We are going to make, in this entry, a reminder of what it is to process an inheritance.
The first thing that we must point out is the issue of deadlines, having to differentiate between the tax deadlines and civil deadlines.
a.- Tax deadlines.
1.-There is a fiscal period of 6 months after the death of the decedent, to pay the inheritance tax and the tax on the increase in the value of urban land. After this period, it implies paying a surcharge (and late-payment interest if more than one year passes) to the corresponding Tax Agency.
2.- There is the possibility of requesting a postponement of 6 months more than this term (a total of one year) but it must be requested within the term of the first 5 months. In this case, only interest would be paid.
3.- After 4 years and six months from the death of the deceased (or from the last communication on the taxable event to the taxable person), the action of the administration to claim the liquidation of the tax prescribes and no taxes have to be paid.
b.- Deadlines civilians
On the contrary, there is no term to accept the inheritance or to distribute it. The deeds of acceptance and inheritance partition can be carried out at any time, although we must indicate the convenience that they be carried out within the period of six months, established by the tax legislation.
If any heir remains silent about whether he accepts or rejects the inheritance, he can be urged by a notary to state whether he accepts or rejects it.
For more information on inheritance terms and the requirement for the heir to accept or repudiate, you can consult the following entries. Inheritance terms. The interpellation in iure
c.- Previous procedures. Death certificate and last will
The initial documentation, essential, to process any inheritance is made up of the death certificate and the last will.
With the death certificate of the decedent (issued by the Civil Registry and usually delivered by funeral homes), and once fifteen business days have elapsed since the death, the certificate of the Registry of Last Will Acts, where it is stated whether or not the deceased granted a will. This certificate can be requested from the notary itself.
1.- If the deceased granted a will, the testate succession, requesting the authentic copy of the will to the protocol holder notary or to the historical archive, if it is over 25 years old, and once obtained, we start the procedures to grant the deed of inheritance. From the notary you can request a copy from any notary in Spain.
2.- If the deceased has not made a will, the intestate succession, and a certificate of declaration of intestate heirs (which replaces the will); and later the procedures to grant the deed of inheritance are also initiated
d.- The certificate of declaration of heirs.- Documentation
The necessary documentation to process the certificate of declaration of heirs is constituted, as extracted by:
1.- Identity document, Marital status and current address of all the signatories: applicant (it can be any interested party, in the inheritance, but it is not necessary for all of them to sign it) and two witnesses (they cannot be interested in the inheritance).
2.-Death certificate and Last Will Certificate.
3.-Family book of the deceased, and failing that, certificates from the Civil Registry of your marriage, and birth/death of children, if applicable.
4.-.Identity document of the deceased
Once the act is signed, a copy cannot be issued until after 20 business days from the notification to the College of Notaries. This means that normally the act is signed first and after the aforementioned 20 days the inheritance.
e.- The deed of inheritance. Documentation.
For the granting of the deed of inheritance, being satisfied all the heirs in the distribution, the following documentation is required:
1.-Identity Document of all the signatories, civil neighborhood and marital status and current address.
2.- Testament/Certificate of declaration of heirs
3.- scriptures/simple notes, of all real estate, whether urban either rustic owned or co-owned by the deceased. If they are not found from the notary we have procedures to locate them.
4.- Cadastral Data of these real estate (or farms), either through tax receipts (IBI) or by means of a list of the cadastral plots in the case of rural properties. Likewise, if they cannot be found from the notary, we have procedures to locate them from the notary..
5.- bank certificates of the existing balances in all entities where the deceased had accounts (either positive or negative) on the date of death.
Pension plans and pension funds are excluded from this list, since they are taxed by personal income tax.
6.- In case of having vehicles in your name (car, motorcycle, tractor, trailer, boat, plane...), technical card and driving license or equivalent of the vehicle in question.
7.- Tax receipts. When calculating taxes, there may be various reductions in the tax base. In order to carry out the corresponding reductions, the contribution of the complementary documentation for your application will be required, among which we can find:
1.- Supporting documents burial expenses (funeral bills, basically), which will not be necessary in cases where it has already been covered by a mutual such as OCASO, SANTA LUCIA, etc...
2.- Supporting documents last illness expenses
3.- Certificate of census of the deceased, to justify the habitual residence of the deceased.
3.- If any heir has some degree of disability greater than 33%, the corresponding supporting document must be provided.
4.- If there are properties affected by a priority agricultural exploitation, the corresponding supporting document must be provided.
5.- And in general all those that are necessary based on the inheritance.
f.- After the deed of inheritance.- Model 650.
The succession process does not end with the deed of inheritance. Next, and if it had not been done in advance, the inheritance tax will have to be settled in the autonomous community corresponding to the last domicile of the deceased, through model 650 and if urban real estate is awarded in the inheritance, the deed will have to be presented, also, in the corresponding town halls, for the purposes of capital gains tax.
Once the inheritance tax has been paid and the deed for the payment of the capital gains has been presented, the deed can be taken to the Property Registry and/or to the corresponding administrative records (such as traffic...).
These subsequent procedures can be carried out by the interested parties, commissioned by a manager, or in our case, they can be commissioned by the notary itself.
THIS DOCUMENTATION IS GUIDANCE. SINCE NOT ALL INHERITANCES ARE THE SAME, MORE OR LESS DOCUMENTATION MAY BE NEEDED THAN WE HAVE LISTED.
