Making a will is one of the cheapest and, at the same time, most rewarding legal acts a person can carry out during their lifetime. For a moderate notarial fee you order the fate of an entire estate, you spare your heirs costly procedures and, often, you reduce the tax bill on the succession. And yet a significant share of the population dies without a will. This article explains what a will is, what types exist, what it costs to make one and why it is best not to leave it for later.
1. What a will is and what it avoids
A will is the act by which a person provides, for after their death, for the fate of their assets and rights. It is a strictly personal, unilateral and revocable act: only the testator can make it, it does not allow representation and it can be changed as many times as wished while the testator retains capacity. The last valid will renders any earlier ones void.
Its function goes far beyond distributing assets. A well-drafted will avoids uncertainty over who inherits, prevents conflicts between relatives, allows guardians to be appointed for minor children, an executor or estate divider to be named, specific legacies to be ordered and, above all, spares the heirs the long and costly declaration-of-heirs procedure required by intestate succession. In practical terms, whoever makes a will gives their family a gift of time, money and peace of mind.
2. Types of will
The Civil Code regulates several types of will. In everyday practice three common forms coexist, each with its advantages and drawbacks.
| Type | How it is made | Advantages | Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open (notarial) | Before a notary, who drafts it, keeps it and reports it to the Register of Last Wills. | Legal certainty, professional advice, cannot be lost or forged, easy to execute. | A (moderate) notarial cost and the need to attend the notary's office. |
| Closed | The testator drafts the content, places it in a sealed envelope and hands it to the notary, who authorises the deed without knowing the text. | Keeps the content entirely secret until death. | Rarely used. Risk of drafting errors and of nullity if the formalities are not met. |
| Holographic (handwritten) | Written entirely by hand by the testator, dated and signed. No notary involved. | Free, private, can be made at any time. | Must be probated after death (judicial or notarial validation). High risk of nullity and loss. |
Open will
By far the most common and the one we recommend in practically every case. The testator states their wishes before the notary, who drafts them with technical precision, verifies the testator's capacity and ensures the legal limits are respected. Once signed, the notary keeps the original and reports its existence to the General Register of Last Wills. There is no risk of loss, deterioration or tampering, and its execution after death is straightforward.
Closed will
It combines notarial involvement with secrecy of content: the testator hands over an already-drafted document inside a sealed envelope and the notary attests to the delivery, but not to the content. It is hardly used. Its main weakness is that, as the notary does not review the text, errors can slip in that cause entire provisions to be void.
Holographic will
This is the one a person writes entirely in their own hand, stating the date and signing it. It costs nothing and can be made at any time, but it carries serious drawbacks: it must meet strict formal requirements, it risks being lost or never found, and, to take effect, it must be validated and probated in a procedure after death. A poorly drafted holographic will frequently creates more problems than it was meant to avoid.
3. The reserved share and the limits on freedom to make a will
In Spain there is no absolute freedom to make a will. The law reserves part of the inheritance for certain relatives, the so-called forced heirs, through the figure of the legítima (reserved share). The testator may freely dispose of a portion of their estate, but must respect the share that the law grants to those heirs.
Forced heirs are, as a general rule, the children and descendants; failing them, the parents and ascendants; and the surviving spouse, who is entitled to a usufruct over part of the inheritance. The amount and the specific regime vary depending on the applicable civil law, so each case should be analysed. A will that ignores the reserved share can be challenged by the heirs who were overlooked.
To understand in detail what part of the inheritance is reserved by law and to whom, see our guide on the reserved share and forced heirs.
4. How much it costs to make a will
This is probably where most misinformation exists. Against the widespread belief that making a will is expensive, the reality is the opposite: it is one of the most affordable notarial services. The fees for a simple open will are moderate and fall well short of the cost that an intestate succession would entail for the heirs.
We do not give exact figures here because the fee scales can vary and each will has its particulars (number of provisions, complexity, copies requested). What matters is the order of magnitude: it is a low expense, affordable for any budget, and one of the best value-for-money investments in estate matters. The sensible thing is to check the specific fees before making the will; at Equus Capital we help you do so transparently.
The cost of making a will is a tiny fraction of the cost of not making one. Intestate succession multiplies the expense, the timescales and, very often, family conflict.
5. How it is made before a notary
The procedure is quick and simple. The testator attends the notary's office with their identity document and explains to the notary how they wish to distribute their estate. The notary advises, checks the testator's capacity, drafts the will with the appropriate legal terminology and reads it aloud before signing. The act is usually resolved in a single visit.
Once signed, the notary keeps the original and reports the grant to the General Register of Last Wills, a central register that does not hold the content of the will but does record its existence, date and notary's office. On death, the heirs request the last-will certificate, which tells them whether a will exists and before which notary it was made, so they can request an authorised copy. This system guarantees that the last will is neither lost nor concealed.
6. What happens if there is no will
When a person dies without having made a valid will, intestate succession (ab intestato) opens. It is the law, not the deceased's wishes, that determines who inherits and in what proportion, following an order of calls: first the descendants, then the ascendants, then the spouse, and after that collateral relatives up to the fourth degree.
Before the assets can be awarded, the heirs must process a declaration of heirs: a notarial deed (when descendants, ascendants or the spouse inherit) or a court procedure (for more distant relatives) proving who the persons called to inherit are. This adds time, cost and paperwork that a simple will would have avoided entirely.
We explain the procedure step by step in our guide on inheritance without a will and the declaration of heirs.
7. Common mistakes
Mistake 1: Not updating the will
A will made twenty years ago may be out of date: the birth of new children, divorces, the death of appointed heirs, the sale of the assets that were bequeathed. It is wise to review it whenever family or estate circumstances change. Updating it is as simple and inexpensive as making a new one, which renders the previous one void.
Mistake 2: Poorly drafting the "in favour of"
It is common to find ambiguous or badly worded provisions when the testator wants to favour a specific person with a particular asset. Imprecise wording can create doubts of interpretation, collide with the reserved share or trigger litigation between heirs. The technical precision of the notary and the legal adviser avoids these problems.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the reserved share
Disposing of the inheritance without respecting the share reserved for forced heirs opens the door to challenges. A will that leaves out a forced heir, even unintentionally, can end up partially annulled.
Mistake 4: Relying on a homemade holographic will
The handwritten will made without advice is a frequent source of nullities, through failure to meet formal requirements, and of losses, because no one knows where it is. What is saved in fees is more than paid back in later problems.
8. How Equus Capital operates
At Equus Capital we approach the will as one piece of succession planning, not as an isolated formality. We analyse the composition of the estate, the family structure and the applicable taxation in order to design an arrangement that respects the reserved share, faithfully reflects the testator's wishes and minimises the tax burden and future conflicts between heirs. We coordinate the notary appointment, prepare the provisions and accompany the family from start to finish: from designing the will to, when the time comes, the complete handling of the inheritance. The aim is for the testator's wishes to be carried out without friction and for their estate to pass to the next generation in the most orderly and efficient way possible.