The Costa Property Podcast

#55 Buying Property in Spain? Why You Need a Spanish Will – with Lawyer Regina Martín

• Warner and Sandra Laurie - WL Costa Properties Real Estate Spain • Episode 55

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If you're buying property in Spain — whether it's a luxury villa, holiday home, or your full-time forever place — there's one step most people forget about...

Setting up a Spanish will.

This isn’t just a legal add-on. It’s one of the most important (and overlooked) ways to protect your property, your family, and your investment long after the purchase is done.

In this week’s episode of The Costa Property Podcast, Sandra sits down again with our property lawyer Regina Martín from Benalmádena Lawyers. She’s one of the most trusted legal experts on the Costa del Sol — and she’s walking us through exactly why you need a Spanish will, and what can go wrong if you don’t have one in place.

Tune in to discover:

✅ What actually happens if you pass away in Spain without a will — and why it’s more complex than you think

✅ How Spanish inheritance laws differ from your home country — and what that means for your family

✅ Whether your foreign will is valid in Spain (and why having both might be the safest route)

✅ How to protect your partner, especially if you’re unmarried or not listed on the title

✅ What goes in your “life folder”  and how this simple step can save your family months of stress

Planning to buy a property in Spain? 


Get in Touch with Our Guest Regina Martin:

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Regina, a very warm welcome back to the Costa Property Podcast. I am thrilled that you could join us today. I know you're a very busy lady, so thank you for freeing up your time to be with me today to discuss this very important topic. So we're gonna jump straight in to the questions. , Regina, if somebody owns a property in Spain but doesn't have a Spanish will, what happens?

 Well, if they are alive and they continue to be alive forever, nothing happens. But if they die, the inheritance will have unexpected, uncomfortable situations. that could have been sorted out, only with having a wheel that is super cheap to make and super easy to make.

it's really important then what I'm hearing, that people need to take the time when they purchase a property in Spain to

make the time and make the space to meet with a lawyer like you to formulate a will.

 It's so important. That when I have a client who buys a property.  I always, advise to make a wheel a week later, two weeks later, because then they have done it and they forget about it, but it's done and that's essential.  When you own property  you have a responsibility not only towards your things, but also to your inheritors.

Right or to the state, and it's important to organize Well, it's important to have your will to think what would happen if today I drop dead for whatever reason.


Yeah, absolutely. I like what you've said there in terms of, you know, think about it from the inheritor point of view. If somebody does pass away unexpectedly . It's a fact of life, you know, you're leaving a bit of a mess for your inheritors to clean up, and, and, you probably deal with situations like this every day, but can you share with us maybe an example of a bad story or, or typical story that happens if somebody passes away unexpectedly without a will in place?

Sometimes we think that because our family is so small as husband and wife, or because we know we have two children when we are in a foreign country, it will be easy then to change things into the next person  if we pass away. It is not like that. Nothing is. Given for granted in a different country.

I have an example. I thought, what can I give as an example that people would never think about?  Well, I helped  a gentleman that lost his wife. They had been married for 60 years or something, and they had no children and they were from the United States.  So  because there was  no will in Spain and there was no will in any other place, we had to go through the non will inheritance, in that moment.

You need to go  to the local notary near to the place where you live, and this notary public will help in organizing the inheritance.  So this man had a wife who had died,  and they were like in their seventies, but, he had to show that the parents of his wife had died.

Because there was no evidence. And in Spain, according to the Spanish law, the parents are a, enforced inheritors. So we need to see that we are not living aside the parents he had in the end to provide. Certificates of death of the parents, of his wife, which was extremely complicated because they had died in the UK many years before.

So we have to look for that. 

Also, they had no kids. How do you prove there are no kids around or inheritors?  The notary public could think that this man had had children, or his wife had had children, and he's trying to get the inheritance for himself and not for the children. As in Spain, there are forced inheritors, and those are the parents and the children.

So he had to prove it was almost impossible. It was complicated we had to use witnesses to show that they never had known any children from this lady, These things you would never think about  you would never think that you would need to show that her parents  died 40 years before.

He never even thought that the Spanish law would be applied, but because there was  no will, the Spanish law was applied and they had to call the first inheritors Also worse than everything.  How did they marry in the United States?

Because depending of the state where you are married, if it's California or if it's New York, there are different rules for the married couple. Economically, the the goods you have are owned together, like a co-ownership or separately.  Now, this affects also the inheritance in Spain. It would have been so easy for them when they bought their property to say in a will, my name is so much, da, da, da.

My parents died. And then you don't need to five months trying to, to  see how to prove it right. We have no children as easy as that,  and  we were married in New York and therefore each of us own their own chair of the property. Only by stating this, and I have been married since on the date, whatever, with my husband, and then when she passed away, he would have been able to inherit in one week , 

he was saying, but. I was married, I dunno, in Massachusetts. Okay. Then, we needed to get a certificate of law stating, which is the law applied to that married couple. If they joined  property, separated property, we needed to have someone in the United States to make a certificate about it because the American consulate wouldn't provide us with this certificate. It took us about one year and something, and it was extremely expensive. By the time we had everything, the time to pay, the taxes had gone  and he had to pay on top of his taxes a penalty because he didn't get on time.

So it doesn't worth it.

So extremely expensive, extremely time consuming on top of, a grieving process.  Yeah,

stressy, you don't want that. He was devastated. He had been all his life with the same person, with, with his wife. He was devastated 

no. Absolutely, and thanks for, for sharing that, but I think you've hit on another really valid point. Like, families can be complicated, right? And we don't know the relationships between family members and you know, your best friends one day you have a conflict,  what you've described in Spain is there's very clear,  rules around who inherits, but maybe you don't necessarily want your parents or your children to inherit something if you pass on.

So it makes sense to also spend the time to compile your own will so that you're really clear on what expectations you have when you pass on. Because, you know, we all hear stories about conflicts  📍  📍 within families. 

I know people don't like to think about death and they don't like to think about making your will, but we have a responsibility to our family, to the people that are around us, to our children, to our spouse, and we can all drop death the next second.

Even if you don't own property, but you have a family, you might own property in the future, do a will and leave very clear stated What would happen if I drop dead today? If your circumstances change, like you get divorced, you have more children, you make another one, the cost is very small.

It's about three, 400 euros. That's it. And that is if it has to be translated  otherwise it's cheaper, but. It is very important because then  you are a foreigner in Spain, for instance, you can choose.  The law that will be applied, you can choose that the law applied is the law from your birth country.

So if you are British, you can choose, or Irish, you can choose that it's the Irish or the British law or the American law of the state of wherever. That is  ruling in your  state,  And that is very important because then you can say everything goes to my wife. And that is it. Or everything goes to my husband or everything goes to one of my children because he's the one that needs it most and not to the others.

You decide  you have the power to decide, but if you don't take that minute to think about it, there is no way that you can  prevent them to go  through a bureaucratic hell, I think.  Also, when you think about these things, you need to think simple.

Simple. Many people do it on the other side. They,  They make Complex, but it's easy. If you go, you are not there. You cannot take decisions. You cannot say who is going to get the dog, , out when it's raining. You cannot control the future, only who is going to get things moving, who is going to be the owner of your assets, who is going to organize.

But in a very simple way,  if you are a foreigner in Spain.  You don't need to think about the complicated structures you have in your country, like trustees or if a child will be underage. Let's have a, a group of people deciding what to do with it, because in the end, everyone will earn money with it and the child will be without anything when he gets the money in the end, 



Everything will be fees and will be complications. Be clear.  My wife and then my children without anymore trustees, anymore stories or my children and,  children are underage, name a person that will be in charge of the child. If your spouse doesn't survive you, something simple that  will help a lot your family to continue when you are not there to help.

Amazing advice. . So if somebody's buying a holiday home or a second property in Spain and they are listening to this and they go, oh, I need to make a will. How can they go about it? What should their steps be?

I find it extremely important to speak with a lawyer. Because a specialized lawyer, property lawyer, or family lawyer, and a person that is used to also, the law in their countries, right? International law so that they are able to see what is the best steps to take. And what I find very important to make a folder.

To make a folder with the documents that the creditor will find if the person that makes the will pass away. Make a folder with the documents this lawyer will be able to tell you. Which is your nationality. British. From Belgium. Dutch  you have to think which is the law in that country.

If you prefer the Spanish law to be applied or the foreign law to be applied. the law of the person that is making the will you need to think which is best for your family. And then there are things that should be in a little folder. That makes it so much easier. Life afterwards, like birth certificate, marriage certificate, old passports, if you change your passport when you, married or what, or, or  whatever.

Right.  If you are a lady and you have married seven times and you have have seven names, and your children are in the name of the third husband, but your property is in the name of the first husband, , when your seventh husband,  passed away, or when you pass away, you need to clarify this.

In the will, you can say, I was married for the first time with whoever. And my name was Mary Brown. Then I was married with this other person and my, and I had two children and they are Da da Smith and my name was Mary Smith and they bought the property as Mary Smith, but then I married to da da. You say it because that document that will will be clarifying everything and your inheritor won't 

need to find all your marriage certificates. 

In order to be able to show that you are the same person that bought that property or that was the mother of those children.

So Mary Brown, if you're listening, make your Life folder, but it's such great advice.

 Each country has a main. Um, Way to organize the married life economically.

In the, in the uk you own your own assets separately.  All right? Uh, In other places like Spain or California, when you buy something, you buy together with your wife or husband, and everything is 50% of each of you, has bought right, you, it's shared property.  So it's important to have a certificate of marriage to say where you were married, to know what is the rule, the economic rule for that marriage, but also if you have a marital agreement, a prenuptial agreement,  or a nutshell agreement of changing that rule.

Say it in your will or get a copy of it and put it together with your will, because is essential to decide what the proportion of assets that the other is going to inherit and how to rule that inheritance.  It will, it'll be important for if  You have co-ownership, if you have joint ownership and the husband has a property, the the lady already owns a 50% because of the co-ownership, and she will inherit a 50%. If she inherit a 50%, the taxes will be for a 50%. 

But if it's a gentleman from England who dies, he will own the hundred percent of the property and his wife will need to inherit the hundred percent of the 

property. Now it's important to know which is the economic rule of that married

Mm-hmm. 

that makes sense. 

And what I'm hearing from you in terms of, you are always advising your clients, let's make a will. So they make the will together with their lawyer. Then what happens? Do they go to the notary? What can they expect 

to 

happen next?   

Yes. would like to also speak here about the people that are, the unmarried couples Yeah.

Partners, long life Partners. 

Life partners. Life partners.

You can be a life partner with someone for 60 years, but it's a life partner. Many of my clients are life partners because otherwise they would lose their pension or things of the kind. They, they live together simply  and they own a property in co-ownership and when one passes away, they haven't done any kind of documents.

And then the part, the person that will inherit will have to pay as if they are not family. And they will pay an awful amount of money to inherit  the 50% of the property that where they are living, and that causes a lot of problems economically to the person right.  There is a way to avoid this.  ma, as a, as a living a a,  If you own a property in Spain, not married, it's important to register in Al  in Madrid, wherever you are. That you register as  that is that as living partner in a registry of living partners because when one passes away, the other will be as married to have the benefits of discounts for the 

If you are not married,  you need to show that you're  like married couple. And then you need to register these little tips. This, when you go to a lawyer, see when you go to a lawyer, the lawyer will start asking, asking. It's  it's horrible because we ask for things that are extremely personal.

Once you have the picture,  of the person and what they want and who are they protecting, right? What is it that they are protecting? Well, then it's very important to see all the possible things that could go wrong. Everything that you need. Not only to make a will, but to put everything together.

All these papers that we don't feel like asking for a copy of our birth certificate translated and with a positive, we don't feel like, but do it because now you are healthy, you are happy you, for you, it's like a nuisance. But if you need it because someone has passed away. Then it could be one or two years of, of uncomfortable, uncomfortable moments of your life.

Absolutely, absolutely. The process itself, you know,  we do, you're absolutely right. We put off these things. We're like, oh, I don't have the time now. It's a nuisance, but the process itself sounds relatively simple. Right. So we meet with a lawyer like you, Regina, we,  get clear on what we're protecting.

Keep it simple. Back to your earlier advice, you sign it before the notary, and how long can you expect for this will to come into place? What's the timeframe?

Since this very minute you sign it, your inheritors are protected since the very minute you sign it. . And in Spain, other countries have other systems In Spain, it is a very secure way of doing it. There are other ways of doing a wheel, like when you are in the hospital before witnesses.

Do it at the Not Republic. When you are healthy, when you are okay, or if you think you have an illness or you're going to go through a operation, what do a will while you know what you're doing right.



, once you have signed the will, the will will be registered in a Spanish registry of Wills. Only the last will is registered.

You can change your will anytime you want, but when the will is registered.  Only the last one. If you pass away, your inheritors will go to a Spanish consulate, your grand grandchildren. If they see a photo, oh, they had the property in Spain, but they passed away 20 years ago, don't worry.

You get  two, a Spanish consulate and they are going to help you to get a copy of the last will, and through the last will, your inheritance will be able to get your assets. 

Right. You are protecting your offspring or the people you want to protect.

Okay. 

Hmm. So 

It's. 

important,

It's an easy.

process. It's a secure process, and you know, it's about remembering the bigger picture that you are protecting. You're doing the responsible thing, you're protecting your family and your offspring. 

And it is very inexpensive. You can spend 300 euros only when you have a bilingual, will that will help you to organize. 

I would like to speak about other things.

Many people that I know are living here and have assets  in multiple places, in multiple countries,  so it's very important that they have. A a will in each of the places or a global will, you're gonna have two possibilities. Global will  or a will in each of the places, in each of the countries, right?  I prefer a will in each of the countries where you have assets.

Why, because that document won't need to be translated, will not need an, a positive there. It's so much easy to, to make the, the probate or the, the execution when it is a.  Document from Portugal in Portugal, from Spain, in Spain, from the UK in England. Right. But if you don't have the capacity to go to each of the places, do a global will, you can also do a global will in Spain.

Many people don't have the capacity now because they are old to go to, Singapore, to go to Panama, and to go to the UK or to the United States to do different wheels. In that case, you can do one wheel in Spain. That is a global wheel for the whole world, and in my case, I always tell my clients to make a special copy of it with an apple steel and translate it into English 

so that.

In the future, you put it in your folder, the famous folder. In the future, your couple will be able to take this will to Singapore, to Panama, to Massachusetts, and you will be able, that person will be able to, to sort out also in case you do a a will in each of the places. You need to state when, right. The will that it is only for that country, because otherwise, otherwise, whenever you do a will, you cancel the former ones.

And when you are at Massachusetts, you are canceling the one in Spain, the one in England, and the one in Paraguay.

Okay. 

Okay. That's also fan fantastic 

advice. 

To keep in mind.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So look, we know that. Talking about wills and your legal responsibilities isn't the most exciting topics, but this protects you, your home and your family. And as Regina has mentioned, it's important for you to think about this. It's responsible.

You're being responsible and protecting your family, and it's really important to keep things really nice and simple. And also remember the point about the life folder. Start gathering all of the documents that you would need in a folder. Keep them consolidated together for when you need them. Further down the line, Regina, if people are at home and they're listening and saying, right, you know, I need to get this 

sorted. They need to talk about creating a will. How can they get in touch with you?

I have a, a webpage.  You can just put my name in internet and you will find me Ena Martin and you will find me

You can also contact Warner and I, and we we'll happily pass on Regina's details.  And her information, as always will be in the show notes of this episode. So in the show notes of this episode, you'll find her website address the correct one, and also her contact details and phone number.

So look, if you're  at home thinking about buying a property in Spain, or you've recently bought a property in Spain and you haven't crossed that step. Yet you haven't created that Will. This is your call to action. Now is your time to create that will get in touch with Regina. Protect your family for future events that will occur further down the line.

Thank you everybody for listening. We're so glad that you stopped by and we hope that you found this episode. Useful chow for now.