Acts: A national certificate of succession does not exist, but the following documents are used to prove inheritance rights:
- Authorized Copy of the Will (testamentary succession);
- Notarial Declaration of Intestate Heirs (intestate succession)
Legal Framework: Civil Code of Spain, Law on Notaries (LN) and Regulation of the General Registry of Last Wills (RLN)
Competent Authority: notaries
Procedure:
-Testamentary succession:
- Obtain a death certificate.
- Request a certificate from the General Registry of Last Wills.
- If a will exists, get the authorized copy from the notary.
-Intestate succession:
- Apply for a notarial declaration of heirs before a competent notary.
- The notary verifies heirs using two witnesses (not direct heirs) and summoning interested parties or publishing in the Spanish Official Gazette.
- Eventually, notarial declaration is issued but can be challenged in court
Nature and function:
Both Authorized Copy of the Will (testamentary succession) and Notarial Declaration of Intestate Heirs (intestate succession) have a declarative nature. Respectively, these authentic instruments are used to prove heirship in testamentary and intestate succession.