Spanish Will UK Resident - No UK Will

Trusts Discussion
1

I am acting in an estate where there is a valid Spanish Will, no English Will. No Spanish Assets only Assets in England. No English Will has been found.

Client never changed her domicile and died in England. All assets are in England now.

Spanish will states that ‘it is restricted only to assets in Spain and those assets situated in other countries shall be governed by the dispositions she has made in their respect or she may make in the future’

The Will also states that…

‘according to Regulation EU No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the council of 4th July on jurisdiction … insofar as this is applicable she chooses as the law to govern her succession English Law’

Is the estate distributed in accordance with UK intestacy rules and if so, who takes out the grant and do we have to prove the Spanish Will? There are no executors named in the Spanish Will as I can see (or has been translated).

Thanks in advance
Lisa

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2

I believe the answer here is her estate passes in accordance with UK intestacy rules, but that is not because of the Spanish will. I suspect the choice of English law in the Spanish will would be void as it does not apply to her ‘succession as a whole’ because the will only applies to her assets in Spain.

I do not see any reason you would need to apply for probate in England of the Spanish will as the will does not deal with the English assets and the need to administer English assets is the usual jurisdiction for a grant. However, the court does have jurisdiction in special circumstances, which do not appear to exist here, to make a grant despite the grant not being needed to administer English assets.

Regarding who is entitled to take out the grant, this will be governed by NCPR 22.

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Thank you for you response, much appreciated

4

Legal Beagle is correct.

The Spanish Will is clearly redundant if it is limited to Spanish assets and there are none. However, it should still be disclosed to the Probate Registry, who must be made aware of all valid testamentary dispositions (even if redundant).

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