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My husband and I recently bought a property in Spain. I was unable to travel with him to Spain to sign the papers, so as it appears now, his name appears as the buyer with me listed as his wife. He's assured me that this gives me legal 50% ownership, as this is the law in Spain. Is this true? Are there any complication in me being listed as only his wife? Rather than written in specificially as a joint owner?
Dear kvLeiva,
If you are British citizens and have established the usual marriage regime ruling in the UK, that is separate estates, the property belongs 100 % to your husband, who has purchased it. In case of divorce it would be considered a private asset.
In Spain, the marriage regime by default is joint estates; this may have led to confusion.
Regards,
Hi Patricia. Thank you for your response. We're both Swedish citizens. Would we then fall under the Spanish joint estate ruling? My name and NIE are listed in the escritura as his spouse and we understood that according to Spanish law, this indicates that we're joint owners. Thank you in advance for your help.
Hello kvleiva,
You will find full information about how to consider ownership of assets bought while married for Swedish citizens here.
In Sweden, the regime by default is the deferred community of property system. Therefore, it is similar to the joint property system in Spain, so the house you have bought is owned by you two even if ownership is only registered in your husband´s name.
Regards,