Knowledge Hub
Plain-English guides to cross-border inheritance
Clear answers to the questions families actually ask — what to do, who inherits, what it costs. Information, not legal advice.
Start here — the five ideas everything else builds on
Cross-border · Brussels IV
Which country’s law decides who inherits — and can I choose my own?
How the EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) decides the governing law, and how a choice-of-law clause works — and what it can’t do.
Cross-border · Who inherits
Forced inheritance across Portugal, Spain, Italy & France
The reserved shares that protect close family in each of the four countries — and how they differ.
Cross-border succession · The two questions
Who inherits — and how it transfers: the two questions every foreign estate asks
Every estate with foreign assets turns on two separate questions: which country’s law decides who inherits, and which country’s machinery transfers the asset. A choice-of-law election answers the first; it never moves the second.
Cross-border succession · Habitual residence
Habitual residence: the test that decides whose law governs an estate
Under the EU Succession Regulation, one question sets the default for everything: where was the person habitually resident when they died? The Regulation never defines the term — so here is how the test actually works, the borderline lives that make it hard, and why tax residence is the wrong answer to it.
Cross-border succession · Probate & the foreign estate
Do I need probate in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France?
A UK grant of probate does not operate in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France, and there is no resealing — each country establishes the heirs by its own route, and the two legs of the estate can run in parallel. What families actually need, country by country.
Cross-border & essentials
Cross-border · First steps
What to do when someone dies abroad
A calm, practical first-steps guide for families when a death touches a property or estate in another country.
Cross-border · Wills
Does my UK, US or home-country will work abroad?
When a UK or other home-country will is recognised abroad — and the forced-inheritance and Brussels IV traps to know.
Cross-border succession · Brussels IV
The European Certificate of Succession: when it helps — and when it doesn’t
The European Certificate of Succession is a single EU-wide proof of who the heirs are — powerful when an EU-based estate touches two member states, unavailable to UK estates, and never a substitute for the local transfer machinery. When it earns its place, plainly.
Cross-border · Cohabitation
We live together but aren’t married — what happens when one of us dies?
Why an unmarried partner is often not a legal heir across PT/ES/IT/FR — and what a will can do about it.
Cross-border · For families
Can my UK solicitor handle the Portuguese assets?
Why the local leg needs a lawyer registered in the country — and how that works alongside your home solicitor.
Cross-border · Costs
What it costs to settle an inheritance in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy — who pays, and why it costs more
What settling a foreign estate actually costs, why it costs more than a domestic one, and who pays the lawyer.
Cross-border · Tax
Inheritance tax when you inherit in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy — and what you may owe back home
How Portugal, Spain, Italy and France each tax an inheritance — and why your home country (often the UK) may tax it too.
About · How we work
How we work — and who does your work on a Spanish, Portuguese, French or Italian estate
Who handles your matter, and how — one accountable, regulated lawyer, working remote-first for a fixed published fee.
About · Who we act for
Who do we act for — you, or everyone who inherits?
Why a foreign estate needs every heir to act, who instructs us, and how the heirs are brought together by power of attorney.
Cross-border · First steps
How to get the death certificate you need — for an estate in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy
Which death certificate you need, where to get it, and how to make a home-country certificate usable abroad.
Cross-border succession · Brussels IV
Can I choose English law for my Portuguese or Spanish estate? (Brussels IV)
Under the EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV) a British or Irish national can elect the law of their nationality in their will instead of the forced-heirship rules of Portugal, Spain, Italy or France — English law gives full freedom; Irish law protects a spouse’s share. It decides who inherits — not the tax.
Cross-border · Which law applies
Can a non-EU national choose their own law under Brussels IV?
Yes — Brussels IV lets anyone, including US, Canadian, South African and Australian nationals, choose the law of their nationality to govern their estate in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France.
Cross-border · Fees & your money
Why we never hold your money
Our rule on client money is simple and absolute: we never hold it. How you pay, how official costs are paid, and how an inheritance actually reaches you.
Cross-border · How we work
How we use AI — and how you can check us
Plain answers on the role of artificial intelligence at the firm: what it does, what it never does, and the record we keep.
Cross-border succession · Honest timelines
How long does inheritance take in Portugal, Spain, Italy and France?
Honest timelines for a straightforward estate with heirs abroad: Portugal roughly 4–8 months end to end, Spain 5–9, Italy 7–12, France 7–11 — and the single biggest lever is signing the powers of attorney, with apostille, in week one.
Cross-border succession · Bank accounts
The bank has frozen my late parent’s account abroad — what now?
When someone dies, their bank account in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France is frozen automatically — and it opens again on a known, predictable key: proof of the heirs plus proof the tax office has been satisfied. The path, country by country.
Cross-border succession · Signing from abroad
Signing from abroad: powers of attorney, apostilles and video notaries
How a family in the UK or Ireland signs everything a foreign estate needs without travelling: one power of attorney per country, signed at home before a notary, with a paper apostille — and, increasingly, by video. What works, what doesn’t, and the traps we handle for you.
Cross-border succession · Planning ahead
Should I have a separate will for each country?
Owning property in two countries usually means the answer is yes: a will in each country, each dealing only with the assets there, is how well-planned cross-border estates are built. But two wills only work when they are drafted to know about each other — and the classic accident, a new will quietly revoking the foreign one, is entirely avoidable.
Cross-border succession · Selling what you inherited
Selling an inherited property abroad: the tax picture before you list
Before you put an inherited property on the market in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France, know what the sale itself will trigger. The four countries could hardly differ more — Italy generally taxes an inherited home’s resale at nothing, Spain withholds 3% of the price at the notary’s table, France runs two clocks from the date of death, and Portugal sets the rate by your worldwide income. The whole picture, in plain English, as at August 2026.
Cross-border succession · UK inheritance tax
Cross-border estates and UK inheritance tax: the double-tax picture
A UK family inheriting property in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France often faces two tax systems on the same assets. Whether the two bills stack or offset depends on which country is involved: the UK has old but living treaties with France and Italy, and none with Portugal or Spain — where a different, unilateral relief steps in. The map of the four corridors, in plain English.
Portugal
Portugal · Cross-border succession
Do I need probate in Portugal?
How Portuguese succession actually works — there is no probate court; the estate passes through notarial and registry steps.
Portugal · Families
When an heir is under 18
When one of the heirs is a child, Portuguese law adds one step before the family can sign the division: a court's permission. It is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is how the law makes sure a child's share is protected, and it is a well-trodden step. Here is what it involves and how to do it calmly.
Portugal · Cross-border succession
Does a UK will work in Portugal?
A valid UK will is recognised in Portugal, but it must be explained to the notary through a certificate of law — and Brussels IV decides which law governs.
Portugal · Tax
Is there inheritance tax in Portugal?
Portugal abolished inheritance tax in 2004; what remains is stamp duty at 10%, with close family exempt.
Portugal · Who inherits
The surviving spouse and the family home (Portugal)
How the meação, the legítima and the right to remain in the family home (Art. 2103-A) protect a surviving spouse.
Portugal · Process
What is a habilitação de herdeiros?
The notarial deed that formally establishes who the heirs are — the Portuguese equivalent of 'proving' who inherits.
Portugal · Costs
What it really costs to settle an estate in Portugal
Fees vs taxes vs disbursements — what you actually pay, and to whom, when settling a Portuguese estate.
Portugal · Selling
Selling a house you inherited in Portugal
Why you must finish the inheritance before you can sell — and the often-gentle capital-gains position when you do.
Portugal · Tax information
The value you declare when you inherit in Portugal — and the tax you pay when you sell
The value entered in the Portuguese stamp-duty declaration quietly becomes your starting value for capital gains when you later sell — worth checking before it is filed, not after.
Portugal · Cross-border succession
Who inherits under Portuguese law?
Portuguese forced heirship (the legítima) reserves a fixed share of the estate for the closest family — the children and the surviving spouse — regardless of what a will says. Foreign nationals can usually choose their own national law instead under Brussels IV.
Portugal · Planning ahead
Do I need a Portuguese will?
A Portuguese will is not compulsory, but for anyone who owns property in Portugal it is strongly advisable — it speeds up and cheapens the estate and is the natural place to make your Brussels IV choice-of-law election.
Portugal · Who inherits
Who inherits if there is no will in Portugal?
With no valid will, Portuguese law sets a fixed order of heirs — spouse and children first. Here is exactly how an intestate Portuguese estate is shared.
Portugal · For professional advisers
An English solicitor’s guide to the Portuguese estate on your desk
The Portuguese leg of an English estate, for the referring solicitor: why there is no resealing, the habilitação route, the stamp-duty clock, and what we organise together.
Portugal · The undivided estate
Herança indivisa: the Portuguese estate nobody ever divided
In Portugal an estate can sit undivided for years — even decades — with the property still registered in the deceased’s name and every heir’s hands tied. What the herança indivisa actually is, who administers it in the meantime, why it blocks any sale, and how an old, unfinished inheritance is put right today.
Portugal · UK assets · For families and Portuguese advisers
UK assets of someone who lived in Portugal: what the family needs
When someone who made Portugal their home dies leaving a bank account, shares or a property in the UK, the Portuguese habilitação does not open them. The UK side needs its own process, and the English probate registry asks for proof of Portuguese law. Who can apply, what is proven, and how we help from Portugal.
Spain
Spain · Tax information
The value you declare when you inherit in Spain — and the tax you pay when you sell
In Spain the value declared for inheritance tax becomes your starting value for capital gains when you later sell — and in the many regions where close family pay almost no inheritance tax, a realistic value now is usually the cheap option.
Spain · Cross-border succession
Who inherits under Spanish law?
Spanish forced heirship (the legítima) reserves two-thirds of the estate for the children, with a life interest for the surviving spouse — but foreign nationals can usually choose their own national law under Brussels IV, and several regions have very different rules.
Spain · Catalonia · Cross-border succession
Catalan legítima vs Spanish legítima — which applies to my Catalan property?
In Catalonia the legítima is only one-quarter of the estate and is a monetary claim against the heirs, not a share of the assets — fundamentally different from the two-thirds reserved share of Spain’s common Civil Code. Which applies depends on regional citizenship, not where the property is.
Spain · Tax
Is there inheritance tax in Spain?
Yes — Spain has inheritance tax (the Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones), but the amount varies enormously by autonomous community: some regions give close family reductions of up to 99%. Non-residents can apply the relevant region’s rules. We compute, prepare and file the Spanish return as part of the work; tax back home is not ours.
Spain · Planning ahead
Do I need a Spanish will?
You are not legally required to have a Spanish will, but for anyone who owns property in Spain it is strongly advisable — it makes the estate quicker and cheaper to settle and is the natural place to make your Brussels IV choice-of-law election.
Spain · Who inherits
Who inherits if there is no will in Spain?
With no valid will, Spain’s Civil Code sets the order: children first, then parents, then the spouse — but the spouse always keeps a protected life interest. Here is how an intestate Spanish estate is shared.
Spain · Tax
How does Spanish inheritance tax work for non-residents?
Since 2015 non-residents can use the same regional inheritance-tax reductions as residents — which in several popular regions cuts the bill to almost nothing for close family. General information, not tax advice.
Spain · For professional advisers
An English solicitor’s guide to the Spanish estate on your desk
The Spanish leg of an English estate, for the referring solicitor: why there is no resealing, the notarial route that runs instead, the six-month tax clock, and what to send on day one.
Spain · Inheritance tax · Deadlines
The Spanish six-month inheritance-tax clock — and the month-five extension
Spanish inheritance tax must be filed within six months of the death — and for a family abroad the clock is usually already running before anyone realises. The one thing to know early: an extension exists, but it can only be requested in the first five months. What the deadline covers, who files where, and how we run the clock for you.
Spain · Foreign law before the notario
Why the Spanish notario asks for a certificado de ley — and who can give one
When a Spanish succession turns on English law — an English will, an election under Brussels IV, English intestacy — the notario cannot apply what has not been proven. The document that bridges the gap is the certificado de ley: a certificate of the foreign law, given by a lawyer qualified in it. What it must cover, who can sign one, and why it is so often the single item holding up an Anglo-Spanish file while the Spanish tax clock keeps running.
Italy
Italy · Tax information
The value you declare when you inherit in Italy — and the tax you pay when you sell
Italy is the exception: for an inherited building, the low official cadastral value is usually the right value to declare — because a later sale of an inherited building generally escapes Italian capital-gains tax anyway.
Italy · For professional advisers
An English solicitor’s guide to the Italian estate on your desk
The Italian leg of an English estate, for the referring solicitor: publication of the will, the twelve-month clock, the tacit-acceptance trap, and what we organise together.
Italy · Tax
Is there inheritance tax in Italy? The actual numbers
Italy’s inheritance tax is one of Europe’s gentlest for close family — 4% only above €1,000,000 per heir — but Italian real estate carries fixed transfer taxes of 3% of its cadastral value, and nothing is released until the succession declaration is filed. General information, not tax advice.
Italy · Accepting the inheritance
Accepting an Italian inheritance — and when to accept with beneficio d’inventario
In Italy nobody inherits automatically: every heir must accept — and how you accept decides whether the deceased’s debts can ever reach your own pocket. What tacit acceptance is (and how families stumble into it), when acceptance with benefit of inventory is the right call, and the special rule that makes it compulsory for children.
Italy · Foreign law before the notaio
Why the Italian notaio needs English law proven — and who can do it
When an Italian succession turns on English law — an English will, English intestacy, an election under Brussels IV — the notaio cannot act on assertion. English law must be formally attested by someone qualified in it before the Italian machinery will move. What the attestation must cover, who can give it, and why it is usually the item an Anglo-Italian file is quietly waiting for.
Italy · Dying without a will
Who inherits if there is no will in Italy?
When Italian law governs an estate and there is no will, the Civil Code distributes everything by fixed shares — the successione legittima. The spouse is treated generously and also keeps the right to live in the family home; an unmarried partner receives nothing. Who takes what, in plain English.
France
France · Tax information
The value you declare when you inherit in France — and the tax you pay when you sell
France requires the succession to be declared at real market value — and that declared value becomes the base for capital gains when you sell, which is why under-declaring backfires twice.
France · For professional advisers
An English solicitor’s guide to the French estate on your desk
The French leg of an English estate, for the referring solicitor: the notaire-led settlement, the tax that really bites, the 2021 statute in its calmed 2026 state, and what we organise together.
France · Tax
Is there inheritance tax in France? The actual numbers
France fully exempts the surviving spouse — and taxes children on a sliding scale of 5%–45% after a €100,000 allowance each. Distant relatives and friends pay steeply. The actual numbers, worked through. General information, not tax advice.
France · Foreign law before the notaire
Why the French notaire asks for a certificat de coutume — and who can give one
When a French succession turns on English law — an English will, an election under Brussels IV, English intestacy — the notaire cannot apply what has not been proven. The document that bridges the gap is the certificat de coutume — literally a “certificate of custom”; in English practice, a certificate of foreign law. What it must cover, who can sign one, and why it is usually the single item holding up a Franco-British file.
France · Blended families
Second marriages and stepchildren in France: who inherits, and the 60% surprise
France is the hardest of our four countries on blended families: stepchildren are strangers in law, the surviving spouse’s options shrink the moment any child is from another relationship, and anything a will leaves to a stepchild is taxed at 60% above a token allowance. The rules — and the planning that softens them — in plain English.
France · Dying without a will
Who inherits if there is no will in France?
When French law governs an estate and there is no will, the Code civil distributes it by fixed shares — and gives the surviving spouse a choice between usufruct of everything and outright ownership of a quarter. A partner — even a PACS partner — inherits nothing. The rules, in plain English.
France · The 2021 clawback · Status: August 2026
France’s forced-heirship clawback (article 913): where it stands in 2026
In 2021 France armed disinherited children with a clawback over French assets — even where a will validly chooses English law. In 2026 the European Commission moved to close its complaint file after France committed to a narrow reading. What the law says, what actually happened in Brussels and Strasbourg, and the honest advice: the election still works, but the clawback is dormant, not dead.
For solicitors & professional advisers
The professional walkthroughs — one per country, with the case law — and how the certificates work. Instructing us takes two minutes: for advisers.