Property left in a will

[augustbabeuk]

Hi can anyone help us please we are hoping to move to spain in the future depending on answers on here. Me and my husband have both been married before and have children from our previous marraige but all the children are now grown up .If we were to buy a house in Spain in joint names and we made a will saying if one of us died that the other half of the house goes to the surviving spouse would this be honoured in Spain or does it legally go to the children of the deceased thanks

[marios]

We have a spanish will leaving the house to the other surviving spouse 1st and yes it will be honoured.

[annie_d]

I wonder about that scenario too. I have 3 children. Should I die first, what if my husband remarries and has children ? ( He and I will not be having children together) where does my children's share of the Spanish house come from?

[safeashouses]

I googled and found this http://www.spanishwills.co.uk/main.htm also Beachcomber covers wills here http://andalucia.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... ight=wills

[El Cid]

Spanish inheritance law is quite complicated and restrictive as far as who you can leave your assets to.

A foreigner can make a Spanish will which is quite contrary to Spanish inheritance law and, by convention, it will be honoured in Spain.

However, it is possible that any potential beneficiaries, under the Spanish laws, could contest that will in the Spanish courts and have the will overturned in their favour.

Spanish inheritance law and foreign wills are well covered on this site.

http://tinyurl.com/2u6etg

Sid

[annie_d]

Thankyou both

[augustbabeuk]

Thanks for the help everyone as I have been reallyworried about this and I hope to join you all in spain in the future thanks chris

[Beachcomber]

Assuming that you have total trust in each other you should also consider granting mutually reciprocal powers of attorney. Although a power of attorney ceases to be valid on the death of the granter it can be of considerable help in the event of incapacity of either of the spouses.

Given the current level of inheritance taxes it can be more expedient and less expensive to transfer your spouse's half of the property to yourself prior to his/her imminent death especially if you are unmarried partners.

[El Cid]

Given the current level of inheritance taxes it can be more expedient and less expensive to transfer your spouse's half of the property to yourself prior to his/her imminent death especially if you are unmarried partners.

Would that not be considered a gift and be taxed exactly the same?

Sid

[Beachcomber]

No, there is a procedure for transferring property from husband to wife which is only taxed at 1%. I'm not sure how it works between unmarried partners but even the costs of a normal sale would work out at less than the inheritance taxes between unrelated people.

I don't know if AEAT now accepts civil partnerships between M/F couples.

[RichardCoeurdeLion]

August.

Rather than buying the property jointly have you considered buying 50% each. That way each person can leave their half to whoever.

I'm no expert but that is what our solicitor advised.

[Beachcomber]

Are you talking about the difference between Comunidad de Bienes and Separación de Bienes or the English concept of joint tenancy and tenancy in common?

[RichardCoeurdeLion]

Yes, Beach.


Apparently it works better to own 50% each in England for inheritance tax purposes.

That's according to the man at my solicitors....

Wright, Hassle and Co

We used to use ...

Soo, Grabbit and Run

[Jool]

Within Andalucia unmarried couples can be treated as amarried couple in terms of inheritance tax provided they have registered as a couple on the padron on their local town hall. This is accepted as a certificate of convivencia, and affords you the same rights as a married couple so we were told.