Soltalk December 2018 | Page 34

Matrimonial Regimes The concept of a “matrimonial regime” is one that is not familiar to people from the UK. In Spain and most other European countries when people marry, they either elect or decide on a matrimonial regime or, in default, the property after marriage becomes Community of property – known as gananciales. property in their sole name but now want to transfer 50% to their spouse. This can be done by agreeing to sign a Notarial deed establishing the marriage is now community of property. This transfer can then be done as a tax exempt transfer. Whilst there are still legal, notarial and other costs associated with this transfer, the alternatives can be very costly. In some cases, there may be inheritance tax issues, although in Andalucia the increase to a 1.000.000€ threshold has made this issue less important. On divorce this question can be even more important as, whilst a Spanish couple will know that if they are married in separation of assets the property will not be divided, English or UK couples may need advice as to what the likely division of assets will be if the matter goes to court. In effect, after a number of years of marriage the English system is much closer to community of property and a 50/50 split would be likely. If you would like a confidential consultation on your particular case, please call us or email [email protected]. This can be very important for a number of reasons. One is on divorce when matrimonial assets may fail to be divided. Another is because of taxation - not only inheritance tax, but also other property taxes such as on transfers of property. De Cotta Law (De Cotta McKenna y Santafé) Mijas-Costa / Calahonda – Coín – Nerja – Tenerife Nerja Office: - Calle Diputación 11, 29780 Nerja Tel: +34 952 527 014 - Fax: +34 952 523 428 www.decottalaw.com For example, in some cases a spouse may have purchased 32