Lawyer for Spanish wills in Tenerife

Without a will, the law decides who inherits, and your relatives must first obtain a declaration of heirs, which makes the estate slower and more expensive to settle. With a will, you choose your heirs within the legal limits, and you can leave specific legacies, appoint a guardian for minor children or name the person who will carry out your wishes.

The most common form is the open will before a notary: it is kept at the notary's office and recorded in the Spanish Central Registry of Wills, and you can change or revoke it as often as you wish.

Spanish common civil law, which applies in the Canary Islands, reserves part of the estate for the so-called forced heirs. Where there are children, two-thirds of the estate goes to them, although one of those thirds can be shared unequally to favour one of them; only the remaining third can be left freely. The surviving spouse is entitled to a life interest (usufruct).

We explain how much freedom you really have and draft the clauses to use it: protecting your spouse, favouring one child, or providing for an heir who dies before you.

For foreigners living in Spain, the EU Succession Regulation provides that, by default, the estate is governed by the law of the country of habitual residence. A will allows you to choose expressly the law of your nationality, which can completely change who inherits and in what shares.

If you live in another country but own a home in Tenerife, a Spanish will limited to your assets in Spain usually speeds up the estate considerably. We coordinate it with the will in your home country so that one does not revoke the other. Where the testator is not fluent in Spanish, the will is signed in two columns, in both languages.