Pause. You do not have to do everything today.
Almost nothing in the first hours is truly urgent except care for the people present. The admin can wait until you have caught your breath.
What to do when someone dies in Spain
Spain has a fast first 24 hours and a slow, expensive tail. This is everything, in the order it actually happens, with the deadlines that cost money if you miss them.
Inheritance tax and procedures vary significantly by autonomous community (Comunidad Autónoma). Where it matters, confirm with your regional authority.
The deadlines that actually bite
within 1 day
Check organ or body donation wishes (time-sensitive)Donation windows are very short — raise it immediately if relevant.
within 1 day
Obtain the medical death certificate (Certificado Médico de Defunción)Needed within the first day to proceed with everything else.
within 1 day
Register the death at the Civil Registry (Registro Civil)Registration is required within 24 hours of death.
not before 1 day
Burial/cremation licence (licencia de enterramiento o incineración)Generally a minimum ~24h between death and burial/cremation (set regionally — varies).
not before 15 days
Request the Last Will certificate (Certificado de Últimas Voluntades)Cannot be requested until 15 working days after death.
within 6 months
Inheritance & gift tax (Impuesto de Sucesiones y Donaciones)Due within 6 months of death; an extension must be requested within the first 5 months.
Every step, in order
Right now
The first hours. Mostly about people and care, not paperwork.
Check organ or body donation wishes (time-sensitive)
Time-sensitive · 1d
If the person wished to donate organs or their body to science, this is only possible for a short window and is usually arranged with the hospital or donation registry quickly.
Tell the people who need to hear it from you
The closest people should learn it directly, not from social media or a chain message. Beyond that, you can delegate.
Obtain the medical death certificate (Certificado Médico de Defunción)
Time-sensitive · 1d
This doctor-signed certificate is the first document. Everything else — funeral, registry, banks, inheritance — flows from it.
The first week
Registering the death and arranging the funeral.
Find any funeral wishes or a prepaid funeral plan before arranging
Many people leave instructions, prepay a plan, or hold funeral insurance. Finding these first can save money and honour their wishes — and you do not want to discover a paid plan after paying again.
Secure their home, pets, and essentials
An empty home can be a target, perishables spoil, pets need care, and bills keep running.
Notify their employer (and ask about benefits owed)
Final pay, a workplace pension, life insurance "death in service", or owed holiday may be due to the estate — and HR can stop ongoing deductions.
Engage a funeral home (funeraria) — they handle most of the paperwork
In Spain the funeraria does the heavy lifting: registry filing, transport, and the burial/cremation licence are usually arranged through them.
Register the death at the Civil Registry (Registro Civil) — within 24h
Time-sensitive · 1d
Registration produces the official Certificado de Defunción you will need in multiple certified copies for banks, pensions, and inheritance.
Burial/cremation licence (licencia de enterramiento o incineración)
Time-sensitive
Burial or cremation cannot legally happen without it, and there is a minimum wait after death.
If the person was a foreign national: contact their consulate
Repatriation, foreign-asset estates, and home-country notifications often run through the consulate, and cross-border inheritance can involve another country's law.
The first month
Estate, notifications, and the official admin.
Monitor or redirect their post
Incoming mail tells you which institutions still need notifying — and unmonitored mail is a common route for identity theft of the deceased.
Cancel subscriptions and recurring payments
Streaming, memberships, software, and direct debits keep charging. Stopping them prevents wasted money and surfaces accounts you did not know about.
Request the Last Will certificate (Certificado de Últimas Voluntades)
Time-sensitive
This central registry tells you IF the person made a will and, if so, before which notary — so you can obtain it. You cannot settle the estate without knowing this.
Obtain the authorised copy of the will from the notary
The will names heirs and the executor and is required for the inheritance process.
Declaration of heirs (declaración de herederos) — only if there is no will
With no will, Spanish law decides the heirs, but it must be formally declared (by a notary for close relatives) before you can inherit anything.
Inheritance & gift tax (Impuesto de Sucesiones y Donaciones) — 6-month deadline
Time-sensitive · 180d
This is the big deadline. The tax is due within 6 months of death, and it is administered regionally — allowances and rates differ enormously between communities.
Claim any life insurance (using the seguros registry certificate)
People often hold life cover they never mentioned — including bundled with mortgages. The registry certificate reveals the policies.
Notify Seguridad Social and claim survivor benefits
A surviving spouse/partner and dependent children may be entitled to a widow/orphan pension and a one-off death grant (auxilio por defunción).
Notify the banks and present the documents
Accounts are blocked on notification of death and only released to proven heirs once inheritance tax is settled. Direct debits for the home should be allowed to continue in most cases.
Later
Things with longer deadlines, and closing loose ends.
Memorialize or close online and social accounts
Dormant accounts can be hijacked, and active profiles can be painful for loved ones. Most major platforms have a process for the deceased.
Look after your own grief
The admin ends; grief does not run on a schedule. Support is not a luxury — it helps you function through the rest of this list too.
Update utilities, vehicles (DGT), and the property registry
Supply contracts, car ownership (DGT), and the Registro de la Propiedad must be transferred or cancelled once heirs are settled.
Money you may be owed after a death
FAQ
How long do you have to register a death in Spain?
The death must be registered at the Registro Civil within 24 hours. In practice the funeraria files it for you, and you then request several certified copies (literal) of the Certificado de Defunción.
How much does a death certificate cost in Spain?
Certificates from the Registro Civil are free. The Certificado de Últimas Voluntades, which tells you whether there was a will, costs about €3.86 via Modelo 790.
How long do you have to pay inheritance tax in Spain?
Impuesto de Sucesiones is due within 6 months of the death, and a 6-month extension has to be requested within the first 5 months. Rates and allowances are set regionally and differ enormously between comunidades autónomas.
When can you request the Certificado de Últimas Voluntades?
Not until 15 working days after the date of death. Request the life-insurance registry certificate at the same time, on the same Modelo 790 form.