Content reviewed by Patricia Rivas, lawyer registered with the Málaga Bar Association, specialising in cross-border inheritance for non-resident clients. Last reviewed: September 2026.
Spain doesn’t really have probate, not in the sense a British or American reader would recognise. There’s no court granting anyone permission to act. It’s a notary, some paperwork, and a set of deadlines that don’t care whether you live in Spain or not.
Here’s roughly how it goes. Heirs collect a handful of official certificates. They sign a Deed of Acceptance of Inheritance in front of a notary. Inheritance Tax gets paid within six months of the date of death. The assets get registered. A clean case, with a valid will, usually takes four to six months from start to finish.
Without a will, add another six to eight weeks. Spanish law requires a separate step to legally establish who the heirs actually are, and that step has a built in waiting period nobody can shorten, no matter how much you’d like to. None of this needs you to set foot in Spain, which tends to come as a relief to most people reading this from London or Dublin or wherever else.
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Three separate questions are often confused when dealing with an inheritance in Spain.
Who handles the process? In most non-contentious cases, a Spanish notary, rather than a court, handles the formalisation of the inheritance. This system was significantly expanded by Law 15/2015, of 2 July, on Voluntary Jurisdiction.
Which law governs the succession? Under EU Regulation 650/2012, the succession is generally governed by the law of the deceased’s habitual residence at the time of death. Therefore, if the deceased was habitually resident in Spain, Spanish succession law will generally apply, unless they had validly chosen the law of their nationality in a will. If there is no valid choice of law, the law of the habitual residence applies by default.
How much tax is payable, and when? Inheritance tax is governed by separate legislation, principally Law 29/1987, together with the applicable regional rules. The tax treatment and filing deadlines must therefore be considered separately from the law governing the succession.
We cover this in detail in our complete guide to Spanish Inheritance Tax.
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Where the deceased was habitually resident in Spain at the time of death, and Spanish succession law therefore applies, the type of will or its absence can significantly affect the inheritance process.
| Inheritance | Valid Spanish Will | Valid Foreign Will | No Will |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who are the heirs? | Those identified in the will, subject to the applicable succession rules. | Those identified in the foreign will, subject to the applicable succession rules. | Heirs are determined under the rules of intestate succession. |
| Additional procedure | Generally none. | Foreign will and supporting heirship documentation must be recognised for use in Spain. | Declaración de herederos ab intestato before a Spanish notary. |
| Documents | Spanish will and standard inheritance documentation. | Foreign documents generally require apostille/legalisation and sworn translation. | Documentation required for the declaration of heirs. |
| Timing & cost | Generally more straightforward. | Additional time and costs for foreign documentation, apostilles and translations. | Additional time and notarial costs for the declaration of heirs. |
Importantly, having a will does not by itself determine the law governing the succession. Under EU Regulation 650/2012, a person habitually resident in Spain may have chosen the law of their nationality. If no valid choice was made, Spanish law will generally apply by default.
The six-month inheritance tax deadline runs from the date of death, regardless of whether the heirs have already been formally established or foreign documentation is still being obtained.
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Death certificate first. Apostilled and translated, if the death happened outside Spain.
Then the Certificado de Actos de Última Voluntad, which confirms whether a Spanish will exists and, if it does, which notary holds it. You can’t request this until fifteen business days have passed since the death. Ask any sooner and you’ll simply be told to come back later. Once requested by post or online, it typically takes around ten further business days to arrive. Requesting it too early is, honestly, one of the most common and most avoidable delays we see.
Alongside it, request the Certificado de Contratos de Seguro. It shows whether the deceased held life insurance naming the heirs as beneficiaries, an asset people forget about surprisingly often while they’re busy dealing with the house.
Next comes establishing who the heirs are. If there’s a will, this is straightforward, the named heirs simply proceed. If there isn’t, the notarial declaración de herederos abintestato has to happen first, with the timeline described above.
Any heir who doesn’t already have a Spanish NIE will need one before the deed can be signed, and certainly before any inherited property can later be sold.
Then the Deed of Acceptance of Inheritance itself, signed before a Spanish notary, formally accepting the inheritance and dividing the estate according to the will or the intestacy rules.
Inheritance Tax has to be filed and paid within six months of the death. That deadline has been quietly running the entire time.
And finally, registration. The property gets re-registered in the heirs’ names at the Land Registry. Bank accounts and other assets get released or transferred by whichever institution holds them.
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The heirs acquire their inheritance rights at the moment of the deceased’s death. The inheritance may then be expressly or, in certain circumstances, tacitly accepted through acts that clearly imply acceptance.
However, this does not mean that the heirs can immediately deal with the property as registered owners. The inheritance must still be formally documented, the applicable Inheritance Tax obligations dealt with, and the property registered in the heirs’ names at the Land Registry.
Registration does not create ownership, but it provides official public evidence of the heirs’ title and is normally essential when selling or mortgaging the property.
In short: the heirs acquire their rights when the deceased dies; the subsequent process formally documents and registers those rights.
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The timeframe will depend on the complexity of the estate and the documentation available. For a straightforward inheritance with a valid Spanish will, the process will often take around four to six months, with the six-month Inheritance Tax deadline being an important reference point.
Where there is no Spanish will, particularly in an international inheritance, the process can take considerably longer. It may take up to a year, and complex estates or cases involving multiple countries, foreign documents or difficulties locating heirs can take even longer.
Common causes of delay include obtaining foreign documents, apostilles and sworn translations, arranging Powers of Attorney, and obtaining the necessary identification documents such as NIE numbers.
Starting the documentation and administrative steps in parallel, rather than sequentially, can significantly help to keep the process moving.
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In most cases, you do not need to travel to Spain to deal with an inheritance.
By granting us a Power of Attorney, duly signed and apostilled or legalised in your country of residence, we can generally handle the necessary procedures on your behalf, including obtaining your NIE, requesting the relevant certificates, arranging the inheritance deed before a notary, dealing with the applicable tax filings, and registering the inherited property.
This allows international heirs to manage the Spanish succession process remotely and without the need to travel to Spain, subject to the specific circumstances and requirements of each estate.
Mostly, a notary handles it rather than a court. Heirs gather a death certificate and a Certificate of Last Wills, accept the inheritance formally before a notary, pay Inheritance Tax within six months, and register everything in their name.
Quite a lot, yes. It isn’t court supervised in most cases, which generally makes it faster and less formal than common law probate, though the deadlines, especially that six month tax filing window, are strict regardless.
There is no fixed timeframe. It depends on the deceased’s habitual residence, the law applicable to the succession, and whether additional foreign documentation or procedures are required.
Where Spanish law applies, a declaración de herederos ab intestato will generally be required before the inheritance can be formally processed, which can add significant time to the process.
The heirs acquire their rights to the property from the moment of the deceased’s death, but the inheritance must first be formally documented.
In practice, the property can generally be sold once the inheritance has been accepted and formalised before a notary, and the applicable tax obligations have been dealt with.
Registration at the Land Registry is not legally required to transfer ownership, although updating the registration is normally advisable and may be required by the buyer, lender or other parties involved in the transaction.
No, not in almost all cases. A Power of Attorney covers every step, including the notary signing, on your behalf.
– Ley 15/2015, de 2 de julio, de la Jurisdicción Voluntaria (notarial competence over succession, Articles 55 to 56 of the Ley del Notariado, introduced by this law).
– Ministerio de Justicia, on the Certificado de Actos de Última Voluntad and its request and issuance timings.
– Reglamento (UE) 650/2012, on jurisdiction and applicable law in cross border successions.
– Ley Hipotecaria, on the principle of publicidad registral.
