Losing a loved one is difficult in itself and, as this is a sensitive
issue, it is not always easy to seek advice for more judicial matters.
The feeling of loss makes relatives get lost in the mourning process,
leaving the bureaucracies for later and, following this difficulty,
SUPERCASA News brings you a guide you can follow to orientate yourself during this very difficult moment.
1. Declaring the Death
The
first thing to do, immediately after the death of your family member,
is to register the death. This should be requested from the Civil
Registry Office within 48 hours, after the health delegate or other
doctor has issued a death certificate. With this document, it will prove
that there was, in fact, a death, following the request. This must be
delivered by the closest relative and it is a free procedure. However,
nowadays, and in case you are unable to go to the Civil Registry Office,
if you contract an undertaker to deal with the funeral, they may take
charge of the process.
2. Electing a head of the couple
In
order for the administration of the estate left by the deceased to be
carried out, a head of the couple must be nominated, to whom this
responsibility will be entrusted during the period in which the estate
has not yet been distributed.
To define a head of the couple, you should follow the logic:
1. Being the spouse of the deceased, not judicially separated from
people and property, being heir or entitled to the moiety (half of the
couple's property, contemplated in the regime of universal community of
property);
2. If there is a will, the executor;
3. Being a
relative and a legal heir, with the attribution being made to the
closest (such as a son or brother, for example). If not a relative, the
person who had lived with the deceased for at least one year;
4.
Being a testamentary heir, i.e. covered by the will. If more than one
person is nominated, and in case of equality, the eldest should be
elected.
If none of the heirs wish to assume responsibility as
head of the couple, the administration of the estate may be attributed
to a person who is not an heir, by agreement between all the parties.
However, in the absence of agreement, this must be attributed to the
courts, but only under special conditions such as: the designated heir
refuses the administration, is over 70 years of age, has an illness that
makes it impossible to administer the inheritance or if the function is
incompatible with holding public office.
In the event that an
heir feels aggrieved by the administration of the head of the couple,
the latter can propose removing him/her from the position, provided that
he/she proves that he/she hid assets or donations made by the deceased,
indicated non-existent charges, administered the estate in an
irresponsible manner, did not comply with the duties imposed by law in
the context of the inventory of assets, or demonstrated incompetence for
exercising the position.
3. Declaring the inheritance to the Finances
Once
the head of the couple has been decided, it is his responsibility to
declare all taxable assets inherited to the tax authorities within three
months of the death of the relative. Until the inheritance is divided,
these remain under the administration of the head of the couple, who
must also declare the person's death to the Finance Department.
If
you are the head of the couple, or if you want to know exactly the
process, you should know that, in order to declare the inheritance to
the Finance Department, it is necessary to fill in declaration Model 1
of the Stamp Duty, plus Annexes I and II, which concern the
identification of the assets and the type of heir, respectively. By
filling in these documents you will be informing the Tax Authority of
the death of your relative and fulfilling your declaration obligation.
Together
with the Stamp Duty Model 1 declaration, you must also provide copies
of the death certificate, the deceased person's NIF and their Citizen
Card, as well as the NIF and identification document of each of the
heirs or beneficiaries. After this delivery, the head of the couple will
receive a collection note from the Customs Authority at their tax
address to pay the Stamp Duty, which can be done all at once or in
instalments.
You must inform the Tax Authorities if you proceed
with the total payment of the Stamp Tax, within fifteen days after
receiving the collection note. If you pay in cash you will benefit from a
discount of 0.5% on the value of each instalment, excluding the first,
and you have a period of two months to make the payment after the
notification. However, rules are imposed if the value is over 1000 euros
and the couple head does not manifest otherwise, being the tax paid in
ten equal instalments, with each instalment having to be inferior to 200
euros. The first instalment is payable within two months of
notification and the remainder every six months.
The ideal is to
settle accounts with the head of the couple, after receiving the
collection note, so that the amount is divided among the heirs.
4. Settling taxes
Spouses,
unmarried partners, children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents
are exempt from paying inheritance tax. However, they are obliged to
declare their inherited property to the Tax Authorities.
If you
do not identify yourself with any of these relationships, being a
brother or nephew, you have to pay Stamp Duty on the inheritance
received, currently set at 10% for all assets subject to taxation.
In
order to declare this tax, you must fill in Annex II (Item e.) of Form
1, the type of heir, which can be legitimate heir (tax exempt) or heir
with other degrees of kinship (subject to taxation).
Subject to
taxation are immovable assets (urban or rural), movable assets subject
to registration (such as cars, motorbikes, boats and/or aircraft for
recreational purposes). On the other hand, the contents of a house,
personal assets, amounts invested in PPRs or Real Estate Investment
Funds, credits from life insurance or other type of shares or capital
invested, besides monetary values up to EUR 500 and donations made under
the Patronage Law, are considered assets that do not have to be
declared and should be divided among the heirs in a fair way.
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SUPERCASA News
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