Processing an inheritance in five steps
One of the main issues that many clients raise in notarial offices is the need to find a solution to a matter as important as the incapacity of a family member, or that which the interested party themselves may suffer in the future, due to the patrimonial and personal consequences involved.
I am writing this small guide to present a brief summary of the steps to be taken to successfully process an inheritance by oneself or through a notary. I know that the death of a relative is a difficult time and I hope to clarify the procedures and formalities to be carried out and, in this way, make this hard process easier for you.
5 steps to process an inheritance by yourself with or without a will
Among the steps to carry out an inheritance, there are some that allow you to process an inheritance yourself, obtaining documentation that will be necessary for the signing of the inheritance, such as obtaining the documentation to open a will, obtaining a copy of it. Below we explain all the steps to follow on how to manage an inheritance:
First step: The documentation to process an inheritance and the necessary documentation to open a will
It is necessary to request 3 documents to start processing an inheritance: the death certificate, the certificate from the Register of Last Wills, and the life insurance certificate. For those wondering how to process the inheritance themselves, you can bring these documents to the notary or we can help you obtain them if you wish us to manage it for you.
- The most common thing is that the funeral services include at least obtaining the death certificate. The death certificate is obtained from the Civil Registry, if it is not provided by the funeral home.
- The certificate of Last Wills and the insurance certificate can be obtained by requesting them from the notary's office itself or by contacting the relevant registries.
- To obtain the death certificate and the certificate from the Register of Last Wills, you must wait 15 days from the date of death.
Second step: Steps to Inherit
Once the certificate of Last Wills is obtained, it is known whether the deceased person made a will or not and, if there is a will, which is the latest one. Here, two different options appear to follow the steps to inherit.
Option 1: Processing an inheritance without a will
It will be necessary to go to a notary for declaration of heirs and open a file.
Very briefly, we can highlight that it is a file that can only be done at a notary, that it is enough for one of the heirs to go to start it by signing with the notary, that once the file is started you have to wait 20 working days (which in practice are about 30 calendar days) and that the notary closes the procedure once these days have passed.
It is noteworthy that on the day of signing the start of the deed at the notary, two witnesses must also accompany the heir, who will also sign and who cannot be interested parties in the inheritance, but they could be relatives.
The deeds of declaration of heirs abintestato can be summarised by saying that they are a kind of substitute for the will and that they establish who the heirs of the deceased are in the order indicated by law. In Catalonia, the heirs would be:
- the children and descendants (if they coexist with the deceased's spouse, the spouse will have the right to choose between the usufruct of the entire inheritance or a quarter of the full ownership of the deceased's assets plus the usufruct of the main residence);
- in their absence, the surviving spouse or civil partner;
- failing that, parents and ascendants;
- if all the above are missing, collateral relatives up to the fourth degree;
- and, lastly, the Generalitat of Catalonia.
And, what must be done after the declaration of heirs?
After this deed, the inheritance deed must also be made to process the inheritance. Therefore, the procedures we indicate later must also be carried out, once the deed of declaration of intestate heirs has been completed.
Option 2: Processing an inheritance with a will
If there is a will, it will be necessary to request an authenticated copy of it, which can be requested from the notary's office. Therefore, in inheritance procedures with a will, at this point and even if you wish to handle the inheritance yourself, you should go to Notaries specialising in inheritances and wills.
Third step: the deed of acceptance and distribution of inherited assets
Once the second step is completed, whether in the case of the first or second possibility, it will be necessary to make a deed of acceptance and distribution of inheritance. Briefly, I list its characteristics:
- It must be done at a notary's office.
- The documents proving ownership of the various assets are required. These are:
- For real estate: property deeds or simple notes from the Registry. It is not necessary to include the simple notes in the deed, but it is highly recommended because this way the notary can guarantee that there are no problems with the inheritance and, especially, that it is not a poisoned inheritance.
- For money, shares in investment funds, pension plans and similar: the balance certificate as of the date of death issued by the bank or entity where they are held.
- For vehicles: the documents proving their ownership. It is not always necessary to include them in the deed, but they must always be settled with the Tax Agency.
- For shares in limited companies: deeds in which they were acquired.
With all these documents, the notary will prepare the deed and provide the fiscal values corresponding to the assets to avoid problems with the Tax Agency and to comply with the will of the testator and the law.
On the day of signing, all the heirs must attend. If someone cannot attend on the day of signing, they may be represented by another through a power of attorney.
If you want to know more, you can also read this article.
Fourth step: the settlement of taxes
The settlement of inheritance taxes at the Tax Office is another of the steps to process an inheritance. The inheritance deed must be submitted to the Tax Office and the corresponding taxes paid. It is very important that this is done within six months following the death because otherwise possible tax benefits are lost. However, within the first five months from the death of the deceased, an extension of six more months can be requested, giving a total period of one year for payment.
It is important to settle inheritance taxes, but this is usually complex, so you can go to a management office or the notary's office itself to handle it.
If you wish to learn more about this essential procedure that we include among the steps to inherit, we also have a post that may help you:
And, once the inheritance tax has been paid, what needs to be done?
Fifth step: the registration of the deed in the Land Registry
The last step in the processing of an inheritance is the registration in the Land Registry.
The deed is submitted to the Land Registry, along with the tax receipt proving the settlement has been made, and thus the property is registered in favour of the heirs.
Processing an inheritance with or without a will and other related questions
Although we already have a FAQ about inheritances, which you can find below, we will try to answer related questions about the steps to inherit that are not resolved.
Frequently asked questions related to processing an inheritance with or without a will:
As we have seen, processing the inheritance yourself is possible during the collection of some of the documentation. But for inheritance procedures with a will, you must go to a Notary to sign the deed of acceptance and allocation of the inheritance. In the case of inheritance procedures without a will, you must also go to a notary to manage the declaration of heirs and, in addition, the deed of acceptance and allocation of the inheritance must also be signed. Therefore, the deed of acceptance must be carried out at a notary's office.
At JLA we offer you our services both to advise you and to process your inheritance, as well as to advise you on tax payments, and if you consider it appropriate, we will take care of gathering much of the documentation necessary for the inheritance.
The way to find out if you are an heir is to request the Certificate of Last Wills. It is a fairly inexpensive procedure that can be obtained by postal mail or through the Electronic Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice. You will need to fill out form 790 and submit both the death certificate and the proof of payment. If you wish, our notary office can request the Certificate of Last Wills on your behalf.
The only essential document to process an inheritance is the death certificate of the deceased. The rest of the documents can be obtained from the notary's office, except for the documents that prove ownership of the inherited assets, for which we can advise you on which are necessary according to your specific case.
The Notary does not notify the heirs of a will as the responsibility to find out if such a document exists lies with the heirs themselves through the request for the certificate of last will acts.
However, there are cases in which the Notary may notify certain heirs to compel them to state whether they accept or renounce the inheritance. This will involve a personal notification from the Notary to the heirs and allows the inheritance process to move forward when some heirs are inactive. Nevertheless, this requirement is only made by the Notary if requested by an heir who does wish to accept the inheritance and a notarial procedure called requerimiento in iure is followed.
The inheritance documents that must be submitted at the notary's office consist of the ID cards of the heirs, death certificate, certificate of last wills, the authentic copy of the last valid will, the property titles we mentioned earlier, and the death coverage insurance if applicable. On occasions, it will also be necessary to present the latest IBI or death certificates of heirs.
However, you can be assured that at JLA Notarios – Barcelona inheritance notary, we can obtain many of the documents for you and advise you on those you will need to provide us with. The only essential document in any case is the death certificate of the deceased.
The family book is not an essential document in inheritance procedures with a will. Although in cases of intestate inheritance management it is useful and serves to prove filiation in the declaration of heirs. Even so, if it is not available, it can be replaced by other documents from the Civil Registry.
JLA Notaries, Inheritance Notaries in Barcelona
I hope this guide to processing an inheritance is of some help in these very difficult times. I have tried to simplify it as much as I could. I also hope it has helped to resolve doubts in the cases of those people who wish to process the inheritance themselves, those looking for the necessary documentation to open a will, or those who wanted to know the steps to inherit.
If you need any clarification in this process you can contact us at JLA Notarios Asociados. As you have seen, we are specialists in the processing of inheritances in Barcelona and we can help you. It will be a pleasure to assist you from our notary office in Barcelona.
