I am trying to figure out which type of Will I should have. I am a Spanish resident but retain a UK property. I have a Spanish Will but no UK will. I intend to leave everything to my son. Should I get a separate UK one and simply note this in the Spanish will?

Loads of advice here

https://expatsmagazine.org/inheritance/

Thanks for that. Funnily what caught my eye
was due to a change in the Valencian government to PP/Vox there is effectively no longer any inheritance tax to be paid by group 1 beneficiaries ( children). Well there is some but whereas before you only got 50% of your inheritance tax free you now get 99%. This aligns with comunidades like Madrid Murcia Andalucia etc. Not sure if it also applies to donations but I imagine so. Basically this would mean that if you have a Spanish Will and are domiciled in Spain there is no tax payable by your children and presumably none in uk as the tax is raised on the estate is based on domicile not on beneficiaries. Not sure if I am right but either way this law change could be a game changer for people whose assets are in Valencia

You need both.

Each should make reference to the existence of the other.
Each should be in the appropriate language.
Each should only cover the assets of that country.

The Spanish will should include the "Brussels clause".

By the way, succession tax law has NOT changed yet - it may be in the process of being changed but there is nothing in the BoE yet

Thanks for that. I will get my lawyer on it. Presumably the BOE is just a formality given that new government has already announced the changes and says it will be retrospective from 28th May 2023.

The proposed law change announced in Valencia has not officially been done. I also doubt i it will be in the BOE as that is state related and this is Comunidad Valenciana related.
The inheritance tax forms are submitted to the state tax office, (AEAT). This link. give you more information. To fully understand it all read the links or get good tax advice.
https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.e...onaciones.html
I also found a link, in Spanish, which gives an outline of the inheritance tax situation in 2023.
https://www.legalitas.com/actualidad...es-y-gestiones
Complications will be for those who do not have Spanish residence. https://www.cvca.es/wp-content/uploa...81nicos-vF.pdf

Wherever you are in Spain, there is a big problem with step-children (but not with adopted children.). They are in Group 3, which usually gives them only half the state allowance and no access to the huge allowances in some regions such as Andalucia. On top of that, the actual tax rates are increased significantly. The worse case is 2.4x which would give a top tax rate of 81.6%

We have a property in the UK and other financial assets so we have a Will in each country. The Spanish Will states that on the passing of the last surviving partner all assets in this country are to be liquidated and to be transferred to the UK where they will be included in the execution of the UK Will.

Our plan is to reduce our assets in Spain and increase the estate in the UK to hopefully make life easier for our Executors.

The liquidation of Spanish assets can only be done once succession tax has been paid (in Spain). This often causes issues as you have to either have plenty of cash to pay the tax or must take a loan to pay it BEFORE liquidizing any assets.

Very true Snikpoh, I should have been a bit more specific. What I meant by liquidating Spanish assets was reducing bank balances and reducing our property portfolio, hopefully to leave nothing particularly tangible in Spain to be taxed.

There is gift tax too. Read the links in this post.
Spanish/ UK Will

But that would have to be done before the passing of the last survivor (not on the passing of the last survivor as your post said), otherwise as Snikpoh said Spanish succession tax would have to be paid before any such assets in Spain could be transferred.

You should have a Will in each country with a clause in the Spanish one stating you wish for your assets to be treated as they would in the UK (your 'home' country). This does not avoid Spanish taxes but rather mitigates against the forced heirship rules of Spain (which may not align with your wishes).

Both wills should also reference the existence of the other rather than stating "this will supersedes all others ...." like so many do