Hello Emily,

The British and the Spanish system are different in that regard. In fact, in Spain we do not do leasehold transactions, there is no such concept; all purchases are freehold.

When a property is bought by two parties, each of them will have 50% ownership title. If any of them dies, his/her 50% will belong to his/her heirs following an inheritance process. The heirs will be those the Spanish Law determines, unless the deceased had made a will in Spain indicating something different, so British Law would apply ( providing the deceased had Estate in the UK as well ). If the deceased only had assets in Spain and had not made a Will, Spanish Law would apply. Also, if the only owned Estate was located in Spain, and if a Will was done against Spanish Inheritance Law ( where children are legitimate heirs ), the heirs could contest the said Will in their favour.

Regards,