Updated 2026
If you have become a Spanish resident, beware, your inheritance will be ruled by Spanish inheritance law. This means there are a lot of limitations on how you can distribute your assets after death. Your spouse does not automatically inherit your property even if it is jointly owned. Children and parents must be mentioned in the last will, and they have a right to the reserved share.
If you want to ensure your assets go to whom you choose, avoid conflict between family members, and control your tax liabilities as much as possible, we can guide you through estate planning. This is even more critical in Spain as laws vary regarding inheritors’ rights and each “Comunidad Autónoma” has its own legislation on inheritance tax.
For these reasons it is essential to instruct a specialist in inheritance law, such as Inheritance Spain, to plan your estate, and at later stage, if this has not been done, to support those whose reserved share has not been respected. Gifts also need to be considered when undertaking thorough estate planning.
Importantly, the obligation to declare and pay inheritance tax falls on the individual beneficiary, rather than on the estate, as in some other countries (i.e. UK). For example, a Spanish resident who inherits from their mother must declare inheritance in Spain, even when she was resident in another country. A non-resident beneficiary of assets located in Spain also has to make an inheritance tax declaration here in Spain.
A further complication is that the declaration must be presented within a very short timeframe.
Inheritance Spain is skilled in all the inheritance process and we can help you to find peace of mind whether beneficiary or testator.
Once you understand the importance of planning your inheritance in Spain, the next step is determining which law will govern your estate. This depends mainly on the date of death, whether a choice of law has been made, and the deceased’s residence and nationality.
For expats (a foreigner with habitual residence in Spain), inheritance will always be an international succession. This is is important when you come to make your will and do your estate planning and also has huge implications when the beneficiary comes to deal with the succession.
If a Spanish authority has jurisdiction to deal with the present or future inheritance the law to rule the succession will be:
Date of death prior to 17th August 2015
That of the nationality of the deceased.
When a choice of law has been made there are some points to be aware of: The requirements to record inherited assets in the Land Registry and other public registries are those stated by Spanish law and, unless there is only one beneficiary, it will need a public deed made before a notary either by the contador partidor (executor), if one has been appointed in the will, or by all interested parties.
The legal entity of a Trust does not exist in Spain, so if a trust includes assets located in Spain, there is no way to deal with it, nor is there any possibility of recording the ownership of the assets in the public registries.
In Spain, if no choice of law has been made, it is important to know what will happen with an inheritance that has a foreign connection, and the deceased passed away on or after 17th August 2015 because, if no choice of law has been made, the inheritance will be ruled by the law of the region where the deceased had his or her habitual residence, which can lead to unwelcome surprises as there are different legal regimes, varying from one Spanish region to another. There are two kinds of beneficiary: the inheritor and the legatee. It is important to note that the inheritor will be liable for the deceased’s debts so his or her personal assets are at risk. Therefore, the inheritor should apply for a special proceeding to limit liability for those debts up to the value of the inherited assets called “beneficio de inventario”.
However, in some regions (the Basque Country, Navarra) the liability is only up to the value of the inherited assets. As the inheritor is liable for the debts, if a mortgaged asset is bequeathed to a legatee, the responsibility for the payment of the mortgage will fall on the inheritor, and if it is not paid, the legatee (and of course the creditor) can claim for it. The surviving spouse or partner will not acquire the deceased’s share in any jointly owned assets, unless it is expressly stated in the will and, even in such cases, only if there is no harm to the reserved share of the inheritors (descendants and, if there are none, then ascendants in most places in Spain).
The testator does not have complete freedom to dispose of his or her assets after death, but with some regional differences, the testator must keep a reserved share for some very close relatives (descendants and, if there are none, then ascendants).
In any inheritance, with or without a last will, the widow or widower will have the right to enjoy for their lifetime (usufructo) a share of the estate (one third if there are descendants, half of the estate if there are ascendants and two thirds if there are not any ascendants or descendants).
The last will, to be valid, must comply with the reserved share system so if the testator unintentionally fails to mention any forced heir (descendants, and if not, ascendants) the naming of the rest of the inheritors will be null and void and if all of them are not mentioned, the complete testament, not only the naming of the heirs, will be null and void.
If any forced heir is not mentioned intentionally, the omitted inheritor keeps his right to claim, from the others, the ownership of sufficient assets to pay for his reserved share.
The reserved share of the descendants is 2/3 of the estate including the value of assets gifted during the life of the deceased and that must be accounted for in the clawback. If there is more than one descendant, one of the two thirds can be distributed freely amongst the descendants. The other third must be distributed equally amongst the first grade inheritors (children).
The reserved share of the ascendants is half of the estate, unless they concur with the widow or widower. In such a case the reserved share will be of a third of the inheritance.
An unmarried partner is not going to be considered a widow or widower, and the step-children of the unmarried partner are not going to be considered the same as stepchildren from a marriage, so the testator must consider them as strangers at the time of distributing the assets.
Special rules on the reserved share are applicable to foreigners that have the habitual residence in each Comunidad Autónoma of Galicia, the Basque Country, Aragón, Navarra, Cataluña y Baleares.
In Spanish national law (which will be applied everywhere apart from in Galicia, the Basque Country, Aragón, Navarra, Cataluña and Baleares), the legal inheritors to acquire the deceased’s assets and, very importantly, to be liable for the deceased debts, will be the descendants, and, if there are no descendants, in the following order: the ascendants, and then the widow or widower, then the siblings and children of siblings and lastly, cousins.
If there are no relatives, the Spanish State will inherit. There are different regimes in some parts of Spain:
Every international inheritance is different, and determining the applicable law can be particularly complex when different countries, nationalities or legal systems are involved. Below, we address some of the questions and situations that arise most frequently in our practice. These are matters our team regularly deals with and has extensive experience advising on and resolving.
If it is an international inheritance which is any with a foreign connection the EU regulation 650/2012 will apply.
This means that if you are an expat in Spain, Spanish inheritance law will rule your inheritance, unless you choose the law of your nationality in a properly drafted last will and testament. This is highly advisable as there are seven different Spanish Inheritance laws and 18 different Spanish Inheritance Tax Laws.
Yes, it is applicable in any case where there is a connection with Spain, whatever your nationality is.
This is a tricky point as local Spanish inheritance laws have not yet been harmonised with the EU 650/2012 Regulation.
There are varying resolutions in the Courts and the Land Authority. In your case, a Land Authority resolution as recently as DGRN/DGSJFP. Resolución 26 January 2026 stated that the special law in Galicia is only applicable to Spaniards with “Vecindad Civil” Gallega in a case where an expat resident in Galicia made an agreement as to succession ruled in Galician law (forbidden in other parts of Spain). This is not considered discriminatory, as Spaniards without “Vecindad Civil Gallega” can not do the same.
The Superior court of Baleares reached a similar resolution S 14-05-2021, nº 1/2021, regarding another agreement as to succession (“definición”) limited to Spaniards with “Vecindad Civil Balear” and not other Spaniards or foreigners.
As stated above, those laws were not harmonised with the EU 650/2012 regulation. This means a careful study case by case is necessary.
Before the resolutions named in question “C”, the common opinion was that you were bound by the law of your location. Why? Because article 36 of the EU regulation states that in countries with various inheritance laws as in Spain, the law to be applied is determined by the Law of the country in question.
Spanish inheritance law rules which law is applicable, based on the concept of “Vecindad Civil”.
“Vecindad Civil” is a circumstance only applicable to Spaniards, so it lacks a rule to determine what happen with expats. Therefore, many of the resolutions taken before those listed in question “C” took the residual prevision of the EU 650/2012 when the national law is not useful to determine the applicable law, and applied the laws of the place of residence. The same happens with the current Spanish Civil Code when it is not possible to determine the “Vecindad Civil” of a Spaniard.
So, the case is unresolved, not to mention the cases resolved by resolutions in question “C” were regarding agreements post mortem but with a current transfer of property, which is not an inheritance issue under the scope of the 650/2012 EU Regulation.
The recent resolutions from Cataluña’s Courts regarding this issue, applied the “Código de Sucesiones de Cataluña” to any expat living in Cataluña. Cataluña inheritance law also has some limitations regarding reserved share and so on.
My lawyer in the UK advised me about UK law, which states that, regarding international inheritance, immovable property is ruled by the law of its location, so Spain.
This is a very common question that has been resolved multiple times by Spanish courts.
The main principle to resolve is the indivisibility of each inheritance. Each inheritance must be dealt with under the same law, Spanish or UK law, either of them, SO if the only assets are those in Spain (movable assets also) Spain will admit the “renvoy” to Spanish Inheritance Law, BUT if there are also some assets abroad, Courts will not split the succession in two (or three laws) and will not admit the renvoy made by UK law. That means that the claims made by your siblings regarding their reserved share will not be upheld.
However, there has been a massive change in Spanish Inheritance law since the entry into force of EU regulation 650/2012 which was 17th August 2015 also BREXIT in your case.
Now, the EU Regulation in force establishes the renvoy (The rule which states that the law to be applied is that of a foreign country) as mandatory if it renvoys to an EU Member State law.
Moreover, Spanish Courts and Authorities will conclude, in any case that the law to be applied is that of the last residence, so UK law if your mother had her last residence in the UK, or Spanish Inheritance Law, if your mother had her last residence in Spain, so her will must comply with the reserved share of all her children.
Yes, the same EU 650/2012 regulation establishes the possibility of the testator to choose his/her foreign national law, even if he/she is resident in Spain.
If there is a choice of law no renvoy is applicable.
If you later change your nationality and become Spanish, you will not be bound by Spanish Inheritance Law even if your last residence is in Spain.
Yes, the chosen law of your current nationality at the time of making the will or another disposition upon death will govern your inheritance even when you change your nationality afterwards.
If you currently have more than one nationality, you can choose the law of any of these.
Yes, your husband must respect the reserved share if his last residence is in Spain and he did not make a choice of law for the law of his nationality.
Moreover, if your husband had received some gifts or inherited from his first wife or her relatives (widow/widower’s reserve), he must reserve those assets for their children. Even the sale during his life of immovable assets received that way will be null and void and will mean paying compensation. Also he must guarantee to refund the value of any movable assets sold or damaged.
Furthermore, if your husband has another child with another partner during your marriage, he must do the same: respect that child’s reserved share and keep any assets received from the child’s mother or her relatives for the child.
If your husband is Spanish, he cannot even escape by choosing another law, only Spanish Inheritance Law.
He must keep their child’s ordinary reserved share, but not the widow’s reserve. The widow/widower’s reserve is only for a child from a previous marriage or born from another partner during your marriage.
Regarding inheritance tax in Spain it is very important to know the obligation to pay inheritance tax falls on the individual beneficiary, rather than on the estate. Each beneficiary must complete the inheritance tax forms and pay tax on the value of their individual acquisition (either for single assets or for a share in the estate). It will be presumed that the assets are still in the estate of the deceased if they were their property in the year before his or her death and are now becoming the property of an heir legatee, relative up to grade three, the spouse of any one of these of the deceased. This presumption will not hold if it can be proved that the assets were effectively sold and that the money is in the estate.
A taxable gift (usually more expensive than inheritance tax) will be presumed to exist if there is a reduction in the assets of a person, simultaneously or within the period during which Tax administration can claim tax, and an equivalent increase in the wealth of a partner, descendants, heirs or legatees.
You must pay inheritance tax on all inherited acquisitions, regardless of whether the deceased was resident in Spain or not, and regardless of whether the assets are located in Spain or not.You can deduct from the Spanish inheritance tax duties the lower amount of these two:The amount paid in a foreign country for inheritance tax for the same acquisition that is taxed in Spain.The amount that results from the application of the rate of Spanish inheritance tax to the value of the acquired assets located in a foreign country, which have been taxed under the inheritance tax rules of a foreign country.
You will only pay for the acquisition of the assets that are located in Spain, regardless of whether the deceased was a resident there or not. You won´t be able to deduct taxes paid in a foreign country to reduce your Spanish inheritance tax obligation in this case.
Regarding Inheritance tax there is a regulation in the Spanish State Law and different regulations in each Comunidad AutĂłnoma which usually recognise huge benefits for close relatives of the deceased.
Formerly Spanish Law established that all cases involving non residents would be ruled by Spanish State law, therefore denying non residents the option of taking advantage of any of those benefits ruled by the Comunidades AutĂłnomas.
The European Court of Justice stated the Spanish system for inheritance tax was contrary to the principles of the EU of freedom of movement and freedom of establishment as it allowed different treatment of tax payers depending on where they, or the deceased, had their last residence, or where the assets were located.
So now the most important factor is to know which is going to be the applicable law for each individual succession. This will also determine a possible tax refund for inheritance tax already paid.
It is mandatory for tax issues for non residents who are not nationals of an EU member State to name a representative in Spain.