He was 62, a British expat living in a villa he owned in Spain. His partner was non-EU. To secure her residency, they registered a civil partnership, a ‘pareja de hecho’. For seven years, it worked. Then he had a heart attack on the terrace. He died.
Within weeks, his partner was not only grieving but facing removal. The partnership that gave her residency did not give her inheritance rights. Under local law, his UK-based children from a previous marriage were the heirs to the property. She had no automatic right to their home and her legal basis for staying in Spain evaporated overnight. I sat with the family as they tried to piece this together.
A Partnership is Not a Marriage This story is real. We see versions of it regularly. Couples use a local legal instrument to solve one problem – usually residency – and assume it confers the same rights as marriage. It does not. In many European jurisdictions, a civil partnership carries no automatic succession rights. Without a specific, locally-valid will, the law defaults to bloodlines. The person you built your life with can be left with nothing. Their right to remain in the country, which was tied to you, is now in question.
Your UK Will Does Not Travel This man had a UK will. It was irrelevant for his Spanish property. Cross-border succession is governed by a complex web of treaties and local laws. For assets in an EU country, you can elect for the law of your nationality – in this case, UK law – to apply to your will. But you must make that election formally in a will that is valid in that country. A simple declaration in a Spanish will could have protected his partner. The cost is a few hundred euros. The cost of getting it wrong was the entire value of his share of the property and a protracted, multi-jurisdictional legal battle.
This is not just about Spain. If you own assets abroad, you need advice that understands both systems. Your UK arrangements are not enough. We can talk you through the steps required to protect your family, wherever they are.
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Written by Sean Kiani, Estate Planner at Inheritance Made Simple. Sean writes and reviews the firm's guidance on estate planning, wills, trusts and inheritance tax, and works with families across Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset and Central London. Verify Sean's Society of Will Writers membership listing.