Being a dual qualified Spanish Lawyer and English Solicitor who is used to deal with the administration of Spanish estates of British citizens, the norm for me is to to deal with either Spanish Wills or English Wills. However, I have been recently instructed by the beneficiaries of a Spanish estate where there is an interesting peculiarity. The deceased, Swiss national and Swiss resident, granted a Swiss Will to cover his assets in Spain. He did not have a Spanish Will as many who own property in Spain would have had. Instead he granted a Swiss Will with a local notaire, probably due to his illness and impossibility to travel to Spain in his last days.

If I had been contacted by the deceased (at that time the testator) I would have told him that a Swiss Will, in the same manner than an English Will, is not the most efficient instrument to administer a Spanish estate. I would have suggested that he signed the Will at the Spanish Consulate or even prepare a specific Spanish Will or Codicil witnessed by a Notaire nearby but, of course, this was no longer a possibility. Don´t get me wrong, a Swiss Will, or for that matter, any Foreign Will can be used in Spain but the process is usually more protracted than if the deceased had a simple and straightforward Spanish Will. As the only applicable Will was the aforementioned Swiss Will, I had to do some research to ascertain what documentation needs to be issued in Switzerland to validate a Swiss Will. To my surprise, the Swiss Notaire that prepared the Swiss Will was very helpful and quick in responding (with all the due respect this is not always the case with Spanish notaries) and confirmed what I already presumed: a Swiss Will is not valid unless is confirmed by a certificate of inheritance.

In Switzerland, the certificate of inheritance issued to validate a Swiss will is called an “Erbschein” (in German-speaking cantons) or “certificat d’héritier” (in French-speaking cantons) or “certificato di eredità” (in Italian-speaking cantons).

This official document is issued by the competent Swiss authority (typically the authority at the last domicile of the deceased) and serves to certify who the legal heirs are and what their respective shares of the estate are according to Swiss law and any valid Will. In a way it is similar to the English law Grant of Probate although rather than confirming the names of those entitled to administer an estate (i.e. executors) what it does is to confirm the beneficiaries.

The Notaire confirmed that the documents that I would require to administer the Spanish estate under Swiss law would be an original death certificate, a certified copy of the Swiss Will and the certificate of heirs. All as I expected and which I legalised with the apostille of the Hague Convention and translated into Spanish. Luckily the Swiss Will was very clear and straightforward and the estate will be administered quite easily, but what would have happened if the Will had contained specific clauses of Swiss law that are alien to Spanish law? How would the Spanish Notary understand certain aspects of the Swiss Will that have no resemblance to those in Spain? As the next article will explain, there is one solution and this is the certificate of law but wait! More to follow on this subject on the following article.