Published April 2025 · 11 min read · By International Inheritance Spain
Dutch families have developed deep and lasting connections with Spain over several decades. The Costa Blanca — with its mild winters and direct flights from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven — has become one of the most popular destinations for Dutch property owners and retirees in all of Europe. Andalucía, with the sun-drenched towns of Málaga, Nerja, and Marbella, draws thousands more. The Balearic Islands, particularly Ibiza and Mallorca, attract Dutch buyers at every price point. By some estimates, Dutch nationals are among the top five nationalities owning real estate in Spain.
When a Dutch national dies owning Spanish property, a bank account in a Spanish institution, or any other asset located in Spain, two distinct legal systems come into contact. Spanish succession law governs what happens to the Spanish assets; Dutch law and Dutch tax rules apply to the estate in the Netherlands. The intersection between the two systems is where complexity — and real financial risk — arises. This guide explains every stage of the process clearly and in full, so that Dutch heirs know exactly what they are facing and what we can do for them.
Unlike British nationals, Dutch nationals remain full participants in EU Succession Regulation 650/2012, which has applied across EU member states since 17 August 2015. This regulation fundamentally changes how cross-border inheritances within the EU are handled, and Dutch heirs are directly and favourably affected by it.
Under the regulation, the default rule is that the law of the country of habitual residence at the time of death governs the entire estate. For a Dutch national who was living in Spain when they died, Spanish succession law would therefore apply to the whole estate — including assets held in the Netherlands — unless a deliberate choice was made in a valid will.
The regulation's most powerful tool for Dutch nationals is the professio iuris: the right to choose, in a will made before a Dutch notaris, that the law of their nationality — Dutch law — governs their entire worldwide estate. For a Dutch national living in Spain, making this choice in a Spanish or Dutch will means that Dutch succession law applies even to the Spanish property. This is a significant planning opportunity, because Dutch succession law offers greater flexibility than Spanish law: there are no forced heir rules equivalent to Spain's legítima, and Dutch law allows a testator to leave their estate entirely to a surviving spouse, to a charity, or in any proportion they choose.
The practical consequence of failing to make this choice is material. Without a valid professio iuris in the will, Spanish succession law — including its forced heir rules — will apply to all Spanish assets. Under Spanish law, children are legitimarios and are entitled as of right to a portion of the estate (one third in equal shares among all children, plus a further third that must stay within the family). A Dutch parent who intended to leave everything to a surviving spouse, a second partner, or a non-family member may find that their wishes cannot be fully honoured in relation to the Spanish assets.
One of the most important differences between Dutch heirs and German heirs dealing with a Spanish inheritance is this: the Netherlands does not have a bilateral inheritance tax treaty with Spain. Germany has had such a treaty in place for decades, which provides clear rules about which country has the primary right to tax each category of asset. No equivalent treaty exists between the Netherlands and Spain.
This creates a theoretically uncomfortable position. Spain levies its Impuesto de Sucesiones y Donaciones on Spanish assets received by any heir, regardless of where the heir or the deceased was resident. The Netherlands levies its erfbelasting (inheritance tax) on the worldwide assets of any deceased person who was resident in the Netherlands at the time of death — or who had been resident in the Netherlands within the ten years preceding death. Where both countries assert their taxing rights over the same asset, the same inheritance can in principle be taxed twice.
In practice, however, the Netherlands provides unilateral relief through its Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting (Decree for the Prevention of Double Taxation). Under this decree, Dutch inheritance tax that would otherwise apply to foreign assets is reduced by the amount of inheritance tax lawfully paid abroad on those same assets. In most cases involving Spanish property, this means that the Spanish inheritance tax paid to the relevant Spanish regional authority is deducted from the Dutch erfbelasting liability on those same assets, so that the heir pays only the higher of the two taxes rather than both in full.
The application of these unilateral relief rules requires careful coordination between the Spanish and Dutch tax positions. The timing of the two filings matters: the Spanish tax must generally be paid first so that the amount can be evidenced in the Dutch return. The valuation of the Spanish assets must be consistent between the two filings. And the correct identification of which assets are within the scope of both countries' taxing rights is itself a legal and tax question that requires specialist input.
We work directly with Dutch tax advisers (belastingadviseurs) experienced in cross-border inheritance matters to ensure that the relief mechanism operates correctly and that our clients' double tax exposure is minimised. If you are dealing with a Dutch estate that includes Spanish assets, both sides of the position need to be handled in parallel, not sequentially.
Spain imposes a strict deadline on all heirs to file the inheritance tax return — the Impuesto de Sucesiones y Donaciones — within six months of the date of death. This deadline applies to every heir, wherever in the world they are resident. A Dutch heir receiving a Spanish apartment from a parent who died in Alicante has exactly the same six-month window as a Spanish resident heir would have.
The consequences of missing this deadline are automatic and escalating. Surcharges are applied by the Spanish tax authority without any need for a formal assessment or notice:
It is possible to apply for a six-month extension, which — if granted — postpones the deadline to twelve months from the date of death. This extension request must be submitted within the first five months. It cannot be submitted in month six once the original deadline has passed. The extension is also conditional on the full tax amount being paid at the time the extension is requested, or on providing a bank guarantee or other security. We advise all clients to begin the process immediately, not to rely on the extension as a fallback.
The six months often feel like a long time when a family is grieving, but the practical steps — obtaining an apostilled death certificate, searching the Spanish will registry, tracing all Spanish assets, obtaining powers of attorney from multiple heirs, calculating the tax, and preparing the deed of acceptance — take more time than most people expect. Starting immediately is not overcaution; it is the only reliable way to avoid unnecessary expense.
If the deceased died in the Netherlands, the starting point is the akte van overlijden issued by the Dutch municipal authority (gemeente). For use in Spain, this document must be apostilled in accordance with the Hague Apostille Convention — the apostille is applied by the relevant Dutch authority — and then translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We coordinate this process directly and work with experienced sworn translators to ensure that the apostilled translation is accepted without objection by the Spanish notary and tax authority.
If the deceased died in Spain, we obtain the Spanish death certificate from the Registro Civil directly. If the person was registered in Spain through the consular registration system, we retrieve the relevant records from there.
We search the Spanish Registro de Actos de Última Voluntad in Madrid. This central registry records all wills made before a Spanish notary, and a search is mandatory before any deed of acceptance can be signed. A will made in the Netherlands does not appear in this registry.
For Dutch nationals, we also coordinate a search of the Centraal Testamenten Register (CTR) in The Hague. The CTR holds details of all wills registered with a Dutch notary, including any will containing a professio iuris choosing Dutch law. If a Dutch will exists, we obtain a certified copy and assess whether it is valid and effective in Spain — which a Dutch will can be, provided it is properly apostilled, translated, and meets formal requirements under Spanish private international law and EU Regulation 650/2012.
If neither a Spanish nor a Dutch will is found, we open an intestate succession procedure. Dutch and Spanish intestacy rules differ, and we identify which law applies to each asset so that the correct heirs are identified for the Spanish procedure.
We conduct a comprehensive search of all relevant Spanish registries to identify and value the deceased's Spanish assets. This includes the Spanish Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) for any property, the DGT vehicle registry for cars and motorbikes, the Registro Mercantil for any business interests, and direct enquiries to Spanish banks for account balances and investment holdings. We also search the Insurance Registry (Registro de Contratos de Seguros de Cobertura de Fallecimiento) for any life insurance policies payable on death. The result is a complete inventory of all Spanish assets forming part of the estate.
Every heir named in the Spanish succession must authorise representation for the Spanish procedure. Dutch heirs can do this conveniently by signing a poder notarial (power of attorney) before a Dutch notary — the notaris — in the Netherlands. The power of attorney must then be apostilled in the Netherlands and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator for use in Spain.
Alternatively, Dutch heirs can sign at the Spanish consulate in the Netherlands (located in Amsterdam) or, if visiting Spain, at any Spanish notary. Once we hold the power of attorney, we can act fully on your behalf throughout the entire Spanish inheritance process — signing the deed of acceptance, filing the tax return, and registering all assets in the heirs' names — without any requirement for you to travel to Spain.
We calculate each heir's Spanish inheritance tax liability in full before any amounts are paid. The calculation takes account of the value of all Spanish assets, the heir's relationship to the deceased, any applicable reductions and bonuses under the regional rules of the autonomous community where the assets are located, and the interaction with the Dutch erfbelasting position. We provide each heir with a clear, written breakdown before filing.
Once the tax is paid or guaranteed, we sign the Escritura de Aceptación de Herencia before a Spanish notary under the powers of attorney granted by each heir. This notarial deed formally accepts the inheritance and sets out how each asset is distributed among the heirs. We coordinate all heirs — whether based in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, or elsewhere — so that the deed can be executed efficiently and without delay.
We present the deed of acceptance to the Spanish Land Registry to register any property in the heirs' names. Spanish bank accounts are released and transferred to the heirs. Vehicles and other registered assets are transferred in the DGT registry. At this point the Spanish inheritance is legally closed and the heirs can dispose of their inherited assets freely.
In 2014, the European Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling that non-resident EU heirs must be entitled to the same regional inheritance tax rules as Spanish residents. Before that ruling, non-residents were taxed under harsher national-level rules without access to the generous regional reductions that Spanish regions had introduced. The ECJ ruling changed this entirely: Dutch heirs inheriting Spanish assets now have the right to apply the most favourable rules of whichever Spanish autonomous community is most relevant to their situation.
The variation between regions is very large. In Andalucía, children and spouses benefit from near-total exemptions up to substantial thresholds, with a 99% rebate on the resulting tax for close family members. In Comunidad Valenciana — which includes the Costa Blanca, the most popular destination for Dutch buyers — there are significant reductions for Group I and Group II heirs (children and spouses), though the final liability depends on the total value of the estate and any prior wealth of the heir. In Madrid, a 99% tax bonus applies to all Group I and Group II heirs, meaning that inheritance tax is effectively negligible for direct family members. In the Balearic Islands, similar reductions apply for close relatives, though the rules have evolved in recent years.
The relationship between the heir and the deceased is the single most important factor in determining the tax burden. Children and surviving spouses in the closest category (Group I and Group II) pay the least — often close to zero after regional reductions. Siblings and parents in Group III pay more. More distant relatives, step-children not formally adopted, and unrelated heirs in Group IV can face effective tax rates that are materially higher. We calculate the exact position for each heir based on their specific relationship and the region where the assets are held.
We provide every client with a written tax calculation and a clear fixed fee for the complete process before they commit to instructing us.
The Netherlands levies erfbelasting on the worldwide estate of any person who was resident in the Netherlands at the time of death. The tax also applies to individuals who had been Dutch residents within the ten years preceding death — the so-called tienjaarsregel — which means that a Dutch national who moved to Spain in retirement may still have their worldwide estate subject to Dutch erfbelasting for up to ten years after leaving the Netherlands.
Where the deceased was Dutch-resident and owned Spanish property, the Dutch tax authority (Belastingdienst) will include the Spanish property in the taxable estate at its full market value. However, under the Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting, the Dutch heir can deduct the Spanish inheritance tax paid on the Spanish assets from the Dutch erfbelasting otherwise due on those same assets. In practice this means the heir pays only the excess of the Dutch tax rate over the Spanish tax rate — not both in full.
The erfbelasting rates and brackets depend on the heir's relationship to the deceased and the total value of the estate. Children and surviving partners benefit from the lowest rates and the highest exemptions; more distant heirs face higher rates. We work with Dutch belastingadviseurs to ensure that the interaction between the Spanish and Dutch tax positions is handled correctly and that the available unilateral relief is fully claimed.
Under EU Succession Regulation 650/2012, any EU member state can issue a European Certificate of Succession — known in the Netherlands as the Europese Erfrechtverklaring. This certificate is issued by the Dutch court (rechtbank) or a Dutch notary and certifies who the heirs are, what their shares are, and — where applicable — what law governs the estate. Once issued, it is recognised in all EU member states without further formality.
In the Spanish context, a valid Europese Erfrechtverklaring can significantly streamline the notarial process. The Spanish notary handling the deed of acceptance can rely on it to confirm the identity and entitlement of the heirs, reducing the burden of separately proving heirship under Spanish law. It is particularly useful in larger estates with multiple heirs across different countries, or where the succession is governed by Dutch law through a valid professio iuris.
We advise all Dutch clients to consider whether obtaining the certificate is advantageous for their specific situation. In some cases it adds efficiency; in others the cost and time of obtaining it is not justified by the benefit. We assess this on a case-by-case basis.
The most common scenario we handle for Dutch families involves multiple heirs — often siblings — spread across different cities in the Netherlands, sometimes with one sibling who is a Spanish resident and others who are based in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, or elsewhere. Occasionally an heir is resident in a third country entirely.
Each heir must be legally represented in the Spanish process. Each must grant a power of attorney, which can be signed before a Dutch notary in any city and sent to us apostilled and translated. We then coordinate the entire process as a single project — one deed of acceptance, one set of tax filings, one timeline — so that no individual heir holds up the rest. All communication with our clients is in English. We manage the Spanish-language filings, correspondence with the Spanish notary, the Land Registry, and the tax authority entirely on behalf of all heirs.
Where heirs disagree — about the value of assets, about whether to accept or renounce, about the distribution — we can advise on the legal position and, where necessary, represent the interests of individual heirs. We explain the options clearly so that families can make informed decisions rather than allowing disagreement to push the process past the six-month deadline.
If you have recently lost a family member who owned assets in Spain — property, bank accounts, a vehicle, shares in a Spanish company — the most important action is to move quickly. The six-month clock starts from the date of death, not from the date you discovered the Spanish assets or consulted a lawyer.
Contact us for a free initial consultation. We will review your situation, identify what Spanish assets are involved, confirm which law governs the succession, explain the full process and timeline, and provide a clear fixed fee for the complete service. There is no obligation and no ambiguity about cost.
The six-month deadline is strict. The sooner you contact us, the more options you have.
We guide Dutch families through the entire process — in English, remotely, with fixed fees. Contact us today for a free initial consultation.