Inheriting in Spain from abroad: the minimum documentation to start a European Certificate of Succession

When a family member who had a house or a bank account in Spain passes away and you live in Germany, the Netherlands, France or any other European Union country, the inheritance spans two legal systems at once. And the first thing you need is something that establishes you, without question, as the heir. That is what the European Certificate of Succession (Certificado Sucesorio Europeo) is for.

Let me explain what it is, what minimum paperwork you need to get started, and how the two most common cases I see in my practice are handled. No jargon, step by step.

What the European Certificate of Succession is (and what it is used for)

The European Certificate of Succession — the CSE, known in Spanish as Certificado Sucesorio Europeo — was created by the European Succession Regulation (Regulation (EU) 650/2012). It is a document that establishes your status as heir with effect throughout the European Union. With it, you do not have to prove who you are to each bank, notary or registry in each country: the certificate is valid in all Member States that apply the Regulation.

Two important points. First: the Regulation applies to the estates of persons who died on or after 17 August 2015. Second: two EU countries do not participate — Denmark and Ireland — so different rules apply in those cases.

Which law governs your inheritance?

This is the key question, and many people are surprised by the answer. As a general rule, the inheritance is governed by the law of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at the time of death — not the country where the property is located. So if your father lived in Belgium and owned a flat in Calpe, in principle his estate is governed by Belgian law, even though the property is in Spain.

There is one very important exception: the deceased may have chosen in their will for the law of their nationality to apply — this is what is known as professio iuris. That is why, when there is a will, the first thing I check is whether they made that choice: it changes the entire process completely.

The minimum documentation to get started

This is the practical part — what you really need. To begin processing an inheritance with a CSE I typically ask for this base documentation (foreign documents normally require an apostille and a sworn translation):

1. Death certificate of the deceased.
2. Certificate from the Spanish Registro de Últimas Voluntades (Last Wills Registry) and the equivalent from the country where the deceased resided or of which they were a national, to confirm whether a will exists and which is the most recent one.
3. Certificate from the Registry of Life Insurance Contracts (Registro de Contratos de Seguros de cobertura de fallecimiento).
4. Will (certified copy) or, if there is none, the notarial declaration of heirs.
5. Identity document for each heir and their NIE, which is essential to act in Spain.
6. Title deeds for assets in Spain, an up-to-date nota simple from the Registro de la Propiedad, and the most recent IBI receipt.
7. Bank statements showing balances at the date of death.

Do not worry if you do not have everything: part of my job is precisely to obtain the Spanish certificates and tell you exactly what is missing from your country. Starting with the documentation properly organised saves months.

Two practical cases I see frequently

Both parents pass away leaving a property in Spain

There is a detail here that people do not expect: these are TWO separate estates, not one. First you inherit from one parent, and then from what that parent leaves, you inherit from the other. In each case the applicable law must be determined, the inheritance must be accepted, and Impuesto de Sucesiones (Inheritance Tax) must be settled before the change of ownership of the property can be registered. The order in which the deaths occurred matters, so it is worth analysing carefully from the outset.

Closing a bank account in another country

Imagine that the deceased was resident in Spain and left a will here, but had an account at a bank in another EU country. The CSE acts as your heir’s ‘passport’: you present it to that bank and establish your status without any additional proceedings. If the bank is outside the scope of the Regulation, the Spanish succession document with an apostille and sworn translation is used instead.

The next step

The CSE is not compulsory, but in a cross-border inheritance it is usually the cleanest route. In Spain, a notary can issue it — the notary also assesses which law applies when no express choice was made. And for the property to be transferred to your name in the Registro de la Propiedad, the relevant succession title is required (Art. 14 of the Ley Hipotecaria), as well as having settled the Impuesto de Sucesiones.

If you are in the middle of an inheritance like this and feel lost between documents from two countries, get in touch with me. I gather the Spanish documentation, coordinate with your country and guide you every step of the way until the property or the account is in your name. Without you having to travel.