Living in Spain the Expat's Guide

One of the last things that anyone thinks about when they move overseas is the fact that the laws of succession abroad can differ greatly to those we’re familiar with back home – and that this fact can have a dramatic, and sometimes devastating impact on your family and loved ones if you die overseas or die leaving assets abroad.

Getting the correct legal advice about matters of life and death in Spain relating to the likes of probate, wills and inheritance can seem difficult.  If you search on the Internet for example, you’ll find contradictory half stories at best.  So, at Shelter Offshore we have teamed up with Legal4Spain.com to get a correct and complete understanding of the situation affecting expatriates living in Spain, as well as those onshore with assets such as property in Spain.

It is critical that you understand your position and that of your future heirs and beneficiaries if you want to save them time, stress, worry and even money, and if you want to correctly order your affairs, ensuring you have control over how your estate will be divided up when you die.  We appreciate that this is not a particularly positive subject matter – but at the same time, we are acutely aware that this is a topic that has to be touched upon, therefore we will do so in as full and comprehensive a manner as we possibly can to directly assist you.

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Spain continues to be an incredibly popular destination with relocating Brits.  It has the sun, the sea, the sand and the sangria, not to mention the fact that it is populated with plenty of other expats, is an exceptionally easy nation to adjust to, it boasts a good quality of life and is within easy reach of family and friends back in the UK.  In fact, it’s almost hard to understand why anyone would think about moving abroad to live anywhere other than Spain!

So, if you’re thinking about moving to Spain, or you know someone who is – there’s a new must-read book on the shelves this winter called ‘Sol Searching.’  It’s being billed as ‘a fun-filled tale of a modern girl’s move to the Costa del Sol’ and is by newly published author Keidi Keating.  The book is as much a really realistic introduction to moving to Spain as it is an hysterical Bridget Jones style tale about the adventures of one expatriate as she endeavours to make Spain her new home from home.

You will laugh out loud, be moved to real engagement with the author, discover a lot about what it takes to make a new life in a new country, and be thoroughly entertained on multiple levels with this excellent book.  What started out as Keidi’s personal diary has now become a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in moving to live abroad – particularly in Spain…read on for our review.

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Despite everything, Spain remains one of the most popular choices with Britons dreaming about or even actively planning a new life abroad.  It’s accessible from the UK with cheap flights aplenty, it’s a country you don’t need a visa to live in, and what’s even better is that in Southern Spain the sun shines almost all year round.

These are all fine reasons for choosing Spain as a relocation destination, but in this report we’re going to counter that positive argument with 15 billion reasons not to live in Spain.  You see, if you thought the UK was in a bad way economically speaking, you ain’t seen nothing until you read about the mess Spain has found itself in.

The Spanish government have seemingly acted as ridiculously as our own dear politicians in the UK in terms of digging an enormous budget deficit shaped hole, and now they’re looking to the lowly taxpayer to fill it.  And if you moved to Spain, you would become one of those lowly taxpayers…

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