Like many people, we made Spanish wills leaving everything to each other, the children would then have the estate divided between them when we are gone.Recently a European reulation No 650/2012 has been approved concerning the creation of a European Certifictate of succession.This means that even if you have stated your wishes as to whom you wish everything to be left, the Spanish law of succession could be applied(2/3 to children etc) unless you have a specific clause in your will stating under which jurisdiction you wish your estate to be handled, in our case British. Of course when we made our wills 11 years ago , this clause wasn't necessary, just stating who we wished to leave it to was enough. I imagine this will affect thousands of ex pats, who, until now thought that their wishes were safe.

Apparently, Spanish wills cannot be amended. However, I do not wish to change the content, but would it be possible to add this vital clause. Could Maria, the solicitor who often writes posts on EOS, care to comment and advise.

Costa Blanca news has a feature on this , plus go to website of White and Baos, where Carlos Baos has written an article.

It's yet another thing to  worry about!

very surprised no answers as yet, as it is so important. Would maria de castro answer, please.

"the Spanish law of succession could be applied(2/3 to children etc) unless you have a specific clause in your will stating under which jurisdiction you wish your estate to be handled"

Camposol, does this mean it is a possibility or it will be applied as standard unless you state the contrary? I assume this only applies to assets held in Spain?

 @camposol "Apparently, Spanish wills cannot be amended"

I THINK this means that - as wills are recorded in Madrid - that you have to start afresh and write a new one. The good news about this is that people can't sneak in extra paragraphs and have you sign them on your deathbed.

It is more than a possibility-it has been approved. As i said, unless you have specifically stated in writing, in your will, that you wish your Spanish will to be treated under UK jurisdiction, it will be treated under Spanish law. People who wrote their Spanish wills years ago will presumably have to rewrite them at considerable expense, just to include this clause., even though the content remains the same. Nice little earner for solicitors. I had hoped Maria de Castro would have posted. My own solicitorsays don't rush into doing another will, but if a partner dies the consequences of this new rule could be serious. Apparently it comes into force August 2015, but one article I read stated the Spanish government had already amended its laws- so I don't know whether it'sactually applied now. That's why I hoped for expert advice.

http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/costaluz/7985/legal-tip-841-european-inheritances.aspx

Maria-thankyou. what is the significance of UK and Ireland not adopting these rules ? what happens to those of us who made Spanish  years ago. leaving everything to each other, but of course at that time had no need to incude a specific clause stating which law was to apply to our wills. Have we to completely re write the wills-more expense- or can existing wills be amended?What happens in the case of having a Spanish will for spanish assets, and a UK will for UK assets-does this new ruling change things?

If you have UK or Irish Nationality, these new regulation does not apply to you.

You are under Law of Nationality unless your last address is in Spain and your only asset is a real estate asset in Spain. In this case, Spanish Sucession Law apply.

Kindest,

Maria

I'm slightly confused. I am British have a Spanish house, jointly owned, and a joint Spanish bank account; you said if the last address( do you mean the one before coming to Spain, or my present one) is in Spain Spanish succession law applies. Does this mean that even if I have stated in my will that I leave my half of the property to him, my wishes will not be allowed?

johnx-as advised we made a will in the UK to cover UK assets, and a Spanish will to cover Spanish assets. Therefore  it doesn't matter which was made first. I think you are referring to wills which cover ALL assets worldwide.

I added the post for the benefit of those who did not know, not for those who did.

johnx- the clause stating which jurisdiction should apply is for the Spanish will -does not include UK.  I agree that 10 years ago this clause was not required, all that had to be done was make your wishes known in a Spanish will. This clause about jurisdiction has only just come about as part of this  new ruling, and a damned nuisance it is too, has caused complications for those of us only doing what was advised. This ruling does not include UK.

 Just to throw this into the mix.  When we made our UK Wills my partner and I were advised to include wording to explicitly state that they covered our assets in Spain as well as the UK.  When we were completing on our Spanish property and making our Spanish Wills we were advised to limit the wording to only cover our assets in Spain.  I have since had conversations with other legal entities on this subject and can't get anyone to agree on whether we should leave the UK Wills as they stand or alter them to specifically exclude our Spanish assets!

It's a nightmare and the potential for problems when someone dies is enormous; we put our trust in professionals and then get different answers from them. At the end of the day they are our assets, how and to whom we wish to dispose of them is our business. It's not for Spain to overide our wishes . I can't wait to leave this country and be able to sleep at night.

Campsol, At the end of the day they are our assets, how and to whom we wish to dispose of them is our business.

Sorry I cannot agree with you.,

If we chose to live in Spain then we cannot complain that Spanish laws apply to us.

Just because we are English we cannot drive left !

johnx-that is one very unfair law!-time it was changed, not just to suit expats, but all Spanish. A  Spanish solicitor agreed with this view, and I bet plenty more do too.