How to be prepared for an Inheritance Process

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Posted and filed under Legal Issues in Spain, Newsletters, Taxes in Spain, Wills, Probate, Donation and Inheritance.

Also other Important Interesting Points (Inheritance and Property Ownership.)

We recently had a case whereby a gentleman came to us for help with completing an inheritance from his wife to him, after she had passed away in Spain. There was just a bank account. When we asked him if his wife had any other assets in Spain to take into consideration, such as a property in her name, or in joint names he said “No, because I was advised, well, I was pressed, into her gifting her half of the property to me before she died. Now I realise that this was not the best thing to do.”

We are writing this article partially as warning to exercise caution when someone is very ill not to feel panicked into taking action without being very sure it is the right course of action, and also for information that people can take heed of.

In the Valencian community where we are based, and which is a very large community of Spain, there is a fairly generous tax-free allowance for spouses of 100,000€ (plus additional allowances when you are resident). This means that if you are married and leaving your assets in this Valencia region of Spain to your husband or wife it is very unlikely that there will be a shock regarding inheritance tax.

However, and this is very important, there is no allowance at all in making a lifetime gift (or transferring assets) when you are alive to a spouse. Our gentleman, when they arranged for the transfer of his wife’s half of the property in Spain to him when she was ill, had to pay a substantial amount of donation tax, which would not have been incurred if matters had taken their natural course and the transfer had been done as an inheritance or probate after she died.

Please note that there are many things to put in order when you are aware that one of you is ill (making Spanish Wills is a good idea) such as making sure that all important documents such as deeds, NIEs, SUMA/IBI bills, passports, Wills can be easily located.  However, transferring property ownership by a gift to a spouse is not one of them. It is a grave error and a waste of money. Our gentleman received very poor legal advice, unfortunately.

This leads us onto two other important points:

1) What is the process in Spain?

Please be aware that in Spain ownership of a property is NOT automatically passed to a spouse on death when it is jointly owned. We have written another article on this matter. Please check it for further info.

Therefore when joint assets are owned a probate process has to be done and assets transferred via a deed at the Notary and if a property, also at the Land Registry. For the joint account in the bank, our gentleman has to do a Spanish probate to prove to the bank that he is the heir. It is just different (and more burdensome) than the UK and Ireland, but unfortunately that is the way it is. If there are assets, after death a probate has to be done to transfer them to the next of kin.

2) When should a lifetime gift or donation of property be made?

In the past two years we have been very busy with donations in this region. As each child (children of the property owners but adults) gets a 100,000€ tax free allowance at the present time in the Valencia region (it varies elswhere), this generally means that a property can be passed onto the next generation with little or usually no inheritance tax. It is not posible to get better ever than no inheritance tax!

Thus it has led to a lot of people thinking we will pass on the property into our childrens’ names now, with minimal expense (there are still going to be notary fees, land registry fees, solicitor fees and some other ad-hoc expenses but there will always be these costs, now with a donation or lifetime gift, or in the future with an inheritance/probate).

3) Transferring Ownership due to other reasons

Isn’t there a way of transferring ownership of half of our jointly owned property to one of us, not because one of us is ill, but because of another reason, such as divorce, in a less expensive manner than one of us buying the other out?

Yes. In Spain, transfer tax on buying a property or share of a property is fairly high, and fortunately for changes of ownership such as when a couple are divorcing or separating, co-owners do not want to own together anymore, or business partners are going separate ways there is a method of division of property ownership whereby only stamp duty and expenses are paid.

Stamp duty in the Valencian region is currently 1.5% on the tax value of the property; transfer tax on a property is 10%, so you can see there is a considerable saving. If two or more people do not want to be owners (as long as a sole owner is left), this is a very good way to alter the ownership of a property.  In addition, whatever another lawyer says plusvalía (land tax) and capital gains tax do not need to be paid when property ownership is being divided in this way.

In Summary

When someone is ill, if possible it is wise to make a Spanish Will: it saves hassle and expense. It is not a time to take immediate action to avoid inheritance tax without double-checking any advice or referring to another solicitor or an independent body such as the Citizens Advice Bureau in Spain , but bear in mind that after a spouse passes away if they have assets in Spain a probate will need to be done and any inheritance tax paid within six months. It is therefore best to contact a solicitor fairly quickly after a death.

Secondly, now is a good time in the Valencian region to consider donating a property to your adult children. We are happy to calculate the costs and explain the benefits and any drawbacks to someone free of charge.
Thirdly, if you wish to change a joint ownership arrangement, contact us to check your options. No one should have to be joint owners of a property if they do not want to be and there are other alternatives to a sale. Again, we are willing to calculate costs and help anyone in this respect or any other issues with regard to property ownership.

12 Comments

  • John Reid

    My wife and I are joint owners of a villa in Moraira in the Valencia region. We are British nationals but spend several months annually in Spain. Our villa was purchased in 2012 for approximately 365,000 euros.
    We are interested in transferring the villa to the names of our two adult sons, and would appreciate your advice on the legal implications, and an idea of the level of costs and taxes which we could expect

    • Nicola Ryan

      Good Morning John,

      Yes of course, we would be more than happy to provide a quote for the donation of your property.

      Amanda, our Paralegal will be in contact with you shortly to discuss this matter further. Our legal team deal with donations on a daily basis and will be able to answer any questions you may have and should you wish to proceed, guide you through the process.

      Kind regards
      Nicola

  • Miss Lisa Warburton

    My mum married for a second time to our step dad. A will was written in UK and in Spanish in Spain that on the death of last one alive the house would be left to myself, my brother and sister and equally shared. However our mother died August 2014, leaving our stepdad with the house until he would die. A few years ago he moved a British woman into the house who apparently cares for him. In doing so 3 years ago he rewrote the joint will and put the will in his name only in Spanish and English to give the house to his lodger/carer when he dies. Can he do this? And I know the Spanish law is different. So not only has he gone against our mothers wishes, he has given the house to lodger which our mother did not want and unfortunately what can be done? Can we contest the will or can our step dad simply do this? This is all so stressful and upsetting and he just says it’s only a house!

    • Nicola Ryan

      Good Evening Lisa,

      We fully understand your upset and frustration.

      We have passed your enquiry to our paralegal Amanda. Amanda will be in contact with your directly tomorrow morning. In the meantime, should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

      We hope you get this matter sorted swiftly.
      Kind regards
      Nicola

  • Ms Reina Morris

    Good morning,

    In order to do A Declaration of inheritance ( Escritura)
    to Change title deeds on a house etc , would the solicitor need the original house deeds to amend?

    • Ian C.

      Hi Reina
      No, we only need a copy or the nota simple copy, not an original. Please contact us on sales@spanishsolutions.net and I can explain how easy this process is.
      Kind Regards
      Jane

  • Kevin McGarrigle

    My wife has recently died and we are joint owners of a property in Spain. ..Orieula region…Villamartin.
    Can you please advise me on what I would need to do next and what costs would be involved.
    Estimated value of the property is 160,000 euros.
    Many thanks.

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear Kevin, I am so sorry. Please accept my sincere sympathy for your loss. I am going to contact you by email now, Kind regards Amanda

  • David

    Hi, I have a question on inheritance tax please. Should my wife die aged over 65 and at the time I am under 65, will I have to pay inheritance tax? I will have to sell our house worth 200k in Moraira and massively downsize. Thank you.

    • Amanda Thomas

      Dear David, It is very difficult to advise as the rules are expected to change soon in the Valencia community, and we cannot predict when she might pass away, but please do not worry as spouses have the highest tax free allowances, Kind regards, Amanda

  • Lazara

    My father inherited a piece of land from her aunt many years ago. My father passed 20 years ago. Before he died he did a power of attorney in Spain where he gave authorization to my mom ( also deceased) and my sister. I was a minor at the time he did the power of attorney. My sister wants to claim this property. We have the deed (escrituras). Do you know if she still can claim the property? Can you advise where do we start? Thank you in advance!
    PS We live in the USA

    • Amanda Thomas

      Good morning, The starting point is to send a death certificate (original) for a Last Will Certificate to Madrid to obtain details of his last Will in Spain. If he didn’t have one, then his home country (if not Spanish) testament would apply. If there was no home country Will then the probate would follow the rules of his nationality. So a probate would be required from say the USA if he was American for example. It would also be important for someone to check the ownership of the land now, which we could do if you sent us a copy of the deed. With kind regards, Amanda

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