My wife and I made our wills here over ten years ago. They state the house (jointly owned) and everything else go to the surviving partner and thence to our children in equal shares.

The second paragraph states in translation:-

''The testatrix manifests that this will is drawn up according to his/ her personal law, and leaves any corresponding legitimate rights safe.''

Would this cover the scenario previously discussed?

You would need to ask a lawyer.

Safer to make a new will with no possibility of it not conforming to the new directive.

Thanks Fred, will seek professional advice.

Why do you not just send a copy of the existing Will to the Notary who made it and ask him if it should be updated for the EU directive? He will say yes or no. If the latter case he will be happy to update it for you at the fixed price set by the state. He will have all your details in the existing Will.


If you approach a lawyer the chances are he will ask the Notary. He has to because he dare not go to a Notary with his client and a draft Will that the Notary might not approve.

Spanish wills cannot be amended- you have to make a new will
Easy money for some, if the content of the existing will remains the same, just means they copy it and add a clause.

For about €50 you can have your wishes recorded by the Notary, he will keep the original Will safe and will ensure that its whereabouts is recorded in the central registry in Madrid. That does not seem bad value to me.

That your heirs are able to find your Will, and can be sure that it the final version, is just as important as your making the Will.

It will come to more than that surely, as an interpreter / translator will be needed if the client doesn't speak fluent Spanish?

I contacted my solicitor today, who stated that this new law applies to people who have not made a will, and that if everyone rushed to make new wills because of this law it would be ridiculous.
She also said it would be against our human rights if the wishes made in our wills were not adhered to
I' m confused- any views?

Get a new solicitor who has bothered to check it out properly.

There is loads of information about it on the Internet - get Googling.

I have Googled it, and read a lot about it, but it appears my solicitor has a different view!

This is the reply I received:-


Good afternoon, if you are British, Irish or Danish, these countries did not accept the Act so the new Inheritance law does not affect these nationals and a new Will would not be needed.

??????????????????

That is true, but that applies to the assets in the UK not in Spain. If you have assets in Spain then it does apply to those assets.

Your Spanish will specifically excludes foreign assets.

But iht will be payable on them?

Yes.

Does this change in Spanish wills apply to non residents who have property in Spain also? Or does it just apply to residents ?