After a death in Spain there is a cascade of procedures nobody warns you about: three certificates that unlock everything, a widow's pension with a deadline that costs money, the deceased's car, bank and utilities, and an inheritance-tax clock that runs out in six months. We organise it, request it and file it — step by step, with stamped proof. The notarial deed belongs to a notary; everything around it is exactly our job.
Tell the guide where you are — it just happened, the first weeks, the tax clock, an heir living abroad — and it lays out each step with its deadline and documents. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser. (Tool in Spanish.)
Every Spanish inheritance starts with the same three papers. The death certificate (Civil Registry — free, and worth ordering several literal copies plus the multilingual version if anything points abroad). Fifteen working days after the death, the last-wills certificate (Ministry of Justice, form 790-006, €3.86 fee) tells you whether there is a will and before which notary — without it, nobody can even say who inherits. And its twin, the life-insurance registry certificate, reveals policies the family often doesn't know exist — unclaimed insurance money is astonishingly common. We request all three online and hand you the set, ready to use.
Two deadlines dominate. The widow's and orphan's pension (INSS): back-payments only reach 3 months from filing, so every month of delay is a month lost forever — and if the deceased worked in more than one country, the international coordination is our pensions speciality. And the inheritance tax: 6 months from the death, extendable if you ask in time. In the Valencian Community, spouses, children and parents enjoy a 99% rebate — most families here pay almost nothing, but the return must still be filed for banks and the Land Registry to release anything. We prepare the file so the deadline never catches you.
The car (transfer to an heir or deregistration — our DGT service), utilities and direct debits, the town-hall register, bank accounts (the certificate of positions and the freeze that surprises families), subscriptions and phone lines. None of it is difficult; all of it together, in grief, is a mountain. We turn it into a checklist and work through it with power of attorney where needed — always with stamped proof.
On the Costa Blanca the hardest inheritances are international: a resident passes away and the heirs live in the UK, Germany, Ukraine or Canada. Every foreign heir needs a NIE just to inherit and pay the tax; documents travel with apostilles and sworn translations; and since EU Regulation 650/2012 the applicable law follows the deceased's habitual residence unless their will chose their national law — a detail that changes everything and that we check first. NIEs, certificates, translations, coordination with the notary and the consulate: that bridge is precisely what we build. The deed itself is signed before a notary — by then, with every paper ready.
Updated daily from official sources (BOE, ministries and public bodies).
Fifteen working days after a death in Spain, two certificates can be requested online: last wills (whether there is a will and before which notary) and the life-insurance registry (revealing policies families often don't know exist — unclaimed insurance money is surprisingly common). Each uses form 790-006 with a €3.86 fee; issuance usually takes 3-10 days.
Spouses, children and parents enjoy a 99% rebate on Valencia's inheritance tax (since May 2023; siblings and nephews get 25% from June 2026). The bill comes to almost nothing — but the return (form 650, before the ATV) must be filed within 6 MONTHS of the death (extension possible if requested in time): without it, neither banks nor the Land Registry release anything.
