If you are a Nordic or international owner of a property on the Costa Blanca — or planning to buy one — sooner or later you will face the question of what happens to that property when you are no longer here. The answer is less obvious than many assume, and this is precisely why a Spanish will (testamento) executed before a Spanish notary public is one of the most valuable pieces of planning you can do for the people who depend on you.
Since 2015, cross-border succession within the European Union has been governed by EU Regulation 650/2012, also known as Brussels IV. The default rule is that the law of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at the time of death applies to the entire estate, regardless of where individual assets are located. For a Swedish resident owning a Spanish property, this means Swedish succession law generally governs how that property passes on. But here the first practical difficulty appears: even when the applicable law is Swedish, the procedure — registering the transfer, updating the land registry, paying Spanish inheritance tax — takes place in Spain, and must be completed within six months of the death. Without a Spanish will, that process becomes slow, expensive, and bureaucratically exhausting.
A Spanish will is executed before a Spanish notary and registered in the Registro Central de Últimas Voluntades (Central Registry of Wills) in Madrid. This is the register Spanish authorities always consult when opening a succession. The document typically costs between 50 and 100 euros and takes around half an hour to sign. Its value has nothing to do with the fee and everything to do with what it saves your heirs: it spares them from having to request and legalise certificates from the Nordic authorities, obtain certified translations, affix the Hague Apostille, and then persuade the Spanish land registrar to accept it all — a process that routinely takes between six and eighteen months and can cost thousands of euros.
The Spanish will also lets you use the choice-of-law option (professio juris) in Article 22 of the Regulation. You can expressly state that the law of your nationality — Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, or British — applies to the whole of your succession. This is particularly important if you wish to avoid the Spanish forced-heirship rules (legítima), which reserve two-thirds of the estate for children. By choosing, for example, Swedish law, you can in practice distribute your assets more freely — for instance, leaving more to a surviving spouse — something Nordic legal systems allow to a greater extent.
Do not overlook the tax side. Spanish inheritance tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones) is a regional tax, and in the Valencian Community — which covers the entire Costa Blanca — the rules were substantially reformed. Since 28 May 2023, a 99 % tax allowance applies to inheritances and gifts between spouses, children, grandchildren, and parents. For most Nordic families with a home on the Costa Blanca, this effectively means close to zero tax — provided the declaration and payment are made correctly within the six-month deadline. A late filing triggers interest and penalties and can turn a zero-tax result into a bill of several thousand euros. For a concrete estimate, you can use our free Spanish inheritance tax simulator.
Another point frequently overlooked: a Spanish will does not replace your Nordic one. The two coexist. The Nordic will covers your assets in Sweden, Norway, or Denmark; the Spanish will covers what you own in Spain. It is essential that the two documents are consistent and that neither accidentally revokes the other. A common mistake is to include a clause such as “I hereby revoke all previous wills” in a new Nordic will without realising that such wording can also cancel the Spanish one. A lawyer with genuine experience in both systems should review the whole picture.
If you are combining succession planning with other steps — a matrimonial property agreement, lifetime gifting to reduce future tax exposure, or placing the property in a corporate structure — there are further tools to consider. But the baseline, the minimum every foreign owner of a Spanish property should have, is a Spanish will. Without it you leave your heirs stranded in a bureaucratic jungle, in a language they may not speak, at a time when they have the least energy to deal with it.
At Colás Abogados we have been helping Nordic and international families with succession planning in Spain for over 18 years — in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, and Spanish. We draft the will, coordinate with your home-country lawyer where necessary, and stand by your heirs when the moment comes.
Kontakta oss / Contact us / Contáctenos:
Email: info@colas-abogados.com
Phone: +34 629 549 430
Web: www.colas-abogados.com