I am in the process of updating my Wills. I have since identified:
It is recommended to have one English Will for English assets and one Spanish Will for Spanish assets.
State on both that you have one English Will addressing assets within England and one Spanish Will addressing assets within Spain and that one Will does not revoke the other Will. This ensures that the estate is administered according to local law and protects your wishes in each jurisdiction. It also avoids the need to translate Wills or seek official legalizations, such as an apostille.
If you wish to avoid Spanish Law (specific rules about forced heirs, particularly concerning children and spouses, regardless of the Will) applying to your Spanish assets, make reference to Brussels IV (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012). This allows you to choose the law that governs the succession of your estate, in this case, the succession law of your country of nationality or the law of your country of birth. Example: 'The succession law of my country of nationality being England and Wales to be applied'. Please note, 'There is no such thing as UK law. There is the law of England and Wales, the law of Scotland and the law of Northern Ireland.’
I am making an appointment with the notary in Pollenca to update my previous Spanish Will drawn up by them. Any updates to follow, I will post here.
EUROPEAN CERTIFICATE OF SUCCESSION (‘BRUSSELS IV’)
From 17th August 2015, under EU Regulation 650/2012, the general rule across the EU countries that have signed up (all EU states excluding the UK, Denmark and Ireland) will be that the law of your country of habitual residence will apply to all of your assets, including real estate held within a different EU country.
Habitual residence is not defined in the Regulation, but the country dealing with the succession will look at all of your circumstances at death and in the preceding years to establish the country of habitual residence. This will include countries outside the EU.
However, an individual may instead opt for the laws of his nationality to apply instead, even if this is a country outside the EU. In order to opt for the laws of a country of which he is a national, the choice must be made before death (specifically included in your Will). This would allow you the flexibility to distribute your assets as you wish, similar to how you can in the UK.
These laws do not change the tax position on death – if you are resident in Spain at the date of death, the Spanish succession tax rules will continue to apply. If you remain liable to UK inheritance tax (IHT), your worldwide estate remains subject to UK IHT.
