[waynebrown21]

Hi all. I have joined this forum in the hope I may get a little advice.

My father died suddenly six weeks ago. He owns a small studio apartment in Santa Ponsa which he bought over 30 years ago. I have only holidayed there twice in this time as it is a little too small for a family of four to live comfortably although it is pleasantly furnished and in a desirable location. My father has been ill for the last few years and has not visited the property for quite some time. However my younger sister and her family holiday there regularly and they have been maintaining the property for my father. My father made a Spanish will and I have a copy of it and the deeds. There is no mention of the property in his British will which bequeaths his estate to my mother. He has named me as the single beneficiary in his Spanish will (I think). I have written an extract from it below:

instituye heredera de tosos sus bienes, derechos y acciones, transmisibles por causa de muerte, sitos o ejercitables en Espana, a su hijo wayne anthony brown.

I estimate the value of the property to be somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 euros. I may be wrong on this.

Now it would seem I have some work to do in order to claim ownership on behalf of myself and my two sisters who insist they want to keep it. I am skeptical of the costs of keeping it maintained and have little interest in it as a holiday home.

What is the first thing I need to do? Is it a complicated process?

Do I need a Spanish lawyer? What do they cost?

How much inheritance tax will be due (roughly)?

My sister has the key and is due to holiday there shortly so I will not start the legal process until she returns (is this wise?)

My father has a Spanish bank account. I have no idea what is in it, I have no idea if he is behind on any maintenance costs or rate payments.

It is quite a worrying time for me and I hope perhaps someone could give me some insight on where to start with this.

 

Kind Regards

 

wayne

 

• This topic was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by waynebrown21.

[Mark Carr]

Wayne,

You definitely need to hire an attorney. You should probably hire one in Mallorca. Be sure they specialize in Wills and Estates, preferably with clients from the UK. No attorney will be able to advise you until they see the entire will and ask you questions. I can tell you that Spain has a concept called ‘compelled heirs’ who inherit as a matter of law. These include the deceased’s spouse and his/her children. Ask the attorney if these apply to your father’s case. If so the spouse gets 50% and the children 25% regardlesss of what the will says. However, if the will directs that the law of your father’s home country should apply, then Spain will apply that law and there might not be ‘compelled heirs’. As you can see, some details are needed. If you want help, contact me and I can get you started: Mark at info@spainadvisors.com

 

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