Why this document gets a page of its own
Because it is the document that most often reaches a Spanish notary late and incomplete, and both for the same reason: nobody warns that the British and Spanish sides of a succession run in parallel, on different calendars and different clocks.
British probate can take months. Spanish inheritance tax starts counting from the date of death. Anyone who waits to have the grant in hand before moving on the Spanish side has already lost time that cannot be recovered.
Which document, by jurisdiction and by whether there was a will
| With a will | Without a will | |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | Grant of probate | Letters of administration |
| Scotland | Confirmation | Confirmation |
| Northern Ireland | Separate process | Separate process |
In England and Wales these are issued by the Probate Registry of HM Courts and Tribunals Service. With a will, the grant of probate confirms the appointed executor; without one, letters of administration appoint the administrator.
Scotland is a separate legal system and calls it confirmation, with a simplified procedure for small estates. Confusing probate with confirmation is not a terminological nicety: they are documents from different jurisdictions, and the Spanish notary needs the right one.
Northern Ireland runs its own process.
What the Spanish notary needs it for
To establish who is entitled to deal with the estate. That is the grant's entire function in the Spanish file: to evidence that the person signing the deed of acceptance and distribution is entitled to do so.
The notary will ask for it, with its sworn translation, for:
- The deed of acceptance and distribution of the assets located in Spain.
- Registration of the property at the Land Registry.
- Settling inheritance and gift tax (modelo 650).
- Dealings with Spanish banks and insurers.
What else usually gets translated
Almost no file is resolved with the grant alone. You will typically also need:
- The British will the grant gives effect to, where there is one.
- The death certificate, apostilled.
- Sometimes a certificate of foreign law evidencing the applicable succession regime.
Our recommendation, and it saves money: ask the notary for the full list before commissioning anything and send the whole set for translation at once. Translating document by document as they surface is the surest way to pay twice and to find out halfway through that a piece is missing.
The apostille, which came back with Brexit
While the UK was in the European Union, much of the movement of documents benefited from EU simplifications. That ended: a British public document intended to have effect in Spain now needs a Hague apostille, stamped by the FCDO.
It has its own turnaround, added to probate's. And the order governs: apostille first, translate second. Translate beforehand and the sworn translation will not include the apostille, so it has to be redone.
What we translate
The document in full, exactly as the registry issues it: court heading, details of the deceased and date of death, identification of the executor or administrator, the value of the estate for British purposes, the seals and the FCDO apostille.
On terminology, a principle worth knowing: we do not equate legal figures. Executor, administrator and personal representative are not exactly the Spanish albacea, administrador or contador-partidor. The sworn translation keeps the original figure and adds, where needed, a translator's note explaining what it means in the source system. Rendering executor as "albacea" without qualification would be convenient and would give the notary a mistaken idea of the powers in front of them.
Delivery format and turnaround
We deliver a PDF with a qualified electronic signature, valid before Spanish notaries and registries, at no shipping cost. Many notaries still prefer paper for their records: you can add delivery of a physical copy.
The grant is usually short — a page or two — although the accompanying will can run long. The quote tool calculates on the actual document you upload and gives the exact amount before you pay.
Mistakes we head off
- Waiting for the grant before moving the Spanish side, while the tax clock is already running.
- Confusing probate with confirmation, which are different jurisdictions.
- Translating only the grant and discovering at the notary that the will is missing.
- Translating before apostilling.
- Equating executor with "albacea" without explaining the difference in powers.
Related pages
A succession file usually pairs this with the translation of the death certificate and, depending on the case, the notarial deed or the court ruling. For procedural detail, see our guides to English probate versus Scottish confirmation and to a British estate with assets in Spain.