Registration of Spanish wills

When a client or loved one who has lived in Spain dies without giving information or instructions about their affairs, it’s important to find out whether they made a Spanish will.

You may find a will or copy of a will among the papers of the deceased at home but what if you don’t find anything?

Thankfully, Spain has a system for the registration of wills. Wills can be registered with the General Registry of Last Wills (Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad) either by the notary drafting the will or by testators themselves in the case of holographic wills (see page on Types of Spanish wills).

This certificate from the General Registry of Last Wills is called a Certificado de Actos de Última Voluntad and will look something like this:

In the example shown above, the words “NO OTORGÓ TESTAMENTO” mean that no will has been registered at the Registry.

If the certificate shows that a will has been registered, it will also indicate the details of the notary who drafted the will and you can then contact the notary’s office to obtain a copy.

Final comments

It’s an important part of the probate process to obtain the Certificate of Last Will because the process of distributing the estate cannot begin without this document. For a certified translation of this document, Click on the Request a Quote button.

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