Legal tip 267. Inheritance law applicable to your case
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 @ 3:59 PM
The presence of a foreign testator trying to grant a will for the sorting of his or her estate according to his personal law, it is increasingly common within Lawyers offices in Spain. At least regarding the real estate owned in this country.
In the absence of will, the heirs notarized statement regarding a foreign deceasor also has a growing importance for the current, ever growing, presence of foreign property owners in Spain, where they have, in many cases, their second home. Therefore there is a growing increase of international succession which involves the Spanish legislation.
The lex fori, which determines, by virtue of provision 9.8 of the Spanish Civil Code, the applicable law is the personal law of the deceased., that corresponding to his/her nationality. The phenomenon of inheritance or succession is always subject to the law of the nationality of the deceased, unless the rules of conflict of the personal Law of the deceased forwarded the case to be solved by the Spanish law, this is the only case where foreign forwarding rules is accepted by the Spanish rules of private international law (art. 12.2 of the Civil Code).
However, this forwarding should not be accepted in matters of succession upon death if this would lead to a "legal division of the succession" which would be this way regulated by several laws.
In the case of UK citizens and by applying:
The deceased left only property in Spain but his legal domicilie was in the UK. Spanish law applies to the entire estate of the deceased.
When the deceased had property in Spain and his legal domicile was in Spain. The Spanish court applied Spanish law the entire estate of the deceased.
When the deceased had property in UK and only personalty in Spain and his legal domicilie is in England. The Spanish court would apply English law.
When the deceased had property in England and Spain and had his last legal domicile is in England. English law would apply.
By Jesús and María L. de Castro
www.costaluzlawyers.es
"Vista de Atlanterra y playa de Zahara de los Atunes", by Luis Lopez-Cortijo.
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