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Date Published: 25/08/2025

Legal and financial expat assistance in Spain with Thy Will Be Done

Understanding the importance of wills and estate planning for foreigners in Spain

For British nationals living in Spain, creating a solid estate plan is one of the most important steps in protecting loved ones and ensuring that personal wishes are respected. Without one, families can face unnecessary legal hurdles, tax complications and potential disputes during an already difficult time.

A will is far more than a simple list of who inherits what. It is a legally binding instrument that helps secure your family’s future and provides peace of mind for everyone involved.

Protection options for expats

1. A Spanish Will written with a Brussels iv (EU succession 2012/650) clause to ensure that your Spanish estate will not be subject to Spanish forced heirship rules but will be able to be left to who you wish using the law of England and Wales or whichever legal jurisdiction within the UK you prefer (remembering that the law of England and Wales is the most accommodating and flexible).

2. An usufructo clause within your Spanish Will to ensure that if you are married or cohabiting and own a property solely yourself or together with your spouse/partner that if you die first and your surviving spouse/partner marries after your death or goes into care that your half of the property cannot be lost to the new spouse or their family or be taken to pay for the care fees of your spouse/partner after your death and will be secure for the beneficiaries specified within your Spanish Will, while at the same time protecting your spouse/ partner from being forced out of the property by your beneficiaries.

3. If none of your beneficiaries speak Spanish it is advisable to elect us as your executors for your Spanish estate so that we can liaise in English with each of them and organise the NIE number and Power of Attorney that they will require in order to inherit their share.

4. Priority Client Cover is highly recommended for anyone electing us as their executors as it will reduce probate fees down by 1/3 as well as providing a whole host of other benefits which can be found on our leaflet regarding this or by going to https://thywill.es/priorityclient-cover-spain.

5. A Will legal in England and Wales (or Scotland, Northern Ireland, The Isle of Man or Jersey and Guernsey), specifying who you wish to inherit your UK based estate (bank accounts/ investments/property).

6. If you are having a Will drafted for assets in England and Wales, a Nil Rate Band Trust and, if you own a property in England and Wales, and are leaving that property to a spouse or children, a Residential Nil Rate Band Trust also.

If your estate goes over the basic Nil Rate Band allowance of £325k or the £500k combined Nil Rate and Residential Nil Rate Band allowance (where a property is involved) then an immediate Post Death Interest Trust should also be included to ensure that all your monetary assets are protected for your partner to use after your death and won’t be in their own estate and be able to be taken into consideration by the Local Authority if they go into care or be lost from the family should they remarry and subsequently die or divorce or go bankrupt. After the death of your spouse (if you have died first) these Trusts go on to protect your children’s inheritance so it can’t be:

a) Squandered.

b) Lost through divorce.

c) Lost through bankruptcy.

d) Lost from the family bloodline should a child be married and then die and their spouse remarry because it prevents those funds from being inherited by the new spouse and ensures that the value of the inheritance goes to your own grandchildren and not the family of the new spouse.

e) Lost in later life to pay their own care fees unnecessarily.

f) Lost to inheritance tax on your children’s estate because your gift to them added to their estate unnecessarily.

g) An issue for a child who may be receiving benefits causing them to have those benefits taken away because their ‘’savings’’ suddenly increased above the benefits threshold as a result of their inheritance.

7. If you own a property in England or Wales jointly we will sever the tenancy on the Land Registry for you making you ‘’tenants in common’’ and will put within each Will a Protective Property Life Interest Trust (PPLIT) meaning that instead of the survivor automatically inheriting all of the property when the first party dies, they will own their own 50% and also have a right to live in the deceased’s half of the property until they either die, or move out for any reason or remarry/ move a new partner in.

If you own a property in England and Wales solely and wish to grant these same rights to another person without them actually owning the property outright after your death, a PPLIT will be put in your Will to affect this outcome in the same way.

Both of these strategies will prevent:

a) The property being lost to care fees should the first party die and then the survivor need to go into care.

b) The property being lost before the children or other beneficiaries inherit it because after the first party died the survivor married or remarried (marriage revokes a Will) and then either divorced or died before making a new Will causing part or all of the property to be lost to the new spouse or their family. This is called M.A.D. (marriage after death) causing sideways disinheritance.

8. If you own a property in England or Wales in your sole name but wish your current partner to be able to have a right after your death to perhaps be able to live within it themselves or receive the rental income from it, but you wish that right to come to an end when they die, move out for any reason or remarry/wish to live with a new partner, then you can put a Protective Property Life Interest Trust within your Will stipulating this and again, as above, this will ensure that the beneficiaries you wish to ultimately inherit the property are guaranteed to do so while at the same time protecting the rights of your current partner to legally live there or take the rental without any issues.

9. Registering your Will for England and Wales on the National Wills Register is something we strongly recommend as it takes away all the uncertainty and will ensure when the time comes that if for any reason a copy of your Will cannot be found that it can easily be established:

a) Who the executors are and their details.

b) Where your Will is officially stored if that option has been chosen or where it can be located if not.

c) Our full contact details as the company that arranged it so we can advise the beneficiaries accordingly.

10. Spanish Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Finance and Health and Welfare including an advanced Directive/Living Will. Should you lose mental capacity or the ability to speak (through a stroke for example) these are ESSENTIAL to enable a trusted person to act and speak on your behalf. The Advance Directive sets out in advance your instructions for certain medical things that you would or would not like to happen in certain scenarios.

11. If you gave away Power of Attorney when you bought your property in Spain this should be revoked to ensure the person that you gave it to no longer has Power over you.

12. If you live in England or Wales you should take the full Powers of Attorney package, however, if you live in Spain you won’t need a Health and Welfare Power of Attorney or Advance Directive for the UK, but will definitely need one for Property and Finance so that your financial assets in England and Wales can be dealt with on your behalf by your chosen representative (Attorney) should you be incapacitated here in Spain and be unable to do so yourself.

13. If you own assets in an EU country other than Spain (and have not already organised a separate Will within that country for specific assets within that country) you should put a Brussels iv clause as referenced above within your Will covering your assets within that country so they can also be dealt with under the succession law of the appropriate UK jurisdiction you are designating.

14. We are able to be elected as your Attorney for Finance in Spain and/or the UK if you do not have anyone suitable and, similarly, we can be elected as your representative on a Spanish Advance Directive in the absence of you having an appropriate alternative.

If you would like to have a chat give the reception team a call on the number below and they will book you in a convenient time slot to have your FREE telephone consultation:

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Benisol II, Federico Garcia Lorca 92, 03178, Benijofar, Rojales, Alicante

Tel: 0034 865 756 058 (Spain)
Mobile: 0800 668 11 64 (UK)

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Helping British expats protect their assets in the UK and Spain

Thy Will Be Done inheritance, wills, estates and more legal services in Spain

If you're looking for expert, affordable legal and financial guidance for planning your future and protecting your assets both in the UK and Spain, Thy Will Be Done offers a full range of estate planning and advisory services you can rely on.

Specialising in legal wills, powers of attorney, probate and financial planning, this trusted firm supports British residents and expats through some of the most important decisions of their lives. Whether you're preparing a will, setting up a trust or need support navigating inheritance tax or equity release, their friendly and highly qualified team is here to help.

Services include:

UK and Spanish wills, including low-cost wills for parents with children under 18
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Property Trusts
Probate services with low fees
Pre-paid funeral plans in Spain with interest-free monthly payments
Estate planning and inheritance advice
Life insurance, pensions, investments, mortgages and equity release

Thy Will Be Done works in partnership with trusted legal and financial experts, including SRA-regulated solicitors in the UK and Spanish advisors fluent in English. Their team includes Director Paul Blackmoore, English-speaking Spanish solicitor Gabriel Padilla and financial advisor Chris Shaw.

Based in Spain and the UK, they also give back to the local community, donating €10 to charity for every new client in Spain.