My mother died in Spain recently and we are trying to sort out probate and all other tasks associated with inheritance.
She had an English Will and we hope to use that in Spain. In that Will she has left everything to my sister and I.
Anyone got any experience of inheritance in Spain. The assetts are all property and land based and all located in Spain. No Spanish Will exists.
Will we have to obtain probate in the UK?
Can we use the English Will in Spain?

I'm sorry to hear of your loss

Oh dear, to make things easy they really should have made a Spanish will, however nothing can be done about that now

I'm afraid you may be in for a bit of a shock. You will have to pay inheritance tax on the property here in Spain at Spanish rates, and you will not be able to sell the property to gain funds to pay that tax.

Under certain circumstances Spanish Inheritance tax can be quite a high percentage

It is possible for the English will to be probated in Spain, but its a complicated procedure depending on circumstances. You really do need to get yourself a good Spanish solicitor. I don't know what area you are talking of, but if you tell us then maybe we can get you some recommendations

You will definitely need to obtain Probate in England and you will then be able to use that in Spain BUT as said it will be very long winded. Are you sure that no Will was made in Spain? All Wills in Spain are held at the central Registry in Madrid so you should be able to check fairly easily.

P.S. If there are any assets in England that could perhaps be cashed you could then utilise the same to pay the Spanish Inheritance tax.

I'm also sorry to hear of your loss, JKHANTS, BUT can people please take this as a warning and make sure that you all have a Spanish will.

Unfortunately, no one knows what's around the next corner and having a Spanish will would save so much money, time and heart-ache.

Thanks to everyone for the condolences.
There is definitely no Spanish Will, so I think the only way forward is to use the English Will.
Could anyone tell me the steps necessary in Spain, once we have obtained probate in England. Presumably probate is some kind of certificate which states that all assets can be distributed to the beneficiaries.
Sorry for asking stupid questions but we've never been through this before.

Very sorry for your loss.
There is some info on these sites which may help you

http://britishexpats.com/articles/sp...ce-spain-will/
http://www.acespana.org/acespana/info_571.htm
http://www.interlex-spain.com/Spain/Probate/
http://www.lawoverseas.com/probate-j...art-1-i25.html

and lots more if you Google.
You may be best off employing the services of a gestor here in Spain or a specialist firm of lawyers to deal with this for you.

Hillbilly has given you some links
I'm guessing you don't speak Spanish, and also that you have no knowledge of Spanish law.
For these reasons alone get yourself at least a Gestoria to handle this, or even a solicitor.
I'm pretty sure you wont be able to do this yourself, and you don't want to be using a UK solicitor that doesn't know Spanish law either

Not silly questions at all, even if you had been through it before things change all of the time.

So sorry for your loss and the difficulties that you are facing. Pop along to your registry office as they provide very helpful booklets on what to do when someone dies and probates which will help you to understand the procedures. As others have said make sure that you get good legal help too.

Rosemary

So what are you supposed to do if you suddenly find yourself inheriting Spanish property but don't have any money to pay for the inheritance tax?

Do you get fined for non payement? Seems a bit of a silly situation when you can't even sell the property to pay the tax. It's not like it was actually your fault you inherited.

Catch 22?

Has to be paid within six months and then fines go on!!!! Why do you think there are so many run down houses around - probably cause the rellies couldn´t afford to pay the tax. At least in England you can sell assets to pay the tax.

so if you can't pay the inheritance tax, what happens to the property?

who does it belong to?

In the case of a Spanish will,---can funds held in a Sp.bank account be released in time to cover inheritance tax on property without incurring a penalty?

Have a quick look at the Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions signed by Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act...ns.text&cid=40.

The reason so many houses are empty and run-down in Spain (and to some extent France), is that if the family does not have the capital to pay the tax then they can choose to reject the inheritance.

I'm not sure who owns the house then, if any one, I've tried asking about a property near me but the neighbours and town hall can't/won't tell me who owns it if any one!

Not sure - remember that it is the beneficiaries that have to pay the tax not the estate of the deceased person.