Your Will Is Done. Your Spanish Property Probably Isn't.

Your will is written. Your executor knows what to do. Your family has the paperwork. For your UK estate, that's probably enough.

For your Spanish property, it is not.

Christine D., one of our readers, asked us about "the complexities of leaving property to family who are UK residents." It's a short question. The answer involves a piece of Spanish law most expats with property here have never heard of, and a Brexit wrinkle that makes it worse for UK nationals specifically.

Your UK will has no jurisdiction over Spanish property. If you die owning an apartment on the Costa del Sol, your UK executor cannot fold it into the English estate and distribute it according to your instructions. The property must go through Spanish probate. Spanish law applies.

If your UK will conflicts with the legítima (say, you have left everything to your partner but have adult children from a previous relationship), the Spanish portion will be contested. Your forced heirs can challenge any distribution that shortchanges them. In most cases, they win.

Carole M., another reader, put the same point plainly: the families who discover this are the ones dealing with probate.

Since 2015, EU law has allowed citizens to elect the inheritance law of their home country for their EU assets. A French national living in Spain can specify French law for their estate. An Irish national can elect Irish law. If their home law has no equivalent to forced heirship, they can leave their Spanish property to whoever they choose.

UK nationals cannot do this. Brexit removed British residents from the Reglamento (UE) 650/2012 — EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV). UK nationals with Spanish property are subject to Spanish inheritance law. There is no opt-out.

This is the second layer of Christine's question. Even when the legítima works as intended, and your UK-resident children inherit their share, there is a tax problem.

Andalucía has dramatically reduced inheritance tax for heirs who are Andalucían residents. The bonificación — tax reduction is 99% for spouses and children living here. Your children who live in Málaga or Marbella pay close to nothing.

Your children who live in Manchester or Glasgow do not qualify. They are assessed under the state schedule, which starts at 7.65% on the first €7,993 of taxable amount and scales upward from there (Spanish ISD base rates, confirmed March 2026). On a property worth several hundred thousand euros, the tax exposure for non-resident heirs can amount to tens of thousands of euros.

The timeline is fixed: heirs have six months from the date of death to file Modelo 650 — Spain's inheritance tax declaration and pay what is owed, or request a prorroga — extension. Heirs abroad, grieving and unaware of this deadline, face penalties on top of an already difficult situation.

Three things worth knowing the status of if you own Spanish property:

Whether you have a Spanish testamento. A UK will is not a substitute. A Spanish testamento is executed before a notario — notary and registered with the Registro Central de Actos de Última Voluntad — Spain's Central Registry of Last Wills (Ministry of Justice, Madrid). Without it, your estate goes through declaración de herederos — declaration of heirs, which is slower and more expensive, and the legítima applies regardless.

Whether your testamento was drafted with inheritance advice. A general document produced without proper guidance on the legítima and your family structure can create disputes after your death. A specialist abogado — inheritance lawyer will structure your testamento within the rules correctly. The Málaga Bar Association (Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Málaga, icomal.es) has a searchable directory of practitioners.

Whether your heirs know the clock runs from day one. Six months from the date of death. Not when the solicitor gets around to it, not when UK probate wraps up. Six months. Tell them.

Two phrases worth having when speaking with a lawyer or notary:

"¿Tiene experiencia con herencias de extranjeros?" — Do you have experience with foreign estates?

"Quiero hacer un testamento ante notario." — I want to make a will in front of a notary.

Spanish inheritance law does not adapt to your intentions. Your intentions adapt to Spanish law, or your heirs deal with the consequences after you're gone.

If you own property here, have family abroad, and your estate was sorted in another country, it is not sorted for Spain. A Spanish testamento, specialist advice on the legítima, and heirs who know the six-month clock exists. Those three things are the difference between a clean handover and your family spending the year after your death sorting out what you didn't.

Full picture: Probate in Spain: What expats need to know

See you on the paseo — A. and the WaypointSur team with testamentos: pending.