Can you leave your estate to your carer or to your care home?
Yes, but if the carer or care home provides services to you under a contract, only in an open will made before a notary, which is the usual kind, or in a succession agreement. Anything left to them in a handwritten will is invalid. If the person who looks after you is a relative, a friend or a neighbour with no contract, there is no such restriction. In any case, the children's forced share (“legítima”) must be respected.
Alburquerque Abogados
José Manuel AlburquerqueWho it affects
- People and businesses that provide or have provided you with care, residential or similar services under a contract. For example, a hired carer, the care home, the day centre or the home care agency.
- Also carers who work for those businesses or care homes.
- It does not affect anyone who looks after you without a contract. You can leave your estate to them in any valid will. The exception is a guardian, who cannot inherit until their final accounts have been approved, unless they are a close relative.
Why it exists and what happens if it is not followed
- The law aims to stop anyone caring for a dependent person from taking advantage of their situation. If it is done before a notary, the notary checks that the person understands what they are doing and is deciding freely.
- If it is done any other way, whatever has been left to the carer or care home is invalid. Those who would inherit in their place must claim it within four years.
- Even if it is done before a notary, it can be challenged if it is shown that the person did not understand what they were doing or was put under pressure.
- If the carer is not a relative, they generally pay the “impuesto de sucesiones”, the Spanish inheritance tax, as someone with no family relationship, which is the most expensive case.
What changes in 2027
From 4 February 2027 the same rule applies to organisations that provide the person with support including powers of representation, as regards anything the person leaves them while that support lasts. And the law expressly states that anyone who represents the person as a support provider cannot receive anything the person leaves them while that support lasts. It does not apply to the person's ascendants and descendants, such as parents, grandparents, children or grandchildren, their spouse or partner and their siblings. Nor does it apply if the representative's final accounts are approved within the time limit.
This applies if the estate is governed by Catalan law. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”) the rule is stricter. Anything left by someone living in a care home to the care home itself, its owners or its employees is void, unless the person caring for them is a relative entitled to inherit on intestacy. Other carers can only be left something in an open will made before a notary, with the same exception.
This answer is provided for educational purposes and offers initial guidance on the question raised. Every matter has its own circumstances and nuances that require individual assessment. For that reason, before taking decisions with significant consequences, it is advisable to consult a professional and not to rely solely on this information. Personalised advice makes it possible to apply these explanations to the specific case and to assess the options available with greater certainty.