to handle the whole process on your behalf, including signing the acceptance deed before the notary, filing the tax and registering the property. Most of our inheritance clients never set foot in Spain.
Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax must generally be filed and paid within six months of the date of death. A single six-month extension can be requested, but only if applied for within the first five months. Filing or paying late without an extension triggers automatic surcharges, and beyond a year, late-payment interest and possible penalties.
Under the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012), the default is the law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at death, which governs the whole estate. However, a person can elect in their will that the law of their nationality should apply instead. Establishing which law governs is the first step, because it decides who the legal heirs are.
It is the escritura de aceptación de herencia, signed before a Spanish notary. It formally accepts the inheritance, inventories the estate, allocates the assets among the heirs, and provides the legal title the Land Registry needs to record the new ownership. It can be signed by your lawyer under power of attorney, so you do not need to attend in person.
The core documents are the death certificate, the Spanish Registry of Wills certificate, the will (and a foreign grant of probate where there is no Spanish will), proof of identity and a Spanish NIE for each heir, the property title deed and a recent Land Registry extract, and details of any Spanish bank accounts. Foreign documents must be apostilled and accompanied by an official sworn translation into Spanish.
Yes. Every heir who is a foreigner needs a Spanish NIE (foreigner's identification and tax number) before they can accept the inheritance, be entered on the title, or pay the tax. We arrange NIE numbers for all the heirs as part of the process, which can also be done remotely under power of attorney.
A foreign will can still govern Spanish assets, but it must be made usable in Spain — typically by obtaining the foreign grant of probate, having it apostilled, and arranging a sworn translation. Where there is no will at all, the applicable succession law determines the heirs and a declaration of heirs is obtained. Both routes are routine; they simply add time and paperwork.
Yes. Since 2022 the taxable value of inherited property cannot be lower than the valor de referencia, a value set centrally by the Catastro. If that reference value is higher than the property is really worth, the tax is calculated on the higher figure unless it is successfully challenged. We always check the reference value for the specific property before filing.
Plusvalía municipal is a local tax levied by the town hall on the increase in the land value since the deceased acquired the property. It is separate from national inheritance tax, is paid to the municipality, and also generally falls due within six months of the death. We calculate and pay it as part of handling the estate.
Debts, a mortgage, unpaid community fees and tax arrears pass with the estate. Where there is any concern that the estate may carry more debt than value, an inheritance can be accepted with benefit of inventory, which limits the heir's liability to the value of the estate rather than exposing personal assets. We assess this with you before the acceptance deed is signed.
When several heirs share a property and disagree about keeping or selling, the matter can stall. There are legal routes to resolve it, from a negotiated buy-out to a court-ordered division of the asset. We explain the options and act for heirs in these situations; see our guide to co-heir disputes for more.
Yes. Once the acceptance deed is signed, the tax is paid and the property is registered in the heirs' names, you are free to keep, rent or sell it. If you sell, capital gains tax is measured from the value used for inheritance tax. We can carry the matter straight through into a sale under the same power of attorney.
Every estate is different — the number of heirs, whether there is a Spanish will, the documents required, the region and the value all affect the work involved — so we look at your specific situation and give you a clear quote before any work begins. Extras such as sworn translations, apostilles, notary and registry fees and the tax itself may apply on top, and we set those out plainly.
You should not have to learn Spanish probate while you are grieving. Tell us the date of death and where the property is, and we will handle the whole process remotely, in plain English — and quote clearly before any work begins.
The information on this page is general guidance only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Succession law, the EU Succession Regulation, the rules on wills and forced heirship, and the rates, deadlines and reliefs for Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax (ISD) and plusvalía municipal are set out in legislation that changes over time and varies between Spain's autonomous communities and foral territories, as well as with the nationality and residence of the deceased. Always obtain advice on your specific estate and circumstances before acting. Platinum Legal Spain is an independent English-speaking legal practice serving clients across Spain.