Do we have a claim of ownership

Hello,
My father and mother were both UK residents with property in uk and an apartment in Spain in joint names. My mother died in 2003 and unbeknown to me and my two siblings left a UK will bequeathing some of her possessions and any other property to her children. There was also a spanish will which we believe had us as beneficieries. On her death my father did not declare her UK will and was granted letters of administration to transfer her half of the Spanish property into his name. He paid the inheritance tax and we believe he also had a will with us named as the beneficieries.
We were estranged from my father who died over 2 years ago in Spain,(non resident) 2 days after marrying another person who is now just going through the probate process in the UK. We believe that the Spanish property has been put into her name but my questions are:
1. Could the Spanish property be transferred into her name in spanish law before the english probate process has been completed?
2. Would my mothers uk will apply in that the letter of administration should be revoked thereby entitling us to her 50% of the Spanish property?
3. If so, how can we best proceed?
4. If the Spanish property has been transferred to this woman is there a time limit to contest this?

Thanks

Dear DSC,

The property could have been transferred into your father´s new wife´s name in Spain if there was a Spanish will that indicated it. In response to your second question, those letters of administration used by your father to have your mother´s share transferred in his name could be contested either way, that is, in the event your father had taken possession of the Spanish property according to the Spanish or UK will, you would still be in a position to contest it, via the courts of Justice, in Spain or in the UK. A court case would take place, and it would entail court costs and solicitor's fees.

As per the legal time frame to contest a will, apparently there are different approaches as according to current doctrine, the general timeframe to take personal legal actions is fifteen years. Others -a minority - apply the 4 years legal timeframe established in article 1.031 of the Civil Code, by analogy.

We can offer our legal assistance to take the necessary measures and study the case in detail, and viewing the mentioned wills would be required.

Please feel free to contact me on Patricia at Lawbird.com if you wish to receive further information.

Regards,