NIE numbers for children

Can anyone advise us here.    We are purchasing a house in Murcia (ready January -hopefully), and we wish to put the house in the names of our daughter and her two children, aged 2 and 7 years.

Do the children need NIE numbers, and how does one go about it.

Have asked our solicitor, and although he is very good, his English left us confused on this issue, and we do not like to keep asking.

Any advice appreciated.

Rosamaria,

You cannot get NIE numbers for a child under 16.

Please do not be shy about asking your solicitor advice,if he is that good he won't mind you bothering him,you should understand perfectly everything he is doing for you regardless of the language barrier.

Regards

Georgia

When we asked the solicitor, he said that NIE numbers were necessary  for them if they were put down as owners of the house.  Maybe he misunderstood.  I did put their ages down.

It was difficult to get him to understand, I think something was lost in the translation.

Thanks for your reply.

Sorry Georgia, you can get NIE numbers for children, both of mine had them when they needed them and got their residencia cards at 14 years each. They also needed them to play sports outside of school.

You would do it the same way you got yours, at the local commissaria de police. Double check if at their age they can be put onto the escritura for the property as in the UK there is a legal age limit for this (I think at 18) but unsure here. I am guessing you can put them on but any subsequent sale etc would need you to have power of attorney or rights over their signatures - in the same way as opening a bank account in a childs name with you as the legal user.

I do know this is very common for the Spanish to put all their children on the escritura for avoidence of inheritence tax - so you need to ensure how the escritura is drawn up at notary - I know I am referring to the UK but you have tenancy in common and joint ownership there (unless changed in the last 12 years I have been away) and tax issues are depicted by which way it is stated on the deeds.

If you are unsure, insist on an english speaking lawyer of get a second opinion as a mistake can cost you dearly.

Good luck

Georgia/ Rosamaria this was discussed before & you do have NIE numbers for children, though I don't know how young it starts.

Someone we know living permanently on our urb put their daughter into Guardamar Spanish Senior school at 12 & needed one for her though she said she didn't for junior school or whatever you call under 11ish in Spain. (I have no idea if this couples chidren are co owners of the property).

Look at NIE Certificate  25 Jul 2007 12:53 PM by pknott then my reply 15 Aug 2007 9:42 PM

Hi GUYS,

I stand corrected,i have never come across a child needing NIE in all my  time here and always was on the understanding that they could not get them.

As they say "everyday is a school day"!

So i don't know everything after all!

Georgia

Just to clarify as there seems to be a great deal of ambiguity here.

There is no minimum age to obtain an NIE Number.  It is in fact possible for a newborn baby to be issued with an NIE Number provided that they have existing photo identification.  E.G. as soon as your baby has their passport, they can obtain an NIE Number.  Without an NIE Number, it is impossible for the child to be included within the title deed of a property (as the previous post mentions for avoiding the incredibly high inheritance tax in the future).

There are other advantages to obtaining the NIE Number for your child as well, setting up a resident bank account or trust for the child in Spain will also require an NIE Number.