# Quicky Query



## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Just a quicky re something I was told yesterday

If our house is solely in my wife's name and I fall off the perch, does my demise have any tax implications for her??

Thanks


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Rabbitcat said:


> Just a quicky re something I was told yesterday
> 
> If our house is solely in my wife's name and I fall off the perch, does my demise have any tax implications for her??
> 
> Thanks


Probably not if you have absolutely no assets and everything is in her name, however, if she pegs it first, you are going to get hammered.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Have you both got UK and Spanish wills with the new clause in?


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Nope haven't got anything as haven't purchased there yet- just fact gathering after being told yday by an expat that even if all was in wife's name my demise would affect her tax wise


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## Waykat (Jan 24, 2016)

Planning retirement in Spain. There is a lot of great information here!


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

My kids own my house - so no tax implications 

Davexf


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Rabbitcat said:


> Nope haven't got anything as haven't purchased there yet- just fact gathering after being told yday by an expat that even if all was in wife's name my demise would affect her tax wise


I don't think this is correct - if it's in her name, what does it 'matter' if you die.

Just because you're married, if you don't own a piece of it, then it can't matter to her.


However, if it was jointly owned and you passed on your half to her (via UK inheritance rules), then she would have tax to pay on your half.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I don't usually give advice on taxation issues, but in this case I will. Don't climb onto the perch in the first place....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Snikpoh raises an interesting point. You must make your Spanish will under the law of your nationality (there is a special form of wording for this) otherwise Spanish law will apply and any inheritance will pass, first, to your offspring not to your wife.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

We have no offspring and are considering just putting any house in wifeys name only


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Rabbitcat said:


> We have no offspring and are considering just putting any house in wifeys name only


That's fine providing you go first. 

To mitigate any potential problem, it's best (surely) to have it in joint names.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

But if it's in joint names then one of us is bound to have to pay tax on the half they inherit whereas if just in wifeys name she's laughing- in every sense- when I ( much older than her) shuffle off to the Benidorm in the sky


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Rabbitcat said:


> But if it's in joint names then one of us is bound to have to pay tax on the half they inherit whereas if just in wifeys name she's laughing- in every sense- when I ( much older than her) shuffle off to the Benidorm in the sky


I agree, it's all a question of odds 0%, 50% or 100% depending who goes first.

Just don't allow her partake of any crazy sports, cross the road or even to leave the house


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## WeeScottie (Mar 17, 2015)

....and be careful whilst having quickies on perches!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Rabbitcat said:


> But if it's in joint names then one of us is bound to have to pay tax on the half they inherit whereas if just in wifeys name she's laughing- in every sense- when I ( much older than her) shuffle off to the Benidorm in the sky


Depends also on where you choose to buy. In Andalucía, any liability regarding inheritance by a spouse is likely to be negligible providing the total estate is not huge. However in some other ACs those exemptions do not apply and the tax may well be considerable.


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

We were told by the Spanish Lawyer we saw 2 weeks ago that the inheritance tax was 40% if we had the house in joint names. He did say that they were looking to try to change the tax laws but when that would happen is anyone's guess. The other idea was to put it in our son's name but he needed to go to Spain to open a bank account and he won't fly! It is all very complicated and costly especially with the taxes on purchasing a property and then again when selling.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

40% of what exactly? The current value, the increase since purchase?


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## sdj101 (Apr 11, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> 40% of what exactly? The current value, the increase since purchase?


Not too sure Rabbitcat - they filled our minds with loads of stuff but from what I recall it was 40% of the value when sold but don't count on that being correct. As said, they filled our heads with overload!!!!:blabla::blabla:


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

I think that's correct, however there are substantial allowances available ( depending on your relation to the deceased) of up to 95% on houses valued up to €130k if the property is the family home


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Rabbitcat said:


> I think that's correct, however there are substantial allowances available ( depending on your relation to the deceased) of up to 95% on houses valued up to €130k if the property is the family home


As @Baldilocks said earlier, it all depends where you live - each autonomous region has different rules on this and some are really quite painful.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

You must remember that there is no nationally set level of IHT - every AC sets its own levels for the different categories of legatee.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> I think that's correct, however there are substantial allowances available ( depending on your relation to the deceased) of up to 95% on houses valued up to €130k if the property is the family home


This is the most sensible post Rabbitcat has ever posted. I think he must be poorly, or his account got hacked.


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