The Certificate of Last Wills in Spain: The First Document Every Foreign Heir Must Obtain
In brief: Before any inheritance in Spain can move forward, heirs must obtain the Certificado de Últimas Voluntades — the Certificate of Last Wills. It confirms whether the deceased left a Spanish will and, if so, which notary holds it. You can only request it 15 business days after the date of death, and a foreign death certificate usually needs an apostille and a sworn translation first. Without this certificate, no notary, bank or lawyer in Spain can open the file.
What Is the Certificate of Last Wills (Certificado de Últimas Voluntades)?
When a relative dies with assets in Spain, almost the first thing you will hear — from the bank, the notary, and any lawyer you contact — is a request for el certificado de últimas voluntades. If you do not speak Spanish, and you are grieving from another country, it can feel like one more obstacle in a language you don't understand.
It is, in fact, the opposite: it is the document that unlocks everything else.
The Certificate of Last Wills is an official record issued by the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad (the General Registry of Last Wills), part of Spain's Ministry of Justice. Every time someone signs a will before a Spanish notary, that act is registered centrally. The certificate is the proof of what that central registry contains for a specific person.
What the certificate actually tells you
The certificate answers three questions: whether the deceased ever made a will in Spain, the date of the most recent one, and which notary's office holds it. That is what lets you go to the right notary and request a certified copy.
What it does not tell you
The certificate never reveals the contents of the will. It does not tell you who inherits or what they receive. It only points you to the will itself. To read the will, you take the certificate to the notary identified on it and request the copia autorizada (authorised certified copy).
Why every Spanish bank, notary and lawyer asks for it first
No professional in Spain will act on an estate without it. A notary cannot prepare the deed of inheritance, a bank cannot release frozen funds, and a lawyer cannot file the inheritance tax return until it is established — on the record — whether a will exists. The certificate is the starting gun for the entire process.
Why This Matters Even If Your Relative Had a Will Abroad
A frequent and costly assumption among expat families is: "He had a UK will, so we don't need anything in Spain." Spanish assets do not work that way.
The EU Regulation 650/2012 connection
EU Regulation 650/2012, often called Brussels IV, governs which country's succession law applies to a cross-border estate. As a general rule it points to the law of the deceased's habitual residence at death, unless they validly chose the law of their nationality in a will. This determines whose rules apply — but it does not exempt Spanish assets from Spanish administrative procedure.
Spanish assets still require the Spanish certificate
Regardless of where the will was signed, if there is property, a bank account, or other assets located in Spain, the Spanish registry still has to be checked. The Certificate of Last Wills is how you prove whether a separate Spanish will exists alongside (or instead of) the foreign one. Many expats sensibly make a Spanish will covering only their Spanish assets — and only the certificate will reveal it.
The myth that costs families weeks
Skipping this step because a foreign will exists does not speed things up. It stalls them. Sooner or later the notary or bank will require the certificate, and the family will have lost time they did not have — because, in parallel, the inheritance tax clock is already running.
When You Can Request It: The 15-Business-Day Rule
You cannot request the certificate immediately. By law, it can only be issued once 15 business days have passed from the date of death. This waiting period exists so the death can be fully recorded in the civil registry before the last-wills registry is queried.
"Business days" (días hábiles) in Spain exclude Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays — and Spain has both national and regional holidays. A death in early August or around a regional fiesta can push the date back further than a foreign family expects. Plan for it rather than being surprised by it.
Step by Step: How a Foreign Heir Requests the Certificate
Document 1 — the death certificate (and when it needs an apostille)
You start with the death certificate. If the person died in Spain, you obtain the literal certificate from the local Registro Civil. If they died abroad, you will generally need the foreign death certificate legalised with a Hague Apostille and accompanied by a sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish. Forgetting the apostille is one of the most common reasons a request is rejected.
Document 2 — Modelo 790 and the fee
The application is made on the official form Modelo 790, código 006, together with a modest administrative fee. The exact amount and form are published by the Ministry of Justice, so confirm the current figure on the official site before paying.
Online, by post, or in person — which route works from abroad
There are three routes: online through the Ministry of Justice electronic portal (which typically requires a Spanish digital certificate or Cl@ve), by post, or in person at a Justice Department office. For heirs living outside Spain without a digital certificate, the postal route or — more often — delegating to a local professional is the practical choice.
Requesting it through a Spanish lawyer or gestor
Most expat heirs handle the entire estate through a Spanish abogado or gestor acting under a power of attorney. With a power of attorney in place, your representative can request the certificate, collect the will from the notary, and carry the file forward — without you needing to travel repeatedly.
What to Do Once You Have the Certificate
If a Spanish will exists
The certificate names the notary who holds the original. You (or your representative) request the copia autorizada from that notary's office. With the will in hand, the inheritance can be formally accepted. A bilingual notary can make this stage considerably easier for a non-Spanish-speaking family.
If no will exists: the declaración de herederos
If the certificate shows no Spanish will — and no valid foreign will covers the Spanish assets — the estate is intestate, and the heirs must first be legally established before anything can be inherited. This is done through a declaración de herederos abogados (declaration of heirs), and it is the step that catches foreign families most off guard, because there is no document simply naming who inherits. It has to be created.
Who can be declared an heir. When the deceased left no will, Spanish law itself decides the order of heirs (subject to which national law applies under EU Regulation 650/2012). The usual order of priority is: children and descendants first; then, if there are none, the parents and ascendants; then the surviving spouse; and only after that, siblings and more distant relatives. A surviving spouse's position is often weaker than expat families expect — another reason the absence of a will rarely works in a family's favour.
How the declaration is made. For close relatives — descendants, ascendants and the spouse — the declaration is handled before a Spanish notary by means of an acta de notoriedad. The applicant provides the death certificate, the Certificate of Last Wills (showing no will), the family records proving the relationship (birth and marriage certificates, apostilled and sworn-translated where foreign), and typically two witnesses who can attest to the family situation. For more distant heirs, such as nephews or cousins, the matter may instead require a court procedure, which is slower and costlier.
Why it takes longer. There is also a mandatory waiting period of around 20 business days after the acta is opened before the notary can finalise the declaration. Combined with the time needed to apostille and translate foreign civil-status documents, the intestate route routinely adds weeks to a process that is already racing the six-month inheritance-tax deadline. In practice, a missing will does not save money — it costs time the family does not have, and often produces an outcome the deceased would not have chosen. It is, quite simply, the most avoidable complication in a Spanish estate, and the best argument for making a Spanish will while you still can.
How it connects to the rest of the timeline
The certificate is step one of a sequence. Next comes releasing the frozen bank account, and — crucially — settling the inheritance tax, which carries a strict deadline.
The timeline at a glance
| Stage | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Death registered | Day 0 | Death recorded in the Registro Civil; foreign certificates need an apostille + sworn translation |
| Request the certificate | From day 15 (business days) | Apply via Modelo 790 código 006 once 15 business days have passed |
| Certificate issued | Usually a few business days after applying | Confirms whether a Spanish will exists and which notary holds it |
| Obtain the will / declare heirs | After the certificate | Request the copia autorizada, or open a declaración de herederos if intestate (≈20-day notarial waiting period) |
| Settle inheritance tax (ISD) | Within 6 months of death | The hard deadline — everything above must fit inside it |
| Release the frozen bank account | After tax is settled | Funds and assets transferred to the heirs |
The Mistakes Foreign Heirs Make Most Often
The first is missing the six-month inheritance tax deadline while waiting on documents. Spanish inheritance tax (ISD) is generally due within six months of death. The time spent gathering the death certificate, apostille and translation counts against that clock — so start early.
The second is forgetting the apostille on a foreign death certificate, which alone can cost weeks of back-and-forth.
The third is assuming a joint account or a foreign will bypasses the process. Neither does. The deceased's share of a Spanish joint account is frozen, and Spanish assets still require the Spanish certificate.
How Sucesio Complements Your Will and Spares Your Family This Scramble
Sucesio does not — and cannot — issue the Certificate of Last Wills. That is an official act of the Spanish Ministry of Justice, and no private service replaces it. What Sucesio does is remove the part that causes families the most distress: not knowing.
The certificate tells your heirs whether a will exists. It does not tell them where your bank accounts are, which notary you used, what digital assets you hold, or where to find the passwords and the personal messages you wanted them to have. Sucesio is the secure vault that holds exactly that: the identity of your notary, an inventory of your assets, your access details, and your words to the people you love.
In short, Sucesio complements your will — it never replaces it. It means that when your family receives this certificate, they already know what they are looking for, instead of piecing it together in grief. So your loved ones don't search — they find.
FAQ
How long does it take to get the Certificate of Last Wills? You must wait 15 business days after the date of death before applying. Once the application is filed, issuance is usually quick — often a few business days — though postal and translation steps can add time for those abroad.
Can I request it from outside Spain? Yes. You can apply by post, online with a Spanish digital certificate, or — most commonly for expats — through a Spanish lawyer or gestor acting under a power of attorney.
Do I need a NIE number to request it? For the certificate request itself, the key requirement is the properly legalised death certificate. However, to actually inherit Spanish assets, heirs will need a NIE, so it is wise to arrange one early.
What if my relative never made a Spanish will? The certificate will show no Spanish will, and the estate proceeds as an intestate succession through a declaración de herederos before a notary, which establishes the legal heirs.
Is the certificate the same as the will itself? No. The certificate only confirms whether a will exists and which notary holds it. To read the will, you request a certified copy (copia autorizada) from that notary.
This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Procedures, fees and deadlines change and vary by region — verify current details with Spain's Ministry of Justice and consult a qualified notary or lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction before acting.