It is the notarial document in which, based on what was established by the deceased in a succession deed or by Spanish inheritance law, the heirs, legatees who have direct rights in the inheritance or, if applicable, the executors or administrators of the inheritance are identified, so that such identification may be effective in a third state belonging to the European Union in which the deceased may have patrimonial interests.
This is a merely informative and non-binding estimate. It is calculated based on two criteria: 1) our knowledge of the Notarial Tariff (Royal Decree 1426/1989, of November 17th) and 2) our daily experience in the preparation of this type of notarial document. However, any variation (upward or downward) will be duly justified at the time of issuing the final invoice for the notarial service rendered.
As is well known, the Spanish state is part of the European Union, which is an international organization currently formed by 27 states of the European continent, whose mission is to establish a common framework of relations between its members, thus strengthening their political, social and economic ties, all with respect for democratic principles, the rule of law and the fundamental rights of individuals.
On this basis, it is necessary to point out that one of the fundamental objectives of the European Union is the creation of the so-called common "area of freedom, security and justice", through which the aim is to harmonize regulations among the countries of the union, so that their legal systems are increasingly similar and, likewise, that the official documents of any state can be automatically recognized in the rest of the member states, without the need to undergo long and costly recognition and validation procedures.
Thus, it is within the framework of this process of regulatory harmonization and recognition of the effectiveness of official documents between member states that we can place the so-called European Certificate of Succession, which is intended to become a succession title valid in any state of the European Union, so that if, for example, a person grants a will in Spain, but once he dies, its effects must be deployed in other jurisdictions (as would be the case if, for example, that person owns real estate or bank accounts in Germany), this European Certificate of Succession will ensure that the testamentary disposition established in the will will will have its effects deployed in other jurisdictions, its effects must be deployed in other jurisdictions(as would happen if, for example, that person owns real estate or bank accounts in Germany), by means of this European Certificate of Succession, the testamentary disposition established in that Spanish will can take effect automatically, without the need for the foreign authorities(in our example, the German authorities) to carry out any additional procedure for the recognition of the validity of said document.
Thus, the European Certificate of Succession is intended to streamline the succession in cases where there are points of contact with several jurisdictions, thus contributing to greater legal certainty and ease in the arrangement of the succession of European Union citizens.
The main purpose of the European Certificate of Succession is to identify the heirs, legatees who have direct rights in the estate or, if applicable, the executors or administrators of the estate, so that, by means of this document, it will be clearly established who are, for example, the heirs, legatees or executors of an estate designated in a will or who, if applicable, have accepted the inheritance.
With this, such persons will be able to go to jurisdictions other than the Spanish one (always within the European Union) and invoke their status of heir, legatee or administrator of the estate, for the purpose of being awarded the corresponding assets(such as a house located in another country, or a bank deposit in a foreign entity) or to proceed to their assignment.
Thus, in short, the certificate may be used, in particular, as proof of one or more of the following elements:
In accordance with the regulations governing the European Certificate of Succession, as mentioned above, its main feature is that it will be effective in all Member States without the need for any special procedure, so that by presenting the document to the appropriate person(a bank, a foreign notary, a foreign land registry, etc.) it will be directly effective and will have the effects derived from it, without the need to follow any additional procedure of recognition or validation in that foreign jurisdiction, without the need to follow any additional procedure of recognition or validation in that foreign jurisdiction. ) the document will be directly effective and will have the effects derived from it, without the need to follow any additional procedure of recognition or validation in that foreign jurisdiction.
On this basis, the issuance of the certificate carries with it the presumption that the person who appears on it as heir, legatee or administrator of the estate has the quality of such, in accordance with the law applicable to the succession, so that when this document is presented to the competent authority or any natural or legal person, they must validate it, consider that person as heir, legatee or administrator of the estate and, therefore, act accordingly and deliver to him all the property, rights, capital or assets that correspond to him according to the dispositions of the deceased.
Likewise, the certificate will be a valid title for the registration of the inheritance acquisition in the competent registry of a Member State, so that, for example, it will allow the registration of the transfer of a real estate property in the Land Registry of that State in favor of the heir or legatee stated in the certificate.
Of course, this is a voluntary act on the part of the interested parties, that is, the heirs, legatees or administrators of the estate, so it will be up to them to decide whether in the specific case they need this certificate to be effective in other countries of the Union or not, since if they consider it more appropriate, they can choose to transfer the internal documents of each state in which the succession is ordered (such as a will) and try to make them take effect in that foreign jurisdiction.
However, as mentioned above, this option has the disadvantage that the presentation of this foreign document will most probably entail the need to follow a process of recognition and validation in that other state, which may entail an effort of time and money that can be easily avoided with the European Certificate of Succession, since, as mentioned above, this is a document of direct effectiveness that allows its effects to be deployed in any country of the European Union without any additional procedure.
The answer to this question can only be negative, so that the certificate will not replace the internal documents used in the Member States for similar purposes in inheritance matters, so that if, for example, it is issued to be effective in another country of the Union, the original Spanish will remains valid and effective within our State.
In any case, however, the issuance of the European Certificate of Succession will also have effects within the issuing State, if the persons concerned so wish.
According to the current regulations, the European Certificate of Succession can only be issued in Spain by the Notary who declares the succession (or any of its elements) of the deceased in the Spanish state, so if, for example, a subject granted his will in a Notary Office in Barcelona, or the corresponding acceptance of inheritance, we will have to go to that specific Notary for the purpose of having him, and only him, issue the European Certificate of Succession.
This is so since the law obliges this Notary Public to leave a record in the matrix of said deed, so that the issuance of the certificate is duly recorded in the document or act that has given rise to its valid issuance.
The application for the certificate shall be made using a standard form(HERE) approved by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1329/2014 of 9 December 2014 establishing the forms referred to in EU Regulation No. 650/2012 to be submitted to the competent Notary for issuance.
Firstly, as regards the persons entitled to file the application, logically only those who have a legitimate interest in the matter, i.e. a person who has been appointed as heir, legatee or administrator of the estate in question, may do so.
Having said this, in relation to the information to be contained in the request, it must necessarily detail the following information:
Upon receipt of the request, the Notary must examine the same and verify all the declarations and documents provided, as well as their veracity based on the information submitted and the information in his possession. For this purpose, he may even hear any interested person, he may also publish notices so that any person affected in this succession may allege what is convenient to his right or, likewise, request from foreign authorities (such as civil, last wills or property registries) the issuance of documents or certificates for the purpose of verifying the veracity of the statements in the request.
Once all the information has been verified, if it is correct, the Notary will proceed to issue the European Certificate of Succession, in the form of a deed, and also on the basis of a form pre-established by the applicable regulations.
On the other hand, it shall refuse to issue the certificate if the matters to be certified are the subject of an appeal if the certificate is not in conformity with a decision affecting the same.
In accordance with current regulations, the certificate must necessarily contain the following information:
The issuing authority, in this case, the Notary, will keep the original of the certificate, which takes the form of a deed, and will deliver to the interested parties a certified true copy of the document so that it may have full legal effect in the foreign jurisdiction of the European Union in which the deceased has property interests that need to be managed.
It is also necessary to indicate that the Notary Public who authorizes this act must record the identity of all persons to whom a certified copy is delivered and that, likewise, said certified copy shall have a limited validity of six months.
Of course, if the European Certificate of Succession contains any kind of material error, the Notary who authorizes it can rectify the certificate, either ex officio or at the request of a party.
Likewise, if a posteriori interested third parties appear to provide information in this sense, the authorizing Notary Public may also modify or cancel the certificate, in the event that it contains extremes that do not conform to reality.
In any case, if a rectification, modification or annulment occurs, the authorizing Notary must immediately notify the interested persons to whom an authentic copy was delivered in the past.
The cost of this procedure, in the form of a notarial fee, must be paid by the interested parties who have requested the services of the Notary Public for the purpose of issuing the corresponding certificate.
It is enough that the person who wishes to make a will goes to the notary's office with his/her ID card. In case the person is a foreigner, he/she must present his/her original and valid passport to the notary. In addition, if he/she has one, it is advisable to present the NIE together with the mentioned passport.
It will be essential to provide, in its case, the authentic copy of the deed of acceptance of inheritance granted before a notary. The correct thing to do is to go directly to the same notary's office where the inheritance was processed, so that it is the same notary, on the basis of said documentation, who issues the European certificate of inheritance by means of the granting of the corresponding deed.
