Have a look at this article on Spanish tax obligations and, if you are confused or need further help then feel free to contact me at any time.

Carolina Just Miro

For this reason, the Town Hall in Jávea has decided not to send out Council Tax demands for 2012.  The Major of the Town Hall in Jávea is waiting for the Cadastral Office to send the new valuations, which will have to be applied in order to calculate the new Council Tax in Javea. These new values will reduce the amount to be paid as Council Tax.

This information is important as your Council Tax will be reduced but also you will be able to ask for a refund between the difference between the amount paid now and the amount paid over the last four years.

If you want to know more about this and how you can claim back any excess payments, then do feel free to contact me…

Carolina Just Miro

Furthermore, the buyer, by law, is obliged to retain (and pay to the Tax Office) 3% of the selling price on the day of completion and this percentage is then paid through the Spanish Tax Form number 211.

Once this 3% is paid, you (as the seller) have three months to submit the Spanish Tax Form number 210. On this form, you declare your gains (if any) or you can ask for the 3% back.

With regard to Capital Gains Tax in Spain on properties – you may wish to have a look at this summary of Spanish Capital Gains Tax on the sale of buildings (in English).

Of course, if all of this is a bit confusing then do feel free to contact me!

Carolina Just Miro

The simple answer to this enquiry is: NO.

A lawyer in Spain local to where you live can do all the necessary work for you to ensure that you receive your inheritance.  So, you do not need to look for a Spanish lawyer located near where the deceased died.  That is unnecessary – your own local lawyer can undertake all the work required.

If you want to know more about inheritance law in Spain or to make a Spanish Will then please do feel free to contact me…

Carolina Just Miro – Gandia Lawyers

However, all is not lost!

Spain has a system for dealing with mental incapacity in Spain (just as there is in the UK).  This system is effective and provides for an Executor to be appointed to look after the affairs of the person with mental incapacity.

If someone is mentally incapable then a court must be approached and the person concerned checked.  If they are proved to be mentally incapable then the court will formally declare this and appoint an Executor who will be under a very strict duty of care in looking after and disposing of the assets of the mentally ill person.

Indeed, the Executor appointed has to inform the court annually of exactly the state of the mentally ill person’s assets.

If you are facing the problem of a close friend or relative who is mentally incapable in Spain (or likely to be) then please feel free to contact me for more advice on what to do…

Carolina Just Miro – Gandia Lawyers

Amazingly, some of the non-paying owners of the apartments ignore repeated requests to pay their community fees with some thinking that they are safe to do so because they live permanently in another country.  This is a mistake!

In fact, if you have an apartment in Spain and have neighbours in your Spanish apartment block who are not paying their community fees – then you can do something about this.  Certainly, you do not need to take legal action in another country.

If a flat owner in a Spanish apartment block owes money to the Community of Property Owners the you should make sure that all the relevant information is entered into the Community of Property Owner’s book (the debtors name and surname, the number of the flat he/she owns, the fees which have not been paid and the decision of the Community to take legal action to recover the unpaid fees).

Legal action can then be started.  This could result in a court order for the non-fee paying owner’s flat being sold by public auction, with any debts to be paid (including the community fees) from the proceeds of the sale.

This procedure is effective and is taken by thousands of communities all over Spain – when flat owners refuse to pay their community charges.

If you have this problem or wish to know more then please contact me!

Carolina Just Miro – Gandia Lawyers

If someone in your block of apartments in Spain refuses to pay their community charge then you can take action

Certainly, you are not obliged by Spanish Law to appoint an Executor.

It may sound a good idea to have an Executor for your Spanish Will but you need to think about one particular situation that many people do not think about when making their Will – the consequences of which I often have to face.  One of these is that, over time, the Executor that you have appointed may change and become someone inappropriate – to act as an Executor.

Let me give you an example:

A very good friend of mine died some months ago and recently his son visited me looking for advice on a very specific matter. After looking through all the papers, he found his father´s Spanish Will and he saw that his father had appointed, as an Executor, a lawyer that his son knew his father had not liked for years. The son was very concerned about this point, as he did not want this lawyer to be the Executor.

I said to him that, unfortunately, this is a very common issue. People make a Will and then they forget all about it!

In fact, most people never bother to review their Wills – when this is something everyone should do from time to time.  In my friend´s case, he made his Will 15 years ago and he had never bothered to look at it again.  If he had done so then, without doubt, he would have changed the Executor he had appointed, so many years beforehand.

The moral of this matter is very simple.  Every so often, check your Will and change it – as circumstances and relationships change.  Otherwise, you could leave your family in a mess or having to deal with someone inappropriate!

Carolina Just Miro – Gandia Lawyers

Under Spanish inheritance laws, a certain proportion of a Testator’s estate must be left to their surviving wife/husband and their children. However, foreigners can leave their Spanish property and assets to anyone of their choice.

If you have any property in Spain, it is strongly advisable that you make a Spanish Will as this action will speed up the legal process of inheritance.

I strongly recommend making a will in Spain (even if you already have a Will in your home country) because:

1. If you die in Spain with only a Will made abroad then the Spanish authorities will require the heirs to prepare an authorised translation of the non-Spanish Will. This will require an “apostille” (an official stamp verifying the signature of the judge) on the original document all of which involve work, costs and time that could be easily avoided through making a Spanish Will.

2. The time limit for making an inheritance tax declaration in Spain is 6 months from the date of death of the deceased. If you are waiting for probate to be completed from the home country of the deceased and then have to obtain a translation and the “apostille” before taking it to Spain, you can easily overrun this inheritance tax time limit and be subject to fines.

3. A Spanish Will allows you, to a certain degree, to regulate the distribution of your assets.

4. You can also make inheritance tax savings by making the right kind of Will in Spain.

Warning: any information or advice contained within www.gandialawyers.com is for general guidance only. Specific legal advice should always be sought before taking any action and Carolina Just Miró and the publishers of www.gandialawyers.com cannot be held liable for any action taken in reliance upon the advice and guidance provided herewith.

Property for sale Valencia - beautiful pool area

Of course, most Spanish conveyancing lawyers do not visit the properties that their clients want to buy.  That is unusual and not really considered a part of their duty.

However, over the years, I have increasingly made it a habit to visit the Spanish properties that my clients wish to buy.  This is because sometimes the state of a property does not match that on the Title Deed registered at the Spanish Land Registry.  Typically, this could occur if a house has been extended without the Spanish Land Registry having been informed about the extent of the works done and the alterations made (which may have been performed illegally).

Of course, your Spanish conveyancing lawyer will not know if the Title Deed to the house you want to buy is correct with regard to its Land Registry description unless he has either seen the property concerned or been given a very detailed (and accurate) description of the property.

So, if you are interested in buying a house in Spain then always provide your lawyer with a clear and comprehensive description of the property – how many floors and rooms, whether it has out buildings, a swimming pool etc.  It is also a good idea to give your Spanish lawyer some photographs.

Obviously, if you are not sure that you can provide a good and detailed description then it is a good idea to ask your Spanish conveyancing lawyer to visit your intended property.  This was your lawyer can check the reality of the property against what is described in the Title Deeds.

Incidentally, I am prompted to write this as recently a client of mine wanted to buy an old town house in a village close by to Gandia called Rótova. On the Spanish Land Registry information, the property my client wanted to buy as shown as a single property. However, when I visited the property to check it against the Title Deeds I found that the owner had divided the property into two floors (using an external staircase) as though it was a block of apartments. This was not apparent on the Spanish Title Deeds and it turned out that the work had been done illegally.

So beware when buying Spanish property to make sure that your Spanish conveyancing lawyer is properly briefed about the actual reality of the property itself.  A ‘clean’ Title Deed is one thing but it is quite another to make sure that the reality of a property tallies with the Title Deed at the Spanish Land Registry!

Some months ago a client contacted me saying that he had received a letter from the Spanish Tax Office (Agencia Tributaria) saying that he owns a property in Spain but has never submitted a Spanish Tax Return either as a Spanish Tax Resident or as someone who is Non Tax Resident.

In effect, the letter (Comunicación) was a warning from the Spanish tax office to submit a Spanish tax return, if he had not done so already – before the tax office checks!

In fact, in just one day last week, I received three calls from clients living in different provinces all saying that they had received the same type of letter from the Spanish tax office.  Clearly, all were panicking!

Well, if you receive a Comunicación from the Agencia Tributaria then do not panic – just go and see your Spanish lawyer who will help you provide the right information!