What will my children need to do in order to inherit my Spanish estate - I have been told that they will each need an N.I.E. number - is this true?

Yes. The administration of a Spanish estate need not be any more complicated than dealing with an English estate. One of the key differences however is that the executors appointed in an English Will have the power to deal with the administration of the estate by contacting the banks etc, pay any taxes due, and then distribute to the beneficiaries. Effectively a beneficiary of assets in the UK under an English Will need not play an active role in the process and can simply wait until everything has been finalised. This is not the case in Spain however. Every beneficiary of Spanish assets, whether those assets are comprised of a house or cash in a bank account, must play an active role and cannot simply wait for their share to appear in their bank account. Each beneficiary must, at the very least, produce an original NIE certificate and accept the inheritance in person or appoint someone to act on their behalf by power of attorney.

The starting point is of course to determine whether a Spanish Will exists. This is quite straightforward and, once known, the beneficiaries need to be identified and contacted. There are occasions where a beneficiary is unaware that he or she has been named in the Spanish Will. The absence of an executor (as that term is understood in accordance with English law) can mean that the beneficiary is never contacted. It is therefore advisable to ensure that someone knows of the existence of the Spanish Will and undertakes to contact the beneficiaries.

I have touched upon the issue of NIE numbers for beneficiaries in previous articles - and very quickly regretted doing so. I was forced to incur the wrath of callers accusing me of scaremongering and no doubt the same will happen again. I see this column as an opportunity to explain the differences between legal systems however and simply distribute information. This point arises almost more than any other and for that reason it seems wise to raise again. Let's be clear, a beneficiary can be named in the Spanish Will without having a NIE number at that time. The beneficiary will need to produce an original NIE certificate in order to inherit the Spanish estate. Some people decide to raise the point with their beneficiaries - others prefer to keep them guessing as to the Will's contents.

I hope the above is useful and please feel free to give either myself or Carlos Baos a call on 966-426-185, or send an email to info@white-baos.com if you wish to discuss the above or any other issue.

Marc White LL.B. (English Solicitor) C/Diana 19, 2ºD, 03700 Dénia (located at the Glorieta Square end of Marques de Campo)

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