Spanish Lawyer’s View

I. ONE SPOUSE TO THE OTHER:

Let's look at the costs and time involved in a probate procedure in Spain in a typical case where one spouse leaves jointly owned real estate property to their marriage partner, and to their two children (25  and 30 years old) as an alternative:

Illustration;

 Jack dies in 2007.

Jack has a property in Spain valued at 300.000 euros.

His Will names his wife (Jill) as heir, and two children as alternative heirs.

Jill, (Jack’s wife) survives Jack.

At the time of Jack’ s passing the property belongs 50% to each of them.

In Spanish law the 50% owned by Jack falls into probate.

Value of the inherited portion (i.e. Jacks half share) therefore is 150.000 euros

Procedure and time frame for the registration of the house in Jill’s name:

• Probate procedure (made by a Spanish Lawyer)
  
• Obtaining Power of attorney for probate procedure = (15 days)
  
• Obtaining Certificate of the Registry of Last Wills = (30 days minimum)
  
• Petition of Will to Notary  = (15 days)
  
• Declaration of goods for payment of ISD ( Inheritance tax)  = (10 days)
  
• Payment of tax = (15 days)
  
• Notarising  probate deed =  ( 10 days)
  
• Registration of inherited portion in Land Registry = (30  days)

Dependent upon the time of year, court workload, notary schedules and delay possibilities, any or all of these time scales could be doubled or more.

OVERALL TIME SCALE:  4 to 6 months.  During that time, if a bank account is also inherited,  it is frozen.

Expenses (approximate):

1.Legal fees for the  probating process are as an average of: 5000 €.

2. Tax to be paid in that case is shown in the graph below

IMPORTANT: In the table below, the notes have been made assuming the property is in Andalucia, other areas may have differing tax rates.

II.LATER:

When Jill dies:

Their children (the two sons 30 y/o, 25 y/o) will have to probate the property again:

Every child: Same fees, same timing, same tax by each of them.

However the probate becomes even more complicated as there are now 2 beneficiaries, therefore legal expenses effectively increase by 50%, and tax liability now falls on both beneficiaries.

The safe, legal alternative to a SECOND  Inheritance Tax Bill 

  
With a property in Spain is owned  by a UK company, there will be the correspondent transmission of shares and no liabilities under succession law in Spain. No fees, no legal costs

Conclusion

Restructuring your property now is a legal, intelligent and very simple process to save a small fortune in future taxes for your heirs.

The Wincham Investment property strategy takes care of everything for you.

We use qualified Lawyers, company formation agents, accountants and business consultants to restructure your property ownership.

You will NEVER lose control of the property, and can rent or sell it as you wish.