Spanish inheritance tax

What is Spanish inheritance tax?

The world is getting smaller and it is very common to find people owing assets in different countries. Actually, there are thousands of foreign citizens holding properties in Spain, either as a main residence or as holiday home.

When the owner dies, several basic questions may arise:

«Which law applies to the succession? What happens with the assets abroad? Does the last will cover all the assets wherever they are? How shall the heirs pay the inheritance tax? Where? How much? How to avoid paying twice?»

Successions with cross-border elements are usually characterised by their high complexity. Furthermore, in Spain there are 7 different jurisdictions for what regards civil inheritance laws and there are 17 different jurisdictions, one for each region (“comunidad autónoma”), for what applies to inheritance tax.

At DiG Lawyers we have a team formed by specialist lawyers, all of them multilingual, with a high degree of experience giving advice to foreign clients and covering all the subjects related to cross-border inheritances, from taxes to most basic paperwork. Our team is used to cooperate with law firms located in different jurisdictions.

DiG Lawyers may provide, at your request, the following services related to inheritance cases:

Preliminary legal advice about the law applying to the succession.
Coordination with the lawyer/s abroad dealing with the succession (estate assets located in other countries).
Getting a copy of the last will of the deceased person (provided that the last will was registered in Spain).
Drafting the document for the inheritance acceptance (to be signed, eventually, in front of a Notary Public).
Dealing with the necessary paperwork for the heirs, if they are not Spanish citizens or residents, in order that they are formally capable to receive the Estate.
Calculating, filing and paying the Spanish inheritance tax (several taxes may apply if there were assets located in different Spanish regions).
For real estate assets, getting the ownership transfer lodged at the Land Registry.

We also provide succession planning services, either from a civil and tax scope.

We can provide advice in English, French, German, Italian and Chinese. The international inheritance team is formed by:

Mr. Francisco José Vinaches (Partner)

Mr. Romà Bosch (Partner)

Mrs. María Amparo León (Lawyer)

Mrs. Carmen López (Lawyer)

Mrs. Inés Gros (Economist)

Mr. Han Bao Liu (Lawyer)