When someone dies holding Spanish assets, the estate cannot simply be "transferred" — it must go through the Spanish aceptación de herencia process, with Modelo 650 filed on a six-month deadline and property re-registered at the Registro de la Propiedad. We handle the full administration in English, from the death certificate to the final title change.
"Probate" is an English-law concept. Spain does not have a direct equivalent. Instead, Spanish estates are administered through a process called aceptación y adjudicación de herencia — the formal acceptance of the inheritance by the heirs, executed at a notary, followed by payment of inheritance tax within six months and registration of the new ownership at the Land Registry. The practical effect is the same as English probate: assets transfer legally from the deceased to the beneficiaries. The procedure, the paperwork and the deadlines are very different.
We administer Spanish estates for families based anywhere in the world. Most of our probate work is for British, Irish and Northern European families whose relative held a holiday home, retirement flat, Spanish bank account or Spanish shares. A small but growing proportion involves tax-resident expats who died in Spain and left a full Spanish estate. The process is fundamentally the same in both cases; what changes is the tax residency classification and the paperwork flow with the UK grant.
This page walks through the full Spanish probate procedure from the death certificate to the final title change. If you are a family member who has just lost a relative with assets in Spain, contact us and we will open the file the same day and start the six-month tax clock managed from day one.
Any of the following will trigger Spanish probate procedures: real estate situated in Spain (including garages, storerooms, parking bays and timeshares if held as real property); Spanish bank accounts in the deceased's name; shares in Spanish listed or unlisted companies; vehicles registered in Spain; and safe deposit box contents at a Spanish bank. Digital assets and foreign accounts are generally outside Spanish probate, even for a Spanish-resident deceased, and are administered through the domicile jurisdiction.
A typical Spanish probate with a valid Spanish will runs 3 to 5 months. Without a Spanish will it runs 9 to 18 months because the UK grant has to be obtained first.
Death certificate issued. We request the Certificado de Últimas Voluntades (will search) from Madrid and the Certificado de Contratos de Seguros. We also request certified copies of the Spanish will from the notary archive.
Day-one actionWe write to Spanish banks for date-of-death balances, order the Nota Simple from the Land Registry, value the property for IHT purposes, and compile a full asset and liability inventory.
Inventory stageHeirs sign the Escritura de Aceptación y Adjudicación de Herencia at a Spanish notary — in person or by power of attorney. This is the core legal moment of Spanish probate.
Notary signingInheritance tax filed with the relevant Comunidad Autónoma within six months of death. Plusvalía filed with the town hall where property is situated. Tax paid or spread under a deferment.
Tax deadlineThe notarial deed plus tax receipts are lodged at the Registro de la Propiedad. New ownership is registered in the heirs' names. This is the point at which the estate is legally "done".
Title changeSpanish banks release account balances to heirs against the notarial deed and tax receipt. NIE numbers issued for heirs who do not already have them. Utilities, community fees and council tax updated.
Closing stepsWe meet the heirs (usually by video call), map the assets and identify whether a Spanish will exists, and agree the instructing party.
Heirs sign a power of attorney — usually at a UK notary with apostille — so we can act in Spain without them needing to travel for every step.
We handle the Últimas Voluntades search, asset inventory, valuations, notarial acceptance, Modelo 650 filing, plusvalía, bank release, and Land Registry transfer.
Each heir receives a full closing pack in English with the notarial deed, tax receipts, new Nota Simple and a summary of what was received.
If the deceased had a valid Spanish will registered at the Registro Central, the process is straightforward. We obtain the Últimas Voluntades certificate, request a certified copy from the notary who drafted the will, and the named heirs proceed directly to aceptación de herencia. Timeline 3–5 months.
If the deceased had no Spanish will but did have a foreign will (usually a UK will), the procedure is more complex. The UK will has to go through UK probate first. The Grant of Probate is then apostilled under the Hague Convention, sworn-translated into Spanish, and presented to the Spanish notary along with proof that the UK will disposed of the Spanish assets. Timeline 9–15 months, sometimes longer if UK probate is contested or delayed.
If the deceased had no will at all, Spain applies intestacy rules. For tax-resident expats this means Spanish intestacy under Articles 912 onwards of the Civil Code (children first, then parents, then spouse for a life interest, then siblings). For non-resident deceased, Brussels IV defaults to the law of habitual residence — usually a foreign intestacy system. A Declaración de Herederos is required at the notary, which adds 2–3 months to the process and costs more than working with a valid will would have done.
Modelo 650 (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones) must be filed within six months of the date of death. This deadline is treated seriously by Spanish tax authorities. A one-time six-month extension can be requested if applied for within the first five months of the original deadline. Miss the extension window and the tax office will eventually issue a recargo (surcharge) that grows the longer you leave it. The tax itself is charged per beneficiary on their inherited share, with allowances and reductions that vary significantly by Comunidad Autónoma.
Some regions (Madrid, Andalusia, Valencia, Murcia, Cantabria) offer very generous Group II reductions — often 99% — for spouses and direct descendants, which can reduce the effective tax to near zero. Others (Asturias, Aragon, Catalonia in some brackets) are much less favourable. The tax due depends on where the deceased was resident and, for property, where the property is situated. We calculate the position at the asset-inventory stage so the family knows the figure well before the deadline.
For more detail on the tax itself see our Inheritance Tax Spain page.
When property transfers on death, the town hall where the property is located charges plusvalía municipal — a local capital gains tax on the increase in cadastral value since the deceased acquired the property. This is separate from state inheritance tax and is filed on a different form with a different deadline (usually six months, sometimes extendable to one year depending on the town hall). Plusvalía is often overlooked by executors handling the estate from abroad and is a regular source of nasty surprises six months into a matter.
If the deceased was not tax-resident in Spain, only their Spanish-situated assets fall within Spanish IHT, and the tax is calculated by the central government (AEAT) rather than by the region. However, a 2014 ECJ ruling and subsequent Spanish legislation mean that non-resident beneficiaries can elect to apply the regional IHT rules of the region where the property is situated, which is usually more favourable than the state rules. This is a significant planning opportunity and is one of the first things we check at the inventory stage.
Almost every probate we handle uses a power of attorney signed by the heirs in their home country. We draft the power in dual English/Spanish, the heir signs in front of a UK (or other) notary, the notary affixes an apostille under the Hague Convention, and the document is couriered to us. With the apostilled power, we can attend the Spanish notary, sign the Escritura de Aceptación on behalf of the heirs, file the tax returns, pay the tax, lodge the deed at the Land Registry, and close Spanish bank accounts — all without the heirs ever setting foot in Spain. For a full probate, the power of attorney saves each heir at least two trips to Spain and typically several weeks of coordination time.
Spanish probate does not wait for the family to finish UK probate. Open the Spanish file the same week as the death and the tax clock is manageable.
Open a Probate FileWe open the file the day you instruct and start the Últimas Voluntades search the same week. The Modelo 650 deadline is tracked from day one so the family never finds itself inside a penalty window.
Where UK probate is needed, we brief the UK solicitors on exactly what the Spanish notary will accept (apostilled grant, sworn translation) so nothing is done twice and nothing is missed. Parallel working saves 2–4 months on cross-border estates.
Since 2014 non-resident beneficiaries can elect regional IHT rules. We check this at inventory stage on every matter — it frequently cuts the tax bill in half or more on property-heavy estates.
Plusvalía is the tax that blindsides families most often. We model it up front alongside Modelo 650 so the total transaction cost is known before the aceptación is signed.
Heirs deal with a single named specialist in English. The Spanish notary, Land Registry, AEAT, regional tax office and town hall sit behind us. The family never has to make those calls.
We quote the probate on a fixed fee once the asset inventory is clear. The family knows the cost before committing. Complex matters (contested wills, missing heirs) are quoted separately.
Not every probate runs cleanly. The two complications we see most often are contested wills (usually a disinherited child alleging lack of capacity or undue influence) and missing heirs (a beneficiary who cannot be contacted, or a child no one realised existed). Both of these halt the aceptación process because the notary will not proceed without all named heirs present or represented.
For contested wills, the dispute is resolved through the Spanish courts. We refer these to our litigation desk. Typical timeline for a contested probate runs 18–36 months depending on the regional court and the nature of the challenge. The Modelo 650 deadline still runs — an extension is almost always necessary.
For missing heirs, the procedure is a Declaración de Ausencia or a Declaración de Herederos with court intervention. We also use international tracing where the missing heir is abroad. The timeline adds 3–9 months to the standard process depending on the complexity.
A significant minority of our probate work involves estates where the only Spanish asset is a bank account or a small portfolio of Spanish shares. These are simpler — no Land Registry, no plusvalía — but still require Últimas Voluntades, notarial aceptación, and Modelo 650. The whole procedure usually runs 2–3 months. Costs are materially lower because there is no property-side work. We can usually quote a flat fee as soon as we know the number of accounts and the approximate balance.
If the Spanish property has an outstanding mortgage, the heirs inherit both the property and the debt. Spanish mortgages do not automatically settle on death (unlike some UK banking products). Most heirs either continue the mortgage (the bank's permission is usually straightforward for direct family) or sell the property after the aceptación and use the proceeds to clear the mortgage. We coordinate with the bank on both scenarios.
Very common: the family inherits a holiday home they have no wish to keep. The cleanest sequence is (a) aceptación de herencia to put the property in the heirs' names, (b) Modelo 650 filed and paid, (c) Land Registry transfer complete, (d) property sold with us acting as conveyancing counsel on the sale. Attempting to sell without completing the aceptación is possible but clumsy and usually slower. The tax implications of selling soon after inheriting are manageable and are one of the things we plan for at the inventory stage.
The most expensive mistake. The Spanish six-month tax clock starts on the date of death, not on the UK grant date. Opening the Spanish file late usually means the tax deadline is missed entirely.
Clients focus on Modelo 650 and forget the town hall tax. Plusvalía missed deadlines generate penalties that can exceed the tax itself on small estates.
Every heir needs a Spanish NIE before the notarial deed can be registered. Applying for NIEs after the aceptación stalls the whole Land Registry stage. We apply for NIEs at the intake stage.
Families sometimes undervalue the property to reduce IHT, not realising the Spanish tax office has its own reference valuation and will re-assess years later with penalties. We use defensible market valuations from day one.
Post-2014 law allows non-resident beneficiaries to elect regional IHT rules. Many lawyers and accountants still default to state rules, costing the family significant tax.
Banks will not release funds without the notarial deed and tax receipts. Trying to access the account any other way (online banking, old cards) can trigger freeze orders and account investigations.
Parent retired to the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Mallorca or Canary Islands; held property and a Spanish bank account. We run the probate end-to-end while the family stays in the UK.
Spouse inherits under mirror-will or Spanish intestacy. We handle the Spanish side while UK counsel handles the UK side, in parallel.
Same structure as UK probate, but the UK grant is replaced by an Irish or NI grant. Apostille and translation steps identical.
US probate grants accepted in Spain with appropriate apostille (or State Department authentication) and sworn translation. US estate tax and Spanish IHT coordinated.
Children in multiple countries, Spanish property, complicated testamentary structure. We coordinate all the heirs and structure the aceptación to minimise tax per beneficiary.
Professional executors (solicitors, accountants, banks) instructing us to handle the Spanish arm of an otherwise UK-administered estate.
One named specialist, one six-month clock, one final closing pack. That is what Spanish probate should look like.