Cross-Border Succession and Estate Planning in Spain

Cross-border succession

Inheritance taxation and law vary significantly from one country to another. We apply EU Regulation 650/2012 (the Succession Regulation) and the applicable bilateral treaties to ensure that every cross-border estate is handled correctly.

End-to-end management of the succession process

• Acceptance and formalisation of the inheritance.
• Inventory and valuation of assets.
• Deed of partition of the estate.
• Settlement of Spanish Inheritance and Gift Tax.
• Registration of real estate assets with the Spanish Land Registry.
• Defence of the rights of the heir or legatee.

Wealth planning and optimisation

We have long-standing experience in wealth management for the organisation and tax optimisation of personal and family wealth, and its orderly transfer to the next generations, either personally or through a family business.

When we can help

Typical scenarios:

• A deceased person held assets in more than one country and the estate requires coordination between countries.
• You are an heir or legatee and need to accept, inventory and settle an estate with international elements.
• You are planning your personal succession and want to optimise the taxation of the transfer to your heirs.
• You want to exercise the choice of applicable law (EU Regulation 650/2012) so that your succession is governed by a specific national law.
• You need an international will coordinated between two or more legal systems.

Clients we typically advise

• Foreign residents in Spain with assets in their country of origin.
• Spanish nationals with assets in other European countries.
• Heirs of foreigners who have died in Spain.
• Multinational families with generations spread across countries.

Countries we work with regularly

We regularly handle cross-border estates involving Spain and Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg. EU Regulation 650/2012 simplifies part of the work, but each country retains its own inheritance taxation, which makes an integrated view essential.

Useful initial documents

For an initial assessment:

• Death certificate (or, in planning, details of the future testator).
• Spanish and foreign wills granted.
• Approximate inventory of assets by country.
• Family tree and potential heirs.
• Corporate documents if a family business is involved.