Ireland is an EU member state, so the instinct is to assume an Irish estate with a flat on the Costa del Sol should be settled with the European Certificate of Succession, the same as a French or German estate. That instinct is wrong, and it's worth knowing before you waste time requesting a document Ireland can't issue.
Why the European Certificate of Succession doesn't apply
EU Regulation 650/2012, which creates the European Certificate of Succession and unifies much of the EU's cross-border succession rules, has a little-known quirk: Ireland, together with the UK and Denmark, expressly opted out of it when it was negotiated. According to Ireland's own Department of Justice, opting in would have interfered "to an unacceptable extent" with how Ireland administers estates, which is built on the common-law probate system.
The practical consequence: Irish courts don't issue a European Certificate of Succession, and it isn't recognised within Ireland. For succession purposes, even though it's a full EU member state in nearly everything else, Ireland works just like a non-EU country — the same situation we already covered for Australian and Canadian estates, though for a different reason: those are third countries by definition, while Ireland opted itself out despite being able to join.
The document that does exist: the Grant of Probate
When someone dies in Ireland holding assets in their name, the executor applies for the Grant of Probate at the Probate Office of the High Court in Dublin, or at the relevant District Probate Registry if the deceased lived outside Dublin. The Grant formally recognises the will as valid and confirms the executor's authority to gather the estate, sell assets and deal with banks and insurers.
Without this document, no Irish institution releases significant assets to the executor — and a Spanish notary won't either. If there's no will, the equivalent process is applying for Letters of Administration, confirming who administers the estate under the intestacy rules.
The documents the Spanish notary will ask for
For an Irish estate with Spanish assets, the notarial file usually needs:
- The will, or proof of intestate succession.
- The Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration, if there's no will).
- The death certificate, issued by Ireland's General Register Office (GRO).
- Where applicable, any supplementary documentation on the Spanish assets.
Apostille: it depends on the document
Two different regimes apply here, since Ireland is a full EU member for some purposes and a third country for others:
- The GRO death certificate doesn't need an apostille. Death is expressly covered by EU Regulation 2016/1191 between EU countries, and Ireland fully participates in this one.
- The Grant of Probate does need an apostille. It's a court document, and neither Regulation 2016/1191 (which doesn't cover judicial succession decisions) nor Regulation 650/2012 (which Ireland opted out of) exempts it. It's apostilled by Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the same authority that legalises other Irish public documents for use abroad.
The usual order applies: apostille first, translation second, because the apostille itself is part of what gets translated.
The sworn translation
The Grant of Probate, the death certificate and, where relevant, the will all need translating into Spanish by a translator-interpreter accredited by the MAEC. A certified translation done in Ireland has no validity before a Spanish notary or land registry.
What we're not
We're not a notary's office or a tax or succession adviser. We don't determine which law governs the estate or what's owed in tax in Spain — that depends on the deceased's habitual residence and where the assets are located, and is a matter for your notary or lawyer. Our job is translating, with official validity in Spain, whatever Irish documentation that process asks you for.
In summary
- Ireland opted out of Regulation 650/2012: there's no European Certificate of Succession for an Irish estate, despite being an EU country.
- The document proving the executor's authority is the Grant of Probate, issued by the Probate Office or the relevant District Probate Registry.
- The GRO death certificate doesn't need an apostille; the Grant of Probate does, apostilled by Ireland's DFA.
- The whole file gets translated into Spanish by a translator accredited by the MAEC.
Related pages
- Inheriting from Australia with assets in Spain
- Inheriting from Canada with assets in Spain
- EU Regulation 2016/1191: when your European document doesn't need an apostille
→ Request my sworn translation
At Textualia we translate the Irish succession file into Spanish — will, Grant of Probate, death certificate — signed by a translator accredited by the MAEC. We review the file before starting: if a document arrives without an apostille, we tell you before translating anything.