Spanish Succession Law · Finding the Will
How to find out whether a Spanish will was registered, how to obtain a certified copy, what happens when no will exists, how foreign wills are recognised in Spain — and how trusts interact with Spanish testamentary documents.
The Spanish Will Registry
Every will executed before a Spanish notary is registered centrally at the Registro de Actos de Última Voluntad (Registry of Last Wills), operated by the Ministry of Justice in Madrid. This registry records not the content of the will, but the fact that a will was made, the date it was executed and the name of the notary who executed it.
To search the registry, a certified death certificate (with an Apostille if issued outside Spain) must be presented. The search can only be conducted after death — during the deceased's lifetime, the will's existence is protected by professional secrecy. The registry responds within approximately 15 working days with a certificate confirming whether one or more wills are registered and — if so — the details of the notary who holds the original.
Once the notary is identified, we request a certified copy of the most recent will. Only the most recent will is valid — any earlier wills are revoked by the final will unless expressly preserved. The notary holds the original in their protocol indefinitely; heirs receive certified copies.
When no Spanish will exists
A negative certificate from the Will Registry means no Spanish will was registered. This does not necessarily mean the deceased died intestate — they may have left a will in their home country that is valid in Spain if properly authenticated.
If the deceased left a foreign will: the will must be:
If there is no will at all — neither Spanish nor foreign — the estate must be distributed under Spanish intestate succession rules. We initiate the Declaración de Herederos ab intestato procedure before the notary: a formal identification of the legal heirs, supported by death certificates, birth certificates and any other documentation establishing family relationships. This procedure takes additional time — typically an extra four to eight weeks — making it even more important to begin immediately.
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We obtain the official death certificate from the Spanish Civil Registry. If the deceased died abroad, we arrange for the foreign death certificate to be apostilled and translated by a sworn translator. This document is the essential key that unlocks the Will Registry search.
We file the application at the Registro de Actos de Última Voluntad in Madrid, attaching the authenticated death certificate. The registry processes the application and issues its certificate within approximately 15 working days.
If the registry confirms that a will exists, it identifies the notary (or multiple notaries, if there were successive wills) and the date of execution. We immediately contact the relevant notary's office to request a certified copy of the most recent will.
The notary confirms the identity of the requesting party as an heir or their representative and issues a certified copy of the will. This copy has full legal force for all subsequent inheritance procedures — it is the document presented to the Land Registry, the AEAT and the banks.
Types of wills in Spain
By far the most common type. Executed before a Spanish notary, who reads it aloud, confirms the testator's wishes and signs it. The notary retains the original in their protocol and registers the will at the central registry. There is no risk of loss. We draft open wills for all our clients — in Spanish and English side by side.
The testator presents a sealed document to the notary, who records the presentation without knowing the content. The sealed will is later opened after death by the notary. Very rare in practice — offers privacy but creates the risk of the sealed document being lost or damaged. Not recommended for international clients.
Entirely handwritten, signed and dated by the testator — no notary required. However, it must be "protocolised" (verified and authenticated) by a notary after death before it can be used in the inheritance. The Will Registry does not routinely record holographic wills — so heirs must search for the physical document. Easy to challenge, easy to lose, and legally risky for international assets.
A will executed in another country can be valid and effective in Spain if it meets the requirements of the applicable law (determined by EU Regulation 650/2012 for EU nationals, or by Spanish private international law for non-EU nationals). The will must be apostilled and professionally translated. Some foreign will formalities differ significantly from Spanish requirements — we assess validity on a case-by-case basis.
Multiple wills
The Will Registry may return results showing that the deceased executed multiple wills at different dates — perhaps one in Spain and one in their home country, or successive Spanish wills as circumstances changed. The rule is simple in principle but complex in application:
We analyse the chronology and content of all wills, assess which is the most recent valid expression of the testator's wishes, and advise heirs on the applicable document before any inheritance procedure begins. In contentious cases, we litigate on behalf of heirs whose inheritance is reduced by an unexpected later will.
The insurance registry
The Registro de Contratos de Seguros de Cobertura de Fallecimiento (Insurance Contracts Registry) is a parallel registry at the Ministry of Justice that records all life insurance policies and certain other death-benefit contracts. We search this registry at the same time as the Will Registry — both searches require the same death certificate and are filed simultaneously.
The Insurance Registry confirms whether the deceased held any life insurance policies, and identifies the insurer. It does not reveal the policy amount or the named beneficiary — those details are provided directly by the insurer once they are notified of the death and receive proof of heirship.
Life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary do not pass through the estate — they go directly to the beneficiary outside the will. However, they are still subject to Spanish inheritance tax and must be declared on the Modelo 650. Knowing all policies exist is therefore essential for completing the inheritance tax return accurately and avoiding future AEAT investigations.
Complex structures
In the UK and USA, trusts are frequently used as will substitutes — assets are transferred to the trust during the settlor's lifetime, and the trust deed governs distribution after death without the need for probate. However, for Spanish property held through a trust, this approach does not work as intended. Spain requires full inheritance acceptance formalities regardless of the trust structure. The trust deed does not replace a Spanish will or the Spanish notarial acceptance procedure.
A letter of wishes is a non-binding document addressed to the trustees of a discretionary trust, expressing the settlor's preferences for distribution. In Spain, a letter of wishes has no legal standing whatsoever. It is not a will, it is not registered, it creates no enforceable rights. Where a trustee distributes Spanish property in accordance with a letter of wishes, the Spanish formalities must still be completed by the beneficiaries who receive the property — and inheritance tax applies as normal.
The most effective approach for any international client who owns Spanish property is a dedicated Spanish will — drafted in coordination with any UK or US will and any trust deed — that: (1) uses professio iuris to choose the appropriate applicable law (for EU nationals); (2) addresses the Spanish assets specifically; (3) provides for substitutes in case of pre-death or renunciation; and (4) is clear about the relationship between the Spanish estate and any trust-held assets. We draft these wills for international clients across Spain.
Questions answered
The Ministry of Justice processes applications within approximately 15 working days. Once we receive the certificate, we immediately request the certified will copy from the notary — typically available within three to five working days of the request. The total time from instruction to receiving the will copy is usually four to six weeks.
A foreign will is not registered at the Spanish Will Registry. We search the Spanish registry first; if the result is negative, we assist with locating any foreign will and arranging the apostille and sworn translation required to use it in Spain. For EU nationals, we also confirm which law governs the succession under Regulation 650/2012, since this affects whether the foreign will's provisions are fully valid for the Spanish assets.
Yes. Grounds for challenging a Spanish will include: lack of testamentary capacity at the time of signing; undue influence or coercion; fraud or mistake; failure to meet formal requirements (for holographic wills — failure to be entirely handwritten and properly signed); and breach of the legítima (forced share). We advise on the strength of potential challenges and represent clients in contentious inheritance proceedings.
The protocols of Spanish notaries pass to the Notarial College (Colegio Notarial) of the province when a notary retires or dies. The will does not disappear — it is held indefinitely by the Colegio's archive. We contact the relevant Colegio to request certified copies in these situations. The process takes slightly longer but the document is retrievable.
All locations
Select your location for specific information about local notaries, the Will Registry and the will identification process in your area.
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