In principle, the surviving spouse has a rather weaker position under common Spanish law. In addition to descendants and parents of the deceased, he or she only has a right of use to the estate. In addition to descendants, the right of use amounts to one third of the entire estate, and in addition to the parents of the deceased, half of the estate (Art. 834, 837 CC). The heirs can then pay the spouse, either in the form of a lifelong cash pension, a share of the proceeds from the sale of the estate or a lump sum.
However, the surviving spouse is then the sole heir alongside relatives of the deceased other than the children or parents.
If the testator has excluded the surviving spouse from the succession by disposition, the spouse has a right of emergency inheritance, Art. 807 No. 3 CC.
Example: Spouses M and F live in Spain under the statutory matrimonial property regime. They have two children together. M dies without having drawn up a will.
F has no inheritance rights comparable to those in Germany. Instead, F only has a right of use to one third of the estate, while the joint children inherit the estate. However, it should be noted that the matrimonial property regime also influences what the surviving spouse receives.
Influence of the matrimonial property regime
In Spain, the statutory matrimonial property regime of community of accrued gains applies (Art. 1316 CC - „sociedad degananciales“). In this matrimonial property regime, the spouses' assets are divided into two separate estates. On the one hand, the assets of the community of acquired property („bienes comunes“) and own assets („bienes privativos“). The property acquired jointly during the marriage is owned by the spouses as joint property; this means that they can only dispose of it jointly (Art. 1375 CC). The community of accrued gains is dissolved upon the death of a spouse. Half of the remaining profit from the total estate is included in the deceased's estate after all debts have been settled. The personal property is included in the estate as a whole. The estate therefore only consists of half of the assets of the community of property and the deceased's personal property. The surviving spouse therefore receives his/her share from the community of property in advance. If you have any further questions, please contact your specialist inheritance lawyer in Düsseldorf and Krefeld, Dr Michael Gottschalk.