Selling Inherited Property in Spain: A Costa Blanca Guide

This guide is for anyone who has inherited a flat or house on the Costa Blanca and wants to sell it. The short answer: you can sell, but only after the inheritance is accepted before a notary and the property is registered in the heirs' names, and two tax clocks start ticking from the date of death.

Quick facts

• First step: find out if there is a will, using the certificate of last wills (certificado de actos de última voluntad). It cannot be requested until 15 working days after the death.
• Inheritance tax: normally filed within six months of the death. An extension of the same length can be asked for, but only in the first five months.
• Valencian bonus: a 99% bonus on the tax bill for a spouse, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents.
• Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews: a 25% bonus for deaths from 1 June 2026, rising to 50% from 1 June 2027.
• Plusvalía: the council's tax on the land's increase in value is due within six months of death, extendable up to one year.
• Selling: the heirs must be registered as owners first, and every co-heir has to agree to a sale.
• Heirs abroad: same process, plus an NIE (Spanish tax number), apostilled documents and often a power of attorney.

Start with the will, not the estate agent

Before anything else, you need to know whether there is a will and who it names. In Spain you ask the Ministry of Justice for the certificado de actos de última voluntad. The Ministry's online service says the request cannot go in until 15 working days after the death. The online route is for deaths after 2 April 2009 where the death is not registered at a juzgado de paz (local justice court); otherwise you apply in person or by post with the full death certificate.

The certificate shows whether a will exists, which notary holds it and the date. You then ask that notary for a copy. If there is no will, a notary makes a declaración de herederos abintestato (declaration of heirs where there is no will), and the law decides who inherits. As far as we can tell, the register lists wills made before Spanish notaries, so a will made only in the UK may not show up. Check with a notary.

A UK will does not automatically settle things for a Spanish flat. Under the EU succession rules Spain applies, the usual starting point is the law of the country where the person lived at death, though a will can choose the law of their nationality. GOV.UK says nationality usually decides, so published guidance is not uniform. In one recent registry ruling, a British owner's Spanish notarial will was enough to register the flat without UK probate, but that turned on its own facts. A separate Spanish will for the Spanish property makes things far easier.

Accepting the inheritance at the notary

Under the Código Civil, acceptance can be express or implied by your actions, and once made it cannot be undone except in narrow cases such as a hidden defect in consent or an unknown later will. It takes effect back to the date of death. So do not accept lightly.

Check for debts first. Heirs can accept a beneficio de inventario (with an inventory, which limits liability to what the estate holds). Our guide to selling a property in Spain with debts explains what to look for, including a mortgage still on the flat.

In practice, one deed at the notary often covers acceptance and the split of assets (aceptación y adjudicación). You will need the death certificate, the last wills certificate, the will or the heirs' declaration, and the property details. The nota simple (land registry extract) shows who is currently registered and any charges. See documents needed to sell property in Spain for the full list.

The tax clocks after a death

Two deadlines start on the date of death, and a third starts when you sell.

Tax	Deadline	Notes
Inheritance tax (impuesto sobre sucesiones)	Six months from death	The state regulation allows an extension of equal length if asked for in the first five months. If nobody replies within a month, it is treated as granted.
Plusvalía on the inheritance	Six months from death	Extendable up to one year on request, under the local finance law. Ask the council about its process.
Plusvalía on your later sale	30 working days after the sale	A separate bill from the inheritance one.
Capital gains on the sale	Depends on your residence	See the seller costs calculator.

On inheritance tax, Valencia's rules are generous for close family. The text of the Valencian Ley 5/2025 gives a 99% bonus on the tax bill for spouses, descendants and ascendants. For siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews it brings in 25% from 1 June 2026 and 50% from 1 June 2027, by date of death. More distant relatives are not covered by these bonuses. For many families the bill ends up very small, but ask your gestor (administrative adviser) to file anyway so the bonus is properly applied.

Plusvalía works differently. The law lets each council give a bonus of up to 95% on inherited property passing to close family, but each council sets its own terms. Alicante, Torrevieja and Orihuela do not all do the same thing, and some councils attach conditions such as filing on time. Look up the ordinance for the town where the flat is.

Selling before or after you register

It is tempting to find a buyer first and sort the paperwork later. The land registry rule gets in the way. The Ley Hipotecaria says that to register a transfer, the right of the person selling must already be registered. If the flat is still in the deceased's name, the registrar will normally refuse a sale signed by the heirs. There are narrow exceptions, but plan to register the inheritance first. The registry will also expect the tax paperwork to be in order.

You can still talk to buyers while the paperwork runs. Just do not promise anyone a completion date, because the inheritance deed, tax filings and registry timing can all slip.

With one heir and no forced heirs, the process is simpler. With several, the flat belongs to all of you in shares. Nobody can sell the whole flat alone. Under the same Código Civil, though, no co-owner is obliged to stay in the arrangement, and any of them may ask for the property to be divided at any time. A written pact to keep it undivided is valid for up to ten years. If heirs disagree, the realistic options are:

1. Buy one another out: one heir keeps the flat and pays the others their share.
2. Sell together: agree a price floor, a decision-maker and how costs are split, in writing.
3. Ask for division: if talks fail, any co-owner can push for a split, which can end in court and cost more time.

If you live outside Spain

Heirs living in the UK or elsewhere follow the same steps, with extra paperwork. Expect to need an NIE for the tax filings. Foreign documents usually need an apostille and a sworn translation. If you cannot be in Spain to sign, a notarial power of attorney (poder notarial) lets someone sign for you. If you are flying in for the signing, our guide to the Alicante airport to Torrevieja route may help.

One caution on tax. If the person who died lived outside Spain, which region's rules apply, and so whether the 99% bonus is available, can be less straightforward than for Spanish residents. Do not assume it. A gestor should confirm this before you file. When you later sell as a non-resident, a retention is held back from the price. The costs calculator shows how that works, and selling Spanish property when moving back to the UK covers the wider picture.

Before you sign anything

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Inheritance cases turn on the will, the family, the council and where everyone lives. Ask a gestor or abogado (lawyer) to confirm your own situation, including deadlines and bonuses, before you accept or sign. Our note on whether you need a lawyer to sell may help you decide. Rules checked October 2026.