WILLS
If you own property or have assets in Spain and are a resident it is advisable to have a Spanish will (testamento) made.  This will avoid any complications in having a will from another country recognised.

A Spanish will only applies to assets in Spain.  If you have assets in another country you should have a will made in that country.

If you are a resident of Spain and die without a will Spanish law will be applied to your estate.  This means your estate may be disposed of without it automatically being passed to close relatives.

There are three types of Spanish will:

Open will (testamento abierto) – this is the most common type of will.  You don’t have to have a lawyer prepare it for you, but it must be notarised by a notary and signed by three witnesses.  The notary will keep a copy and send a copy to the Registry in Madrid – registro general de actos de ultima voluntad).  

Closed will (testamento cerrado) – the contents of this type of will are secret and it must be drawn up by a lawyer, notarised by a notary and signed by two witnesses.

Holographic will (testamento ológrafo) – this can be done in a person’s own handwriting without the need for a lawyer.  It can be sent to the Madrid Registry by the person that writes it, however, on the death of the person it will need to be authenticated by a judge, which may delay things.

Remember you will have to pay the cost of drawing up the will, the notary’s fee plus any lawyer’s fees when making a will.

Your will should be kept in a safe place in your home along with any other relevant financial information that will be needed in the event of your death.  Tell someone you trust where these papers are.  A copy of your will should also be kept by the notary and your lawyer if you’ve used one.

FUNERALS
Not a nice subject but one which will be much less painful if you are aware of the procedure in Spain.

When someone dies in Spain a doctor should sign the death certificate and it should be certified by a judge.  When a foreigner dies the certificate is then presented to the foreigner’s consulate or embassy in Spain to allow a certificate to be issued in the deceased person’s home country.  A will cannot be executed without this certificate.

The town hall where the death took place and where the deceased lived must also be informed.

If Spain is your home and you want to be buried or cremated here you will need to be prepared for the procedure.  You can hire a burial space for a specified number of years.  After this time bodies are exhumed and put in a communal burial site.  To avoid this you can buy your own site outright.  In Spain bodies tend to be placed in sealed sites in walls above the ground, rather than in the ground.

The alternative is for your body to be flown back to your home country.  Unless you have specific insurance to cover this it can be very expensive. 

In Spain a body should usually be buried within 72 hours unless there are exceptional circumstances.

When arranging a funeral in Spain you should allow for the following costs:

• possible flying of body to home country
• undertaker’s costs
• refrigeration costs
• cemetery rental or purchase of space
• cremation costs (if cremation is required)
• funeral service

Returning the passports of deceased persons
It is important to cancel the passport of a deceased person so that it cannot be used illegally.

If you are abroad
You must return the passport with a copy of the death certificate to the nearest British embassy, consulate or high commission by completing the form below.

The form allows you to choose for them to send the passport back to you or dispose of it. If you do not choose an option, they will dispose of the passport.

When they receive the form, they will immediately cancel the passport.

‘What to do with a passport when the passport holder has died’ form (PDF, 55KB)