Frequently asked questions
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Property and contract law
Validity of contracts
- What must a contract include to be valid?
- Is an oral contract legally valid?
- How do you prove an oral contract?
- Can you sign a contract via WhatsApp?
- What is the difference between a private document and a public one?
- How valid is a digitally signed contract?
- Is a signed and scanned contract valid?
- In what circumstances can a contract be annulled?
- Can a person with Alzheimer's sign a contract?
- What is the difference between a void and a voidable contract?
Breach of contract
- What is a penalty clause?
- What should you do when there is a breach of contract?
- How long do you have to bring a claim for breach of contract?
- In what cases can a contract be terminated unilaterally?
- What happens if a contract for services is breached?
- What does the Spanish Civil Code say about force majeure?
- What is the rebus sic stantibus rule?
- What is the difference between termination and rescission of a contract?
Loans and debts
- What do you need to do to lend money to a family member?
- Do loans between private individuals have to be declared?
- How legally valid is an acknowledgement of debt?
- When does a debt between private individuals become time-barred?
- What interrupts the limitation period for a debt?
- What happens when a debt is sold?
- What happens if I accept a debt write-down?
- How does “dación en pago” (handing over property to pay off a debt) work?
Mistaken transfers and unjust enrichment
Gifts and loans for use
Notarial powers of attorney
- What is the difference between a general and a special power of attorney?
- Can a property be sold under a general notarial power of attorney?
- What is needed to revoke a notarial power of attorney?
- Is a notarial power of attorney valid after the person's death?
- Can I get a notarial power of attorney in case of incapacity?
Ownership, possession and acquisitive prescription
- What is acquisitive prescription (“usucapión”) and what is it for?
- How many years must pass for acquisitive prescription (“usucapión”)?
- When does acquisitive prescription (“usucapión”) not apply?
- How can you prove that a property is yours without the title deeds?
- How can you find out whether abandoned land has an owner?
- What is the action for recovery of ownership (“acción reivindicatoria”) and when does it apply?
- What happens if someone builds on another person's land?
- What is the time limit for recovering possession?
- What happens if you buy something stolen without knowing it?
Relations between neighbouring properties
- Can I cut the branches of my neighbour's tree?
- What can I do if my neighbour's tree damages my property?
- What distance must there be between trees and a neighbouring house?
- Can my neighbour open a window facing my property?
- What can I do if water from my neighbour's roof falls onto my patio?
- Can you report a neighbour for bad smells?
- Is it possible to put up scaffolding on my neighbour's property to carry out building work?
- Who has to repair a party wall?
- What happens if my neighbour builds onto my party wall?
- What to do if a neighbour has encroached over the boundary of my plot?
- What are the steps for carrying out a boundary demarcation?
Usufruct and right of habitation
- What happens to the usufruct if the bare owner or the usufructuary dies?
- What expenses does the usufructuary have to pay?
- What is the usufructuary not allowed to do?
- Can I rent out my home if I have the usufruct?
- What happens if I sell the bare ownership?
- How can you renounce a usufruct?
- What is the difference between a right of habitation and a usufruct?
Easements and surface rights
Right of redemption
Co-ownership
Guarantees and sureties
- What liability does a guarantor have?
- Whose assets are attached first, the debtor's or the guarantor's?
- What is the difference between a joint and several guarantor (“fiador solidario”) and a guarantor (“avalista”)?
- How can I stop being a guarantor on a loan?
- When does a guarantor's debt become time-barred?
- Is it possible to guarantee a mortgage with a property?
- Can a guarantor claim against the debtor?
Real estate
Deposits and reservation agreements
- What is the difference between withdrawal, confirmatory and penalty deposits (“arras”)? Which suit the buyer?
- Is it possible to sign a deposit agreement (“contrato de arras”) without a notary?
- How much is it normal to pay as a deposit (“arras”)?
- What happens if you back out of a deposit agreement (“contrato de arras”)?
- What happens if you sign a deposit agreement (“arras”) and are refused a mortgage?
- How long is it between the deposit agreement (“contrato de arras”) and the public deed?
- How does a reservation agreement differ from a deposit agreement (“contrato de arras”)?
- Is the reservation money for a flat refundable?
- When is a deposit agreement (“contrato de arras”) void?
Checks before buying
- What should you check before buying a second-hand flat?
- What is a land registry extract (“nota simple”), how do you request one and how much does it cost?
- What happens when you buy an occupied flat?
- Can you buy a flat under attachment (seizure) or at auction? What are the risks?
- When does the Generalitat have a pre-emption right (“tanteo y retracto”) on the sale of a home?
Encumbrances and their cancellation
Documents and consents needed to sell a flat
- Is it possible to sell a flat without an energy certificate?
- Can you sell a flat in Catalonia without a certificate of habitability (“cédula de habitabilidad”)?
- Is the certificate of habitability (“cédula de habitabilidad”) the same as the first occupation licence?
- What documents do I need to sell my flat in Catalonia?
- Can I sell a flat to one of my children? Do I need the others' permission? And what if it is for less than it is worth?
- If the flat is in my name alone, do I need my partner's signature to sell it?
Notary, Land Registry and purchase costs
- Which costs of the sale are paid by the buyer and which by the seller?
- How much do the notary and the Land Registry cost when buying a flat?
- Who chooses the notary in a property sale?
- What legal validity does a private contract of sale have?
- Is it compulsory to register a property sale at the Land Registry?
Taxes when buying
- What taxes do you pay when buying a home in Catalonia?
- Who can pay the reduced rate of property transfer tax (ITP) in Catalonia and how much is it?
- If I buy a new-build home, what VAT and stamp duty (AJD) do I pay in Catalonia?
- What is the cadastral reference value (“valor de referencia”) and how do you check it?
- If the reference value (“valor de referencia”) or the tax authorities say the flat is worth more than I paid, do I have to pay more property transfer tax (ITP)? How do I appeal?
- What is the time limit for paying property transfer tax (ITP) in Catalonia?
- If I buy a flat in Catalonia as an investment, do I have to pay the 20 % property transfer tax (ITP) for large-scale landlords (“grandes tenedores”)?
Off-plan purchases
Taxes when selling
- What taxes does the seller of a flat pay?
- Who pays municipal capital gains tax when a flat is sold? And what if it is sold at a loss?
- Do you pay the “plusvalía”, the municipal capital gains tax, on a flat owned for more than 20 years?
- How is the gain on selling a flat taxed under income tax (the “IRPF”)? What expenses can I deduct?
- If I sell my principal residence and buy another, do I avoid paying income tax (the “IRPF”) on the gain?
- What taxes do I have to pay if I sell my home and I am over 65?
- Who has to pay the IBI (local property tax) when a home is sold?
- If the seller does not live in Spain, what taxes do they pay and why does the buyer have to withhold 3 % of the price?
Co-owned homes and ending co-ownership
- If we buy a flat jointly and one of us keeps all of it, what is ending co-ownership (“extinción de condominio”) and what taxes does it involve?
- I own a flat jointly with my ex-partner or a business partner and they do not want to sell: what can I do? Can I sell just my share?
- What does an action for division of co-owned property involve and how long does it take?
Planning, permits and building works
- How do I find out the planning classification of a property or whether a plot of land can be built on?
- When is building work considered minor or major works?
- When is illegal building work time-barred in Catalonia?
- Can building work done without a permit be regularised?
- Can you build a house or put a prefabricated one on rural land in Catalonia?
- What are the requirements for converting commercial premises into a home in Barcelona?
- What does it mean if a home is non-conforming (“fuera de ordenación”) and what happens if I buy it?
- What is the “assabentat” for building works?
Tourist flats
- When will holiday let licences be withdrawn in Barcelona?
- How do you apply for a holiday let licence in Catalonia and which municipalities restrict it?
- How can you check whether a flat has a holiday let licence in Catalonia?
- How can I change the holder of a holiday let licence in Catalonia?
- What is the fine for letting a flat to tourists without a licence in Catalonia?
Properties at the Land Registry
- What are the declaration of new building (“escritura de obra nueva”) and the division into units (“división horizontal”), and how much do they cost?
- What is subdividing a property, how much does it cost and what minimum area is needed?
- The size of my property differs between the deed, the Cadastre and the Land Registry: how is it corrected?
- How is an unregistered property entered in the Land Registry for the first time (“inmatriculación”)?
Landlord and tenant
Lease agreement, deposit and guarantees
- What should a residential tenancy agreement include?
- Which clauses in a tenancy agreement are not valid even if they are signed?
- How many months' deposit can I be asked for?
- Besides the deposit, how much can I be asked for as a guarantee or bank guarantee?
- Can rent guarantee insurance be passed on to the tenant?
- Who pays the letting agent's fees in a tenancy?
- Does the deposit have to be lodged with INCASÒL? What happens if the landlord does not do so?
- Is a verbal tenancy agreement valid?
- What documents can you be asked for to rent a flat?
- Do you need a certificate of habitability or an energy certificate to let a property?
- If I am a guarantor on a tenancy and the tenant does not pay, what can be claimed from me?
- How does a tenancy with an option to buy work?
Term and extensions
- What is the minimum term of a tenancy agreement?
- What happens when the five years are up? Does the tenancy renew automatically?
- How much notice do you have to give not to renew the tenancy?
- Can the landlord decide not to renew the tenancy agreement?
- What is the two-year extraordinary extension and who can ask for it?
- What happens if I leave before my tenancy agreement ends?
- Can the landlord recover the rented flat if they need it for themselves or for a child?
- What happens if my tenancy agreement ends and I have nowhere to go?
- Can the landlord refuse the extraordinary extension?
- Does the necessity clause have to be in the tenancy agreement for the flat to be recovered?
- What happens if the landlord wants to end the tenancy?
- When do old-style protected tenancies (“renta antigua”) expire?
- How long do tenancy agreements signed before 2019 last?
Change of landlord or tenant
- If I sell the rented flat, does the buyer have to respect the tenancy agreement?
- If the tenant dies, can their partner or children stay in the flat?
- If the landlord sells the flat, do I have the right to buy it before anyone else?
- What happens to a tenancy agreement if the landlord dies?
- What happens to the tenancy agreement if the tenants separate or divorce?
Rent and rent increases
- What does the October 2026 decree change for tenancies?
- How much can my rent go up this year?
- What is the IRAV and when does it apply instead of the CPI?
- What is the 2 % cap on rent increases and how long does it last?
- How much can my rent go up if my tenancy agreement comes to an end?
- If my landlord has not put my rent up for years, can I now be charged the backdated increases?
- If my tenancy agreement says nothing about rent increases, can my rent go up?
- How and how far in advance must notice of a rent increase be given?
- Can the rent be increased for improvement works?
- How much can the rent on an old-style protected tenancy (“renta antigua”) go up?
- If my rent is above the reference rent index, can it go up this year?
Stressed housing areas and large landlords
- What is a stressed residential market area (“zona tensionada”) and how do I know if my flat is in one?
- What is the maximum rent in a stressed residential market area (“zona tensionada”) in Catalonia?
- What is the reference rent index?
- If the flat was already let, can I ask the new tenant for more than the previous one paid?
- Who counts as a large-scale landlord (“gran tenedor”) in Catalonia?
- What does being a large-scale landlord (“gran tenedor”) involve?
- Does the maximum rent apply to all landlords or only to large-scale landlords (“grandes tenedores”)?
- What fine can a landlord face for charging more than the maximum rent?
- If my siblings and I own flats jointly or inherited them together, do they count towards being a large-scale landlord (“gran tenedor”)?
Costs of a rented flat
Repairs and works
- Who has to pay for faults in a rented flat?
- What are the minor repairs that the tenant has to pay for?
- How long does the landlord have to repair a fault?
- Can I stop paying the rent if the landlord does not fix the faults?
- What happens if the tenant does building work without permission?
- Can I paint the flat or hang pictures without the landlord's permission?
- The landlord wants to carry out works with the tenant living there: does the tenant have to put up with them?
- How often does the landlord have to paint the flat?
Use of a rented flat
Eviction
- My tenant is not paying the rent: what should I do?
- How many months' rent must a tenant owe before you can evict them?
- How long does an eviction for non-payment take?
- How much does it cost to evict a tenant who does not pay?
- Can a vulnerable tenant or a tenant with children be evicted? Are evictions still suspended?
- Can I change the locks or cut off a non-paying tenant's electricity?
- How can you avoid eviction for non-payment of rent?
- What should you do when a tenant refuses to leave?
- How do I evict someone living in my flat without a contract?
- What is an “inquiokupa” and what can you do about it?
- Do you have to try to negotiate with the tenant before suing for eviction?
- If I am a large-scale landlord, do I have to offer social rent before suing?
- Can I report my tenant to the police for not paying?
- How long do I have to claim the rent the tenant owes me?
- Can a tenant stop an eviction by paying what is owed?
- How will I be notified of an eviction?
- If I cannot evict a vulnerable tenant, will anyone compensate me for the rent I do not receive?
Return of the deposit
- When does my deposit have to be returned?
- What can be deducted from your tenancy deposit?
- What can I do if my landlord will not return my deposit?
- How do you recover a deposit lodged with INCASÒL?
- What document is needed to hand back the keys at the end of a tenancy?
- Can I use my deposit to pay the last month's rent?
- My tenant has left damage that the deposit does not cover: what can I claim?
Rentals other than a main home
- When is seasonal letting allowed now?
- How long does a seasonal tenancy agreement last?
- If a seasonal tenancy agreement gives no reason, does it become a residential tenancy of a main home?
- What is the difference between seasonal letting and holiday letting?
- Is it legal to let a flat by rooms and what does the reform change?
- How much can I charge for each room?
- What is the “Registro Único de Arrendamientos” (Spain's register of short-term lets) and who needs it?
- If I let my flat to a company for its employees, is it a residential tenancy?
Taxes on rental income
- How much tax do you pay on letting a flat?
- What income tax allowance do I get for letting my flat?
- Is VAT payable on the rent for commercial premises?
- If I let commercial premises to a company or a self-employed person, do they have to withhold income tax (the “IRPF”) from me? Who files Form 115?
- How much tax do you pay on letting commercial premises?
- How much tax do you pay on letting a parking space?
- If I let my child live rent-free in a flat I own, what do I have to pay the tax authorities?
- What expenses can I deduct for a rented-out flat?
- Do I have to register with the tax authorities if I let commercial premises?
- Is it worth buying flats to let through a company?
Commercial lease agreements
- How long does a commercial lease last?
- Can a commercial tenant transfer the business (“traspaso”)?
- Does the October 2026 rental decree affect commercial premises, offices and garages?
- How do you draw up a lease for commercial premises?
- What is the statutory deposit (the “fianza”) for renting commercial premises?
- How much can my commercial rent be increased each year? Does the CPI or the IRAV apply?
- Who pays for works on rented commercial premises?
- Which law governs a commercial lease? Is whatever is signed valid?
- What rights does the tenant of commercial premises have?
- Apart from the deposit, what guarantees can I be asked for on a commercial lease? Is there a limit?
- Who pays the letting agent when commercial premises are let?
- Who pays the service charges and the IBI on rented premises?
- What is a rent-free period (“carencia de renta”) for works on commercial premises?
- What happens if the premises have no business activity licence or I am refused one?
- Can the tenant sublet commercial premises or part of them?
- Can the tenant change the activity in commercial premises, for example from a shop to a bar?
- What works can the tenant carry out in commercial premises without asking permission?
- Can a private individual with no business rent commercial premises for storage? And to live in?
- Which law applies to renting an industrial unit or a warehouse?
End of a commercial lease and eviction
- When a commercial lease ends, does the tenant have to be compensated for goodwill?
- A commercial lease is ending: how much notice must be given and how long does the tenant have to leave?
- I want to close my business: can I leave the premises before the lease ends?
- My commercial tenant is not paying: what should I do?
- When can the landlord terminate a commercial lease and evict the tenant?
- The commercial lease has expired, nobody gave notice and the tenant is still paying: has it been renewed?
- If the tenant of commercial premises dies, can the heirs carry on the business? And if the landlord dies?
- I have commercial premises under an old-style protected tenancy (“renta antigua”): does the lease end when the tenant retires or does it pass to his or her children?
- If the landlord sells the premises, do I have to leave? Can I buy them before anyone else?
- How long does an eviction from commercial premises take?
- To evict a commercial tenant, do you have to meet the same requirements as for a home (prior negotiation, vulnerability, large-scale landlords)?
Parking spaces and storage rooms
Condominium law
Notice and voting at the general meeting
- How much notice is needed to call an owners' general meeting?
- Who can call an extraordinary general meeting of owners?
- Can the owners' general meeting be held by video conference or can votes be cast remotely?
- Is an owners' general meeting compulsory every year?
- Can I delegate my vote to another neighbour or to the managing agent?
- Can an owner who owes service charges vote at the meeting?
Resolutions of the general meeting
- What majority do resolutions of the owners' association require?
- What is the time limit for challenging a resolution of the owners' association?
- I did not go to the owners' general meeting: does my vote count? Do the resolutions adopted affect me?
- How long does the managing agent have to send out the minutes of the owners' general meeting?
- What defects in the notice make the owners' general meeting void?
- How do you legalise the minute book of an owners' association?
President and managing agent
- Can I be forced to be president of the owners' association?
- What powers does the president of an owners' association have?
- What is needed to change managing agent?
- Who cannot be president of an owners' association?
- Who can see the accounts of an owners' association?
- Is it a legal requirement to have a managing agent?
By-laws and community rules
- Can an owners' association in Catalonia ban holiday lets?
- How many votes are needed to change the by-laws of an owners' association?
- Are the internal rules and the by-laws the same thing?
- Can the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”) ban dogs, or stop them using the lift? What are the rules for pets in the common areas?
- Who sets the rules for a communal swimming pool?
- Do you need the owners' association's permission to open a holiday let? In Catalonia too?
- If the owners' association bans holiday lets, does it affect those already operating?
Service charges and community expenses
- How is the participation share calculated?
- How are service charges (owners' association fees) shared out?
- Which service charges (owners' association fees) do commercial premises have to pay?
- Do I have to pay a special levy if I voted against it?
- Can I stop paying my service charges (owners' association fees)?
- What is the reserve fund, is it compulsory and is it refunded when the flat is sold?
- I live in a residential development: do I have to pay its service charges even if I do not use the pool or the communal areas?
Arrears and debts to the owners' association
- Who pays special levies falling due after the sale but agreed before it?
- What happens if a neighbour does not pay service charges?
- What can a neighbour in arrears be banned from?
- How does the owners' association claim unpaid service charges in court? From what amount and who pays the costs?
- For how many years can a service charge debt be claimed in Catalonia?
- Is it illegal to put up the list of neighbours in arrears in the entrance hall?
- What happens if I buy a flat with service charge debts?
- Do you have to try to negotiate with a neighbour in arrears before taking them to court?
- What is the statement of debts or certificate of being up to date with the owners' association, who requests it and how much does it cost?
Common elements and works in a flat or commercial unit
- What are the common parts of a building?
- What works can I carry out in my flat without asking the owners' association for permission? Can I knock down a partition wall?
- Do I need the owners' association's permission to convert commercial premises into a home?
- A neighbour has carried out works without permission or taken over part of a common area: what can the owners' association do? And what if years have passed and nobody said anything?
- Can I combine two flats or divide mine into two?
- Can the owners' association refuse to allow an extraction flue to be installed in commercial premises?
Façade, balconies and terraces
- Who has to repair a communal terrace for private use?
- Can I enclose the terrace of my home without the owners' association's permission?
- Do you need permission to install air conditioning on the façade?
- Do you need to ask the owners' association for permission to replace the windows?
- What can you do on a communal terrace for private use?
- Do I need the owners' association's permission to put up an awning on the façade or balcony?
- Can fibre optic cables be run across my façade without my permission?
- Are you allowed to hang washing on the balcony?
Building maintenance and repairs
- Who is obliged to open the door and allow access to carry out repairs for the owners' association?
- I have damp coming from the façade, the roof or the floor of a ground-floor unit: who pays for it?
- When does a building in Catalonia have to pass the building inspection (“ITE”)?
- Who pays for replacing the downpipes?
Common works and installations
- Do ground-floor flats and commercial premises have to pay for installing and maintaining the lift?
- How many neighbours have to agree to install a lift?
- Do the new lift regulations require me to upgrade my building's lift? Who pays for it?
- Are accessibility works, such as a ramp or a stairlift, compulsory? Who pays for them?
- Can I install solar panels on my building's communal roof terrace?
- Is it legal to install CCTV cameras in a block of flats?
Parking spaces
Nuisance between neighbours
- What to do if my neighbour keeps making noise?
- At what times can building work be done in a flat?
- Which activities count as a nuisance and how can the owners' association make them stop?
- Is it legal to smoke on a balcony?
- My neighbour has put up a camera or a digital peephole that points at the landing: is it legal?
- What should I do if there are squatters in my building?
- Can a neighbour who keeps causing a nuisance be evicted from their flat, even if they own it?
- The bar downstairs makes noise or gives off smoke: what can we neighbours do?
Civil liability
Compensation for damages
- If it is not a road traffic accident, is there any table for calculating compensation?
- How long do I have to claim damages?
- How much money can you claim in damages?
- How do you claim compensation for damages?
- How much does a claim for damages cost?
- What is non-pecuniary damage and when can it be claimed?
- How much is paid for non-pecuniary damage (distress)?
- What is civil liability and when must compensation be paid?
- What is the difference between contractual and non-contractual liability?
- What is loss of earnings or profit (“lucro cesante”) and how is it calculated?
- If there are criminal proceedings, is compensation obtained there or in separate civil proceedings?
- If the person responsible is declared insolvent, will I go unpaid?
Road traffic accidents
- How much compensation will I get for a road traffic accident?
- What is the statutory compensation scale for traffic accidents (the “baremo”) and where can its tables be found?
- How much does insurance pay for whiplash?
- After a road traffic accident, how much will I be paid for each day of sick leave or rehabilitation?
- How much is each after-effect point worth?
- If I am discharged from medical treatment with after-effects following an accident, what can I claim?
- If I have an accident that is not my fault, what expenses and damage do they have to pay for?
- How long does it take to get compensation for a road traffic accident?
- If a family member dies in a road traffic accident, who receives the compensation?
- Do I have to declare accident compensation on my income tax return?
- If I am knocked down while crossing where I should not, do I still get paid?
- If I cannot work because of the accident, do I get paid for the earnings I lose?
- If I did not see a doctor straight away or did not take sick leave, will I be paid for whiplash?
- If I was partly to blame for the accident, do I get paid anything?
- How do you find out who was at fault in an accident?
Medical negligence
- If I suffer negligent treatment at a private clinic, do I claim against the doctor, the clinic or their insurance?
- How long do I have to claim for medical negligence?
- In what cases is something considered medical negligence?
- How do you prove medical negligence?
- How do you make a claim for medical negligence?
- How do you claim for negligence by “Social Security” or a public hospital?
- How much does it cost to claim for medical negligence?
- What does winning a medical negligence case depend on?
- How much compensation can you get for medical negligence?
- How long does it take to receive compensation for medical negligence?
- How do I request my medical records and what do I do if they refuse?
- Can you claim for a misdiagnosis?
- If a dentist has botched my treatment, what can I claim?
- For medical negligence, is it better to report it as a crime or to bring a civil claim?
- If I was not informed of the risks of an operation or treatment, can I claim?
- If the after-effects of medical negligence take time to become known, when does the time limit start?
- If I signed the informed consent form, can I still claim?
- Do I need a medical expert to claim for negligence?
- If my relative died as a result of medical negligence, can we claim?
- If a cosmetic surgery operation goes wrong, can I claim?
- Can you claim for an infection caught in hospital?
- Can you claim for negligence during childbirth?
- Is there any point in complaining to the hospital or the Medical Association (“Colegio de Médicos”)?
Construction defects and latent defects
- What does ten-year structural defects insurance cover?
- How long do I have to claim for defects in a new build?
- Who do I claim against for defects in my new-build home: the developer, the builder or the architect?
- How do you claim for construction defects?
- Can you claim for latent defects in a second-hand home?
- If I can no longer claim under the “LOE”, Spain's Building Act, is there another way to claim against the architect?
- Can the owners' association claim for construction defects in the building?
- If the architect I hired makes a mistake in the design, what can I claim?
- If I notice defects when I get the keys to my new-build home, what should I do?
- How much does an expert report on construction defects cost?
- If the developer has gone bankrupt or disappeared, who do I claim against for the defects?
- If I sold a flat and the buyer is claiming against me for latent defects, what can I do?
Building work and renovations
Professional negligence
Liability of public authorities
- If I fall in the street because of a loose paving slab or a hole, can I claim against the town council?
- How much compensation can I get for a fall in the street?
- What is the time limit for claiming under the “responsabilidad patrimonial” of the public authorities?
- How do I file a claim for compensation with the town council?
- If a pothole damages my car, who pays?
- What is the “responsabilidad patrimonial” of the public authorities?
- How long do the public authorities have to reply?
- Who is responsible if I have an accident because of the poor condition of the road?
- If a tree belonging to the town council falls on my car, who pays?
Defective products and services
- If a defective product causes me damage, is the manufacturer or the shop liable?
- Can I sue a restaurant for food poisoning?
- Does the guarantee cover me if a defective product causes me damage?
- How long do I have to claim for damage caused by a defective product?
- What do I have to prove to claim for a defective product?
- What damage caused by a defective product can I claim for?
- If a battery, an e-scooter or a charger catches fire and damages my home, who pays?
- If I buy a product online from outside Europe and it causes me damage, who do I claim against?
- If a power cut or a power surge damages my household appliances, can I claim against the electricity company?
Liability of parents, schools and animal owners
Insurance law
The insurance contract
- Can my insurer put the price up or drop me for making a claim?
- How much notice do you need to give to cancel insurance?
- If I sell my car or house, what happens to the insurance?
- Can a policy clause I did not sign be applied to me?
- If I missed a premium payment and had a claim, am I covered?
- If I did not tell my insurer about a change, can it refuse to pay?
- Can I cancel an insurance policy I have just taken out?
- What is the waiting period in an insurance policy?
Insurance claims
- What can you do if your insurer refuses to pay?
- When can an insurer refuse to pay?
- How long do I have to make an insurance claim?
- How many days do I have to notify my insurer of a claim?
- How do you complain to Spain's insurance regulator?
- Do I need a lawyer to claim against an insurer?
- Can I choose my own lawyer under my legal expenses insurance?
- If I sign an insurance settlement and release form, can I claim later?
- If my rent guarantee insurance will not pay, what can I do?
- If my travel insurance refuses my cancellation claim, what do I do?
Claim settlement
- How long does the insurer have to pay a claim?
- What do I do if I disagree with the insurer's loss adjuster?
- Can you ask for a cash payout instead of a repair?
- What is underinsurance and why am I being paid less?
- What interest must the insurer pay if it pays late?
- Am I entitled to see the report by the insurer's loss adjuster?
- If I have two insurance policies covering the same thing, which one do I claim on?
The liable party's insurance
- Can you claim directly from the insurer of the person who caused the damage?
- If I fall in a supermarket or a shop, can I claim against its insurance?
- How long do you have in Catalonia to claim against the insurance of the person who caused the damage?
- Can I claim against the insurance of the architect or the building surveyor (“aparejador”) for defects in my home?
- If my tax adviser (“gestor”) made a mistake and the tax authorities fine me, does the adviser's insurance pay?
Home insurance
- If the flat is let, what does the landlord's insurance cover and what does the tenant's cover?
- What water damage does home insurance cover?
- What does home insurance not cover?
- If my home is burgled without the door being forced, will my insurance pay out?
- If there is rain, wind or flooding, does my insurance or the Consorcio pay?
- How do you claim from the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros?
- If my dog bites someone, will my insurance pay for it?
- Is liability insurance compulsory for dogs?
- If matching tiles cannot be found, does the insurer have to replace them all?
- If my home is burgled and I have no receipts, will my insurance pay out?
- If a power surge burns out my appliances, will my insurance pay?
- Does home insurance cover damage caused by squatters?
- If my child causes damage to someone else, does home insurance cover it?
Damage between neighbours and building insurance
- If water comes through from the flat above, does my insurance pay or my neighbour's?
- How do you claim against your neighbour's insurance?
- If the neighbour who caused damage to my home has no insurance, will my own insurance pay?
- When does the owners' association's insurance pay for water damage?
- Is the owners' association obliged to have insurance?
- What can I do if the owners' association's insurer refuses to pay?
- If my neighbour's building work causes cracks in my home, does their insurance pay?
- If a fire in the flat next door damages my home, who pays?
- If I fall in the entrance hall or on the stairs, will the owners' association's insurance pay?
Life and accident insurance
- How do I find out if a deceased relative left me a life insurance policy?
- How do you claim on a life insurance policy and how long does it take?
- What is the time limit for claiming on life insurance?
- Who receives the life insurance payout if the beneficiary has died or there is none?
- In what cases does life insurance not provide cover?
- Can a life insurer refuse to pay because of an undisclosed illness?
- How do you change the beneficiary of a life insurance policy?
- If I divorce and my ex is still the beneficiary, do they receive the life insurance payout?
- Do you have to declare cancer you have recovered from when taking out insurance?
- Does life insurance cover suicide?
- Does a heart attack count as an accident for insurance purposes?
Disability and sick leave
Health insurance
Mortgages and loans
- What insurance can the bank require me to take out for my mortgage?
- Can I cancel my mortgage life insurance?
- What does mortgage life insurance cover in the event of the borrower's death?
- If I pay off my mortgage early, do I get part of the insurance premium back?
- If the borrower on a personal loan dies, does the insurance pay it off?
Funeral insurance
Car insurance
- If someone else caused the accident, do I have to pay the excess?
- What do I do if the driver at fault has no insurance?
- How do I find a car's insurer from its registration number?
- If the other driver's insurer will not pay, what do I do?
- What should I do if the other driver will not sign the accident report form?
- What is the reasoned offer (“oferta motivada”) in insurance?
- If my car is a total loss (write-off) and it was not my fault, do I only get the pre-accident value?
- Does my car insurance cover me if I have no ITV?
- If someone not named on the policy drives my car, does the insurance pay?
- If I tested positive for alcohol, can my insurer claim back what it paid?
- If someone hits my car and I do not know who it was, or they flee the scene, who pays?
- If I was injured as a passenger, who do I claim against?
- If I have an accident with a foreign car, who do I claim against?
- Does my insurance cover me with an expired driving licence?
- If I hit a wild boar, who pays?
- Can I choose the garage for an insurance repair?
E-scooters and electric bicycles
Inheritance and succession
Wills and succession agreements
- Can you challenge a will in Catalonia?
- How much does it cost to make a will before a notary?
- Is a handwritten will valid in Catalonia?
- Can a person with Alzheimer's or dementia make a will?
- Can a will be changed?
- What is a succession agreement in Catalonia?
- How should a married couple with children make their wills in Catalonia?
- What are the advantages of making a will in Catalonia?
- Can a person with a disability make a will in Catalonia?
Forced share and freedom of testation
- How much is a child's forced share in Catalonia?
- Can I leave more to one child than to another in Catalonia?
- How do you claim the forced share in Catalonia and what is the time limit?
- Can you disinherit a child in Catalonia?
- In Catalonia, can you leave everything to your partner if you have children?
- If I have no children, can I leave my estate to whoever I like in Catalonia?
- Do lifetime gifts count when dividing the estate in Catalonia?
Heirs and intestate succession
- Who inherits if someone dies without children in Catalonia?
- How do you find out if a deceased relative made a will?
- When is a declaration of heirs needed and how much does it cost?
- Who inherits if there is no will in Catalonia?
- What is the difference between an inheritance and a legacy?
- Do grandchildren inherit if their parent died before their grandparent?
- How is the estate divided if there are children from a previous marriage?
- Is a stepchild entitled to inherit in Catalonia?
- Can you leave your estate to your carer or to your care home?
- Who cannot inherit in Catalonia?
Spouses and stable partners in succession
Procedures after a death
- What do you need to get a deceased person's money out of the bank?
- How much does it cost to settle an estate?
- What do you need to do when a relative dies?
- How long can a property stay in a deceased person's name?
- What happens to a joint account if one of the holders dies?
- Who has to pay for a relative's funeral?
- How do you put a deceased person's car in the heir's name?
- What does an executor do and what can they do without the heirs?
- How much is an executor paid in Catalonia?
- What happens if money is withdrawn from a deceased person's account?
- How long does it take to settle an estate?
Acceptance, renunciation and debts
- What does it mean to accept an inheritance with the benefit of inventory?
- If I renounce an inheritance, who does my share go to?
- How long do I have to accept an inheritance in Catalonia?
- If I renounce the inheritance, can I receive the life insurance payout?
- What happens if the estate has debts?
- Do you need to go to a notary to accept an inheritance?
- What happens to the mortgage when the borrower dies?
- Can you renounce an inheritance in favour of someone else?
- Can an inheritance be attached if the heir has debts?
- How do you accept an inheritance?
- What is an estate in abeyance (“herencia yacente”)?
- Can one heir accept the inheritance while another does not?
Division and sale of inherited assets
- What can be done if an heir refuses to sign the inheritance deed?
- What can you do if a sibling does not want to sell the inherited flat?
- How is an estate divided between siblings?
- How much does it cost to take over your siblings' share of an inherited flat?
- Can an inherited flat be sold without having settled the estate?
- Can the inherited house be sold if the mother has the usufruct?
- What happens to the quotas (“participaciones”) in a company when the shareholder dies?
Taxes
- What is the deadline for paying inheritance tax in Catalonia?
- Do you have to pay municipal capital gains tax when you inherit a flat?
- Is it better to make lifetime gifts or leave an inheritance in Catalonia?
- What taxes do you pay when selling an inherited flat?
- How much does a sibling, nephew or niece pay to inherit in Catalonia?
- Can inheritance tax be paid with money from the estate?
- How much do you pay to inherit your parents' house in Catalonia?
- How much inheritance tax do you pay in Catalonia?
- Who is exempt from inheritance tax in Catalonia?
- How much are the usufruct and the bare ownership worth?
- How is a flat valued for inheritance tax purposes?
- What happens if the inheritance tax return is filed late?
- Do I have to declare an inheritance on my income tax return?
- How and where do you file inheritance tax in Catalonia?
- Who files a deceased person's income tax return?
- Is inheritance tax payable on life insurance or a pension plan?
- How can you pay less tax on an inheritance in Catalonia?
- How much is the tax on giving money to a child in Catalonia?