A parent or spouse passes away in France, and among what they leave behind is a flat on the Costa Brava, an account at a Spanish bank, or half of a house bought twenty years ago near Alicante. The heirs — often split between France and Spain, or settled in France for good — find that the Spanish notary asks for a document nobody in France ever needs explained: the acte de notoriété. And a question that does cause confusion: does it need an apostille, like any other French paper arriving in Spain?
This guide explains exactly what that document is, why its regime differs from that of a French power of attorney or a deed of sale, and what the Spanish notary actually requires to accept the inheritance.
What the acte de notoriété is, and when it's required
The acte de notoriété successoral is the document with which a French notary formally identifies the heirs of a deceased person: who they are, their degree of kinship, and what share of the estate belongs to each. Since the 2007 reform, issuing it is the exclusive competence of the notariat — the town-hall route no longer applies, except for the minor case described below.
France distinguishes two scenarios depending on the value of the estate:
- Below €5,965, with no real property: a statement signed by all the heirs declaring there is no will and no other heirs is enough. It's used, for example, to close bank accounts of modest amounts.
- Above that figure, or as soon as real property is involved: the acte de notoriété itself is required, before a notary. This is almost automatic in any Franco-Spanish succession, because there's almost always a property involved — it's precisely why the estate ends up going through a Spanish notary in the first place.
The cost of the acte de notoriété in France runs around €69 (fixed fee plus tax), on top of which come registration duties and, if a will needs to be located, a search of the Fichier Central des Dispositions de Dernières Volontés.
Why it carries no apostille: Regulation (EU) 650/2012
Here's the point that trips up anyone who has already handled other French documents in Spain. A power of attorney, a deed of sale or a copy of a company's articles of association does need an apostille to be valid before a Spanish notary — Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 exempts civil-status documents from it, but not notarial acts in general.
Successions are different. Since 17 August 2015, Spain and France apply Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, whose Article 74 establishes that documents issued in succession matters under the regulation require no legalisation or any similar formality. Spain's Directorate-General for Legal Certainty and Public Faith (DGSJFP) confirmed this expressly in a ruling of 23 November 2023, concerning the German Erbschein — the same reasoning applies to the French acte de notoriété, because both are the same figure under the same regulation: a notarial declaration of heirs.
In practice, this means the acte de notoriété reaches the Spanish notary with no prior formality in France beyond its own issuance. The same holds for the European Certificate of Succession, if the heirs have chosen to request one — that instrument was designed from the outset to circulate across EU borders without further formalities.
The sworn translation, the step that is genuinely mandatory
The fact that no apostille is needed doesn't mean the document is accepted as it stands. The Spanish notary and land registry work in Spanish, and require that any document in another language arrive with its sworn translation, signed by a translator accredited by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEC).
The most common mistake here isn't forgetting the translation — it's trusting the wrong person to produce it. A traducteur assermenté registered with a French Cour d'appel has full validity in France, but that accreditation is national and isn't automatically recognised in Spain. Only the signature of a MAEC-accredited sworn translator counts before the Spanish administration — exactly as happens in reverse: a translation done in Spain isn't sufficient on its own before a French authority without the corresponding recognition either.
What other documents the notary usually asks for
Alongside the acte de notoriété, a typical Franco-Spanish succession file includes:
- The acte de décès (French death certificate).
- The testament, if there is one — authentique (before a notary) or olographe (handwritten).
- The Certificat successoral européen, when requested instead of, or alongside, the acte de notoriété.
- Certificates from the French banks where the deceased held accounts.
All of these are translated into Spanish by the same MAEC-accredited sworn translator, so the notary receives a coherent file using consistent terminology throughout — which matters especially where concepts have no exact Spanish equivalent, such as the French quotité disponible or forced heirship (héritiers réservataires).
An honest note
This guide covers the paperwork, not the substance of the matter. Which law applies to the succession — French or Spanish — depends on the deceased's habitual residence and on whether they expressly chose their national law in a will (professio iuris); and how much Spanish inheritance tax is owed depends on the autonomous community where the assets are located. Both questions belong to a notary or lawyer, not to a translation guide. We cover the general framework in Franco-Spanish succession: will, assets in Spain and sworn translation.
At Textualia we translate the French succession file — acte de notoriété, acte de décès, testament, Certificat successoral européen — from French into Spanish, signed by a translator accredited by the MAEC. If a document is missing something the notary will need, we tell you before starting the translation, not after.