Our remote-inheritance service was built for a simple reason: most foreign heirs of Spanish estates cannot afford to take three weeks off work to chase notaries, registries and town halls in person. We have signed Spanish deeds of acceptance of inheritance for Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Mallorca, Galicia and the Canary Islands without the heir ever leaving London, New York, Dublin or Sydney. Below is how the service works in practice.
A common myth is that, because the inherited property is in Toledo or Mallorca, you must hire a lawyer based in that city. Spanish notarial law does not require this. The Deed of Acceptance of Inheritance (*Escritura de Aceptación de Herencia*) can be signed before any notary anywhere in Spain, and the resulting file can be filed electronically at the relevant Land Registry, regardless of province.
We sign hundreds of inheritance deeds each year in our notaries of trust in Torrevieja, Elche and Moraira, then file them electronically at Land Registries in Madrid, Toledo, Cuenca, Sevilla, Málaga, Palma, A Coruña and Las Palmas. The Cadastre and the Land Registry are fully interconnected nationally; physical proximity offers no advantage.
The only situations where local representation matters are: judicial litigation (contested heirs) and municipal-level disputes (Plusvalía valuation challenges before a specific Town Hall). For routine non-contentious inheritance, working with a single experienced cross-border firm based on the Costa Blanca is faster, cheaper, and removes the language barrier.
Step 1 — We draft a bilingual Power of Attorney (English/Spanish, or your home language/Spanish) tailored to your specific inheritance file. It authorises us to: obtain certificates, apply for your NIE, sign the deed of acceptance, pay inheritance tax, register the property, and unblock bank accounts.
Step 2 — You sign it before a notary in the UK (Notary Public), US (notary public + County Clerk certification), Ireland, Australia, etc. Cost typically £50–£200 / $50–$200.
Step 3 — The signed POA is apostilled under the 1961 Hague Convention by the FCDO (UK), Secretary of State (US), DFA (Ireland) or DFAT (Australia). Cost £30–£100. Turnaround 1–10 days depending on country.
Step 4 — You courier the apostilled original to our Torrevieja office (DHL or FedEx, 2–4 days from UK/EU, 4–7 days from US/Australia).
Step 5 — We run the entire Spanish file in your name. You receive PDF copies of every milestone document.
Step 6 — On completion, we send you the registered title deed by courier and remit any net cash proceeds to your foreign bank account via SWIFT.
Bufete Padilla routinely handles remote inheritance files involving assets in:
We coordinate sworn translations, apostille-stamped foreign documents, Spanish-side notarial signing and Land Registry filing for every one of these provinces.
Correct. With a properly drafted and apostilled Power of Attorney, every step of the Spanish probate — including signing the notarial deed of acceptance — is done by us on your behalf. Most of our UK, US and Australian heir clients never set foot in Spain.
Yes. The client always retains the right to revoke any Spanish lawyer's mandate. We will request the file, audit what has been done, and continue from where the previous lawyer left off. There is no requirement to start again.
Yes. Catalan civil law applies its own rules on wills, forced heirship and matrimonial property (Llibre IV del Codi Civil de Catalunya). We handle Catalan files with co-counsel where the matter is contentious or genuinely complex; for ordinary acceptances we manage directly.
DHL Express, FedEx International Priority and UPS Worldwide Express all offer tracked, signed delivery to our Torrevieja office within 2–7 days depending on origin. We provide our official street address and reference number; we never accept documents at a PO box.