Author: AntonioGuillen
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Mistakes made when granting a Spanish will – Part II
About two weeks ago I started a series of posts on the most common mistakes made when granting a Spanish Will. Now is time for another post. In my previous post I made mention to the tax aspects of leaving the property or a share on a property to the surviving spouse. This time I…
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Mistakes made when granting a Spanish will- Part I
As some of the readers of this blog are aware, I am a Spanish lawyer based in Manchester, UK. Most of my clients are British with interests or assets in Spain. I think I have lost track of the number of Spanish wills I have drafted in the last 7 years since I came to…
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Spanish Limited companies- New advantages
On the 3rd December 2010, the Spanish Parliament issued a new law that speeds and reduces the costs of setting up a Spanish Limited company. The aforementioned law was a response to the current climate in which the raising unemployment rate has forced many Spaniards to become self-employed. Up until December 2010 the costs for…
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Charities, the EU and Spain- Tax differences
On the 10th February, the European Court of Justice issued an important Judgement in connection to the tax treatment to Charities within the UE in respect of Inheritance Tax. The Judgement is a response to the current variety of regulations within the Union in connection to Inheritance taxes and more particularly to Charities. In this…
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About the “international wills” and other confusing type of wills
The World is getting smaller. There is no doubt about it. In this era of globalisation, we have seen British acquiring properties in other countries such as Spain, France, Italy, you name it. The British affair with sunny places is well known. Programs such as “A place in the sun” are a good example of…
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To let or not to let? A brief summary on the 1st year of the Spanish Express Eviction law
In December 2009, a new law, commonly known as “Express Eviction law” was put into place in Spain. The purpose of this law was to speed the tediously slow eviction procedure in Spain. The law was welcomed with many “hoorays” by residential landlords who were suffering the consequences of a slow eviction procedure. The truth…
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The future of the Spanish property market
A year ago I was asked to write an article for The Manchester Law Society Messenger on the situation of the Spanish property market. In that article, I explained that the situation was pretty grim with property prices due to fall and more building companies and developers to bite the dust. On 17th November, RR de…
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Some hope for Spanish home owners in mortgages arrears
The Court of Appeal in Navarra issued on the 17th December of 2010 a Judgment that is raising hopes and expectations for home owners of Spanish properties that are today in mortgage arrears. Any person entering into a Spanish mortgage responds with all his personal assets for the payment of that debt. This means that,…
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Judge awards compensation to a purchaser of an off plan property
I have read in the Spanish press an interesting article that may bring some hope to those who have purchased a property off plan in Spain and found that the property was not entirely what they were promised. The Judge in charge of Court number 2 in Bilbao has issued a Judgment against a developer…