Difficult Spanish Property inheritence Problem. Father Died 4+ years ago, 2 wills!

[hellojameson]

Hi

I'll try and be brief. My father passed away on October 1st 2009, he had made a UK will and a Spanish will. He was still married to my mom but had left her to live in Fuengirola, Spain with another woman. In his Spanish will he said that he is/was divorced which was not true, and in the will he left his Spanish property to my sister and I.

In the UK will, he left all his assetts to my sister and I but put a claws in the will that his partner in Spain could live in the property for as as long as she desired or until she remarried, with her obligation being that she has to pay for the upkeep of the property and pay all the bills relating to it.

He also had an accont with 20,000 euros in it that stipulated that on death his partner gets it but there is nothing in the spanish will about this and we have only seen a letter relating to this, so I don't know if these assetts are rightly ours?

From the start it has been difficult as this woman means nothing to us and simply had an affair with our father and now has the right to live in this property for as long as she likes. During UK probate she agreed to limit her stay for 5 years but when we were ammending the will she refused to sign this, but claimed, and still does, that she will move out within 5 years.

As my father left no money to pay Spanish inheritence tax, we were told to sit on everything, do nothing for 4 and 1/2 years and then we would not have to pay any Spanish tax. So this is what we are doing.

What I want to know, is where do we stand legally. I know this woman will not leave in October, She said there are no documents relating to the property etc. So firstly, what do we need to change the house deeds into our name? Then, can we simply take the property back as we have a Spanish will that does not mention her at all, and thirdly she is not registered as a resident in Spain and there is nothing legal to prove she is even in the property.

On top of it all we don't have a lot of money to spend on legal bills. Heeeelp!

[Patricia]

Hello Jameson,

The first step to be taken in your case is to have the dwelling ownership transferred to the designated heirs on the Spanish Will following an inheritance process. Once that has been completed, a court case can be started to have the occupant removed. Those are the heirs´ rights, in accordance with Spanish Law.

If you wish to discuss your case further, please feel free to contact us by e-mail.

Regards,