When a loved one dies and leaves their home to be inherited, what must be done? Many people are still unclear as to whether the deeds of a home must be changed after an owner’s death or whether any formalities need to be taken in this regard. Stelae will now explain how to proceed in a situation like this.
What happens to the property in the event of a death?
When a loved one dies, ownership of their home passes to their heirs. But rather than this happening automatically, it is necessary to legally formalise a change of ownership.
In fact, the title deeds of a property must be changed after the holder’s death, requiring certain legal and administrative steps to be taken.
The deeds of a house are the legal document that proves who is the owner of the property, as well as what their associated rights and obligations are. But these are not automatically transferred to the heirs, so they will not be able to use the property until they are legally listed as owners. It is not mandatory to change the deeds, but it is advisable to do so in order not to have legal, administrative and tax problems in the future.
The whole process of changing the title deeds of a property after death is known as ‘probate succession’ and, once all the required steps have been carried out, the new owner(s) will be able to make use of the house when they wish.
How to change the title deeds in the event of death
In order to change the ownership of a property due to death, the heirs must carry out a series of procedures. Here’s what you need to do step by step:
- Get the death certificate. The first thing you need to do when changing the title deeds of a property after a death is to obtain the death certificate from the Civil Registry, since this document will be required for any subsequent formalities following the death of your loved one.
- Get a copy of the will. You will have to go to the Register of Last Will and Testament to find out, firstly, if your relative has left a will. If so, you will have to go to the corresponding notary to find out who the heirs are and to who the inherited property belongs to. If it is you, you will have to accept the inheritance in order to make use of the property.
- Settling taxes. Before the change of ownership that takes place when the title deeds of a property are changed after death, it is necessary to pay taxes. In this case, it is essential to pay inheritance and gift tax or municipal capital gains tax, which will vary depending on each locality.
Once these procedures have been completed, you can proceed to change the title deeds of a property after death. However, we must stress that it is not necessary to change the deeds themselves, as it is enough to execute the acceptance of the inheritance and register the name of the new owner of the property in the Land Registry.
Do the title deeds of a property have to be changed within a specific period after the death? There is nothing specific regarding the period for accepting an inheritance in the Civil Code. However, in case of omission, the period is considered to be open for 30 days from the date of death of your loved one.
The inheritance can be expressly accepted in a public deed before a notary and the inherited property can then be used.
What are the costs of changing the title deeds?
As mentioned above, it is not obligatory to change the title deeds of a property after death, and it is possible to simply change the ownership of the property. However, in order to avoid various problems, iit is highly recommended to carry out this procedure in the presence of a notary.
This involves a number of associated costs, which will depend on different factors such as:
- The characteristics of the property.
- Whether the property has been previously registered.
- The value that appears in the title deeds of the property.
In total, the notary fees for changing the deeds of a property after the death of a loved one can be between 600 and 900 euros, depending on each case. Generally, the fee is similar in almost all notary's offices.
Added to this, once you accept the property as an inheritance, you must also pay the taxes mentioned in the previous sections (inheritance, donations, municipal capital gains tax, etc) and pay certain fees for the corresponding administrative procedures (obtaining the death certificate, obtaining the certificate of last will and testament, etc).
