Legal inheritance question
 

Does anyone know if an "Escritura de Herencia" is equivalent to a British will?
Also, what would be the British equivalent, if indeed anything exists, of a "Libro de Familia"?
What could be used in place of the 'Libro de Familia" for legal purposes relating to inheritance matters that I must present to the Spanish civil legal system?

Thanks one and all....MH

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

Yes it is a will.
There is no equivalent to libra de familia in english. Not many people use LF here in Spain much anymore.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

as twistedmelon said, there is no UK equivalent to the Libro de Familia

the only thing I can think of would be birth certificates (or a trail of them) showing relationship to the deceased

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

In my experience that is not actually the case - we get asked for it ALL the time. We've had to use our birth certificates instead.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

I do not think an Escritura de Herencia is a will at all.
A Will is a Testamento.

From experience Spanish all have and use the Libro de Familia and I have been asked for it many times for different things and I am English.

The OP should ask her legal representative which documents he requires in order for them to prove their relationship to the deceased.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

I don't know if this helps (I don't think it is Will either for the same reason given by Whiteline above.

This is from a web site giving advice about action to take upon a death:-



When the certificate arrives, take it to a notary in order that the inheritance deed (Escritura de Aceptación de Herencia) can be prepared. This is the deed that has to be signed by all heirs (or their representatives) simultaneously to confirm that they accept their inheritance. Any heirs not in Spain can appoint a representative who holds their Power of Attorney (which can be arranged by their nearest Spanish Embassy or Consulate).

A Libro de Familiar is a legal document with pages on which are recorded the marriage and then the birth, death etc of children or a divorce etc. There is no equivalent in the UK. One would need a collection of documents and even then may have difficulties.

One problem which this throws up is proving that one is STILL married. My wife is Non European, when she renewed her Residencia we had to pay the British Consul, I think it was 300€, for a cert which said, I had said we were still married. If we had a Libro de Familiar it would have been recorded there.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

When I was involved recently in helping out a friend who's husband died in Spain, the 'undertaker' did everything for us! He contacted the town hall, got all necessary documents etc. The only things he did not deal with were based in UK.

All of this was part of his service and was in the price quoted for the chapel of rest, cars, cremation etc. etc.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

Snik I think the OP was referring to legal matters not undertaker matters.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

You are right a will is a testamento but escritura de herencia is part of the process, literalally it is a distribution of the deeds in probate.

Your experience of Libro de Familia is different to mine.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

You are probably correct - the undertaker will notify the town hall and get the necessary paperwork completed for padron, IBI etc., NIE and will also organise all necessary death certificates from the doctor and/or hospital.

Issues regarding succession tax, pensions, CGT etc. will have to be completed via an assesor I suspect.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

Thanks everyone for your help. You have been very kind and knowledgeable!

Cheers,
MH

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

I think that they are referring to the last Wishes Certificate obtained from Madrid. Once that has been obtained and a copy of the Will the Notary can then prepare the Inheritance Deed.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

We have been asked for this on one occcasion but never had anything like it in UK and yes I suppose for an Anglo Saxon it will be difficult to prove you are still married you get married and thats it. If you have children you would be on their birth certs as mom and dad but thats about it.

I was telling my sister about this and she bumbled off and came back with a family bible which I had not seen before. The front pages were all our family events for a few generations but ended about 1900. I'm 66 and a few years ago researched the family tree back to 1750'ish but I had not seen this before. I thought a sort of British Libro de Familiar but not used these days!

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

No, not difficult at all.

The British Consulate website www.ukinspain.com explains how.

Re: Legal inheritance question
 

It does not jump off the page!