English, Gibraltarian & Spanish Wills

Its easy.

Simply drop us a line from the contacts page and we'll give you a call back free of charge. You can choose the time for the call back if you wish. All our lawyers are native English speakers.

During the call back we'll discuss the most suitable service for you, take your instructions and fully advise you. We then take your credit/debit card payment on the phone before we get on with the job of writing your UK Will.

Your UK Will will be with you in PDF and in premium paper copy within 5 days with full instructions for correctly signing and storing the finalised Will. 

If you live in Spain but own a property in the UK, a UK bank account, or car or shares, then you need a UK Will.

Even if you have a Spanish Will it is unlikely to deal with your assets that remain in the UK, but if it does then that actually adds more complexity to the eventual Probate application that your loved one's will have to deal with. 

This is because the UK courts will require the Spanish Will to be proved in court. 

A UK Wills simplifies the process in the UK and makes the whole matter significantly cheaper too. 

With a UK Will your Executor can make a stand alone application to the UK courts and not have to bring your UK assets under Spanish estate administration rules. 

Wills do need updating from time to time.

Generally, Marriage will automatically revoke a previous Will and Divorce will revoke any proposed transfers between spouses in a Will. In both situations new Wills are needed.

The birth of a new child will mean that child needs to be added to the Will.

Appointing a new Trustee, or Executor or Guardian will require an update to your Will.

Making a new Will automatically revokes the old Will which should then be destroyed. 

If you have a Spanish Will and UK property then, without a UK Will it is likely that Spanish Law will be used to decide who receives your estate. 

If Spanish Law is used then your property will be divided 1/3 to your spouse and 2/3 to your children. This means that multiple beneficiaries (even children) could end up owning each house, causing difficulties further down the line. This is due to the Spanish system of "forced heirship". 

One of the reasons why there are so many abandoned properties in Spain is due to a multiplicity of owners being unable to reach a decision on what to do with the property. To avoid this your Spanish Will needs to invoke EU Regulation 650/2012 (known as "Brussels IV")to choose UK national law for the division of your estate and also defer to your UK Will for your UK assets; in addition you need a UK Will. 

 If you have UK property but only a Spanish Will then it will depend on whether your Spanish Will expressly declares that it covers the UK property. If it does, the Spanish Will needs to be used to obtain Probate in the UK. 

This causes problems as your Spanish Will is unlikely to appoint Executors which are needed in UK law. 

Also, the UK court will require evidence to be given from a Spanish legal expert to confirm the procedure and law to be used. The cost of this is taken from your estate and reduces the funds available to your beneficiaries.

There is also the issue that if only a Spanish Will exists then the worldwide estate will need to be included in the Probate application to the UK thus increasing the cost of probate. 

A UK Will ensures that only the UK estate is dealt with in the probate application. 

It's easy. 

Simply use the "REQUEST A CALL BACK"  button, leave your number or e mail and we'll get right back to you.

We can take your instructions and your payment over the phone. Your Will can be with you in just days. 

Our in house UK solicitors check every aspect of a UK Will and our Spanish Abogado will deal with all Spanish Wills.

Theoretically yes, but it takes time, effort and expense - lots and lots of time, effort and expense - and that's if you know what you're doing. 

The UK courts will require a notarised translation of your Spanish Will along with a sworn affidavit from a Spanish legal expert on matters of Spanish law and administration. 

Spanish wills rarely provide for an Executor of the Will so it is also necessary to demonstrate to the UK court why a particular person should be allowed to deal with the UK assets. All of this takes time and money that could be saved at the outset by making a UK Will. 

The theoretical answer is "yes" due to European Regulation (EU) 650/2012 which remains in force. 

In practise however we have found that relying on this piece of law is difficult and significantly complicates the issue and increases costs when trying to deal with Spanish assets using a UK Will. 

If your UK Will mentions a Trust, directly or indirectly then this causes enormous problems in the Spanish system, this is because Trusts are only recognised in Common Law jurisdictions such as the UK or the USA; Europe operates a Civil Law system. 

For these reasons we always recommend a client to have both a UK and a Spanish Will. 

In Spain there exists a system of "forced heirship".  

Normally, the deceased's estate is gathered in and wound up without discharging liabilities, which means accepting inheritance includes accepting the liabilities attached to inherited property. 

A portion of the estate can then only be distributed as dictated by Spanish law which generally means that children inherit 2/3 of your estate and your spouse receives 1/3. You cannot leave everything to your Spouse.

If you live in Spain and have a Spanish Will and hold UK property but no UK Will then your UK property could be distributed under the Spanish rules. 

It is possible to elect UK succession rules under EU Regulation 650/2012 - this election will need to be noted in your Will.

In UK Wills it is possible to leave any of your assets to any person at all, even to children, with some added safeguards. 

Most married people will leave the bulk of their their assets to their spouse. It is also possible to share your estate amongst your children or any other person who you choose.

Without a UK Will then your UK assets may be distributed under Spanish law or under UK intestacy rules. 

Probate is the title for the process of obtaining permission from the UK courts for an Executor to administer an estate. If there is a UK Will then the Executor will receive a Grant of Probate, if there is no UK Will then a person not of your choice may apply for Letters of Administration to deal with your estate. 

An Executor is a person appointed by you in your Will to handle the distribution of your estate after your death. 

An Executor can be a professional or simply a person you trust. 

An Executor is required in every UK Will. 

Spanish Wills rarely appoint an Executor so, if all you have is a Spanish Will but you have assets in the UK you cannot control the appointment of the person who will distribute your estate.  

The UK has no rule stating who your next of kin is. It is generally accepted to be your closest living relative and it can mean several people, such as a parent a child or a sibling. It can also be your spouse. 

Yes you can. However there are other considerations in play. Guardians must obviously be suitable and willing to act. 

Also, international Family Law takes into consideration the children's "habitual residence" to work out where they are domiciled and hence, which legal jurisdiction is relevant. 

Your appointment of Guardians, in your Expat Will, is important if the children may reside in the UK after your death. If the children are to remain in Spain then we recommend that you discuss this with our Spanish Abogado during your telephone call back. 

No, you are free to name an Executor of your choice and if the UK Will is properly prepared then it is possible to avoid the Executor having to travel to the UK to obtain probate. 

It is also possible in your Will to allow your Executor to pay a professional in the UK to deal with the administration of the estate. 

The standard UK Inheritance Tax rate is 40%. It’s only charged on the part of your estate that’s above the threshold.  There’s normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if either:

• the value of your estate is below the £325,000 threshold
• you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club

If the estate’s value is below the threshold you’ll still need to report it to HMRC. 

Spanish Inheritance Tax is paid by each beneficiary, not the estate.

The tax rate varies according to the relationship between the deceased and the person receiving the money. There is no  spouse-to-spouse exemption as exists in the UK. 

Spanish inheritance and gift tax rates start at 7.65% and rise to 34%. Multipliers based on the familial relationship and beneficiary’s net worth can take tax rates much higher.  

There are some allowances though they are low and there are also some regional variations between the autonomous regions.

Spanish inheritance tax applies to all property located in Spain regardless of where the deceased lived or his nationality.

Advice should be taken from a professional. 

The first thing that a lawyer will do is search the Registry in Madrid where all Spanish Wills must be registered.

Here is a useful list of Will Registries across Europe.