What are the advantages of making a will in Catalonia?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It lets you decide who inherits and how, instead of leaving it to the law. Without a will, if there are children the surviving spouse only has the usufruct, a partner who is not in a “pareja estable”, a Catalan stable partnership, receives nothing and the heirs have to apply for a declaration of heirs before they can deal with anything else. With a will, you can protect your partner, arrange how the estate is divided among the children, appoint a guardian for minors and reduce the grounds for conflict. It costs little and can be changed whenever you like. What it allows you to do Choose an heir, or several in different shares, respecting the forced share (“legítima”), which in Catalonia is only a quarter of the estate for all the children together or, if there are none, for the parents. Leave specific assets to whoever you wish, such as the flat to the child who lives in it. Leave your partner the whole estate or more than the usufruct, even if there are children. Appoint substitutes in case an heir dies first. Also an executor to handle the division or the sale of assets. Appoint a guardian for minor children and decide who manages what they inherit. Decide that what was given to a child during your lifetime, for example to buy their first home, is not deducted from their share. What happens without a will The family inherits in the order laid down by law. The heirs have to apply before a notary for a declaration of heirs, which takes at least twenty working days and costs a few hundred euros. If there are no close relatives, the estate may end up going to first cousins or, if there are none, to the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Catalan government). If several people inherit, the assets belong to all of them in common until they are divided, which makes conflict more likely. What it does not do A will on its own does not reduce the “impuesto de sucesiones”, the Spanish inheritance tax, which depends on who receives what. But a well-planned division can make use of the allowances, for example by leaving the principal residence to someone who can deduct 95 % of its value. An open will made before a notary usually costs between 40 and 50 euros and can be changed as many times as you like.