You can now choose the applicable inheritance Law!

On the 17th of August 2015 the new European Regulation 659/2012 came into force. So far the applicable Law on inheritance was the national Law of the deceased, as of now the inheritance is governed by the Inheritance Law in the country where the deceased had his/her last usual residence, except for foreign citizens living in Ireland, Denmark and Britain, countries which do not apply the new regulation.
If we are dealing with the case of a citizen of the European Union residing in Mallorca at the time of death, the inheritance is governed by the Spanish Inheritance Law and not as before, according to the law of their country of origin (Germany or the United Kingdom for example).
The new regulation also gives the option to choose the applicable law. The best that a citizen of the European Union who has assets in Spain, can do, is to sign a notarized will and choose the applicable Law. So if a resident in Spain is not interested in the application of the Spanish law, due to the legitimate share for example, he/she can choose to apply his/her national law as it was before.
On the other hand, this Regulation unifies certain documentation, which in case of inheritance, makes it easier to handle, when different countries are involved. A very interesting document, is the European Certificate of Succession, this is a public document certifying the inheritance rights a European citizen has, upon the determination of the law which is applicable to the deceased.

Whether you already had a will made in Spain or in another EU country or not, you may want to review the situation and the applicable law. We are at your