The Directorate General for Legal Certainty and Public Faith analyses the validity of an international inheritance declaration deed for registration in the Land Registry. The dispute arises from a registrar's refusal to register the estate of a Belgian citizen due to the failure to determine the applicable law and the absence of an apostilled death certificate. The ruling emphasises the obligation of notaries to verify the presence of cross-border elements and to determine the applicable law in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 (Art. 2 and Recitals 21, 22, and 29).
For heirs of foreign nationals (in this case, Belgian), the registration of real estate in Spain requires more rigorous technical documentation, including apostilled and translated death certificates. Notaries must ensure that the deed explicitly identifies the law applicable to the succession to avoid registration suspensions. There is a risk of negative classification and registration delays if the requirements for determining law and jurisdiction required by the European Regulation (Art. 2) are not met.
The tax team reviews your specific situation.