[Georgia3thom]

We've had so much conflicting advice, I dont know what to believe.

Is it the essential by law to use a solicitor to deal with the death of a relative in spain?

I wonder if we have done things the wrong way around by completing dads funeral cremation and moving his things out of the flat before the death certificate has arrived. It was tricky, the landlord was up in arms, and wanted everything sorted, so we did, to protect his identity and property.
The funeral directors told us the cremation had to happen in 48 hrs,

Other people have told us to keep accounts open but I don't know why, surely we don't want to risk dad continuing to pay his landlord etc?

Now we're back with a pile of paperwork and chequebooks and don't know what to do next....
Some friends of friends say be careful what we say to the embassy, but how do we know what is careful and what isn't?
All we do know is that we want to do things properly, whilst not spending an unnecessary fortune to recoup a small amount towards the funeral. Its beginning to split the family which is ridiculous

any advice on how to proceed without getting into trouble would be so helpful

Georgia

 

[Jock719]

An e mail to a Solicitor local to your Dads town, describing your position, what has happened and if there are any outstanding issues to be resolved , might be the way forward. You could ask if they could assist and enquire about fees etc. Sounds daft, but if you google solicitors in the town concerned, usually one will have an english speaking advert, which makes life much easier.

 

[snikpoh]

To answer your question specifically - you do NOT need a solicitor. However, it may be expedient to use a gestor.

As soon as the bank hear he has passed away, they will freeze his account. My advice (sshh....) would be to take all money out his Spanish bank account first.

One thing I'm really surprised about is the lack of a death certificate. I can't see how he was cremated without one. I would suggest asking at the crematorium about this - or get your gestor to do it.

Was he resident in Spain, was he completing a tax return in Spain? Was his pension paid into his Spanish bank account?

... lots to think about.

 

[Georgia3thom]

Lots indeed, we had a call from the consulate, apparently the police had gone into his flat just before we got there, and found his will, and a couple of personal effects, and posted them to the consulate, even though they don't like to receive items like that.
I found out from the consulate that he had a will that had been made in England, when I googled the company they had a premises fire on the day we flew out, cant make it up eh?
Anyway, the death certificates are on their way, I've asked for 5.
Dad was registered etc in spain, apparently in his things at the consulate is the name of a local notary who may be able to help.
We misjudged him, he did have a will and all things in order, trouble is, he didn't tell us and neither did the police/landlord etc.
The consulate also mentioned something very interesting, that would have been good to know, it is possible for the funeral directors to seek payment direct from his bank account in spain, to proceed with the cremation, we didn't have to pay up front, although I'm still glad we did, and got him into our safe keeping sooner.
We had advice from some friends who said " don't tell the consulate anything " and this hindered the whole process, we should've been open about things from the start and accepted their advice, which was very detailed and good. So I;m grateful snikpoh, in some cases your way must be better, but for us, who have nothing much to gain, and alot to lose by reputation considering our jobs, we just a hope to come out of it without debt following the official route, we decided , you rarely lose sleep over doing the right thing.

So bless you dad, and sorry for thinking you had left us in your lurch, you hadn't, you were all sorted and only circumstances got in the way.

Fools rush in !

Georgia x

 

[Alcalaina]

One thing I'm really surprised about is the lack of a death certificate. I can't see how he was cremated without one. I would suggest asking at the crematorium about this - or get your gestor to do it.


... lots to think about.

Based on experience after my friend died two years ago, the certificate is issued by the Tanatorio staff after cremation. It is supposed to be supplied within a week, but if you want it in English it can take longer.

PS - they wouldn't issue it until their bill had been paid, and the solicitor wouldn't proceed without it.

 

[snikpoh]

Based on experience after my friend died two years ago, the certificate is issued by the Tanatorio staff after cremation. It is supposed to be supplied within a week, but if you want it in English it can take longer.

PS - they wouldn't issue it until their bill had been paid, and the solicitor wouldn't proceed without it.

So you can be cremated in Spain without anyone creating a death certificate to state that the death was not suspicious? Wow!

When we had someone pass away, the death certificate came from the doctor immediately.

 

[xabiaxica]

So you can be cremated in Spain without anyone creating a death certificate to state that the death was not suspicious? Wow!

When we had someone pass away, the death certificate came from the doctor immediately.

istr that there are two kinds of certificate

when my dad died the doctor at the hospital supplied a certificate which gave time & cause of death

later, after the cremation the tanatorio gave us 'official' death certs which had to be sent away for - & because my dad was British & still a UK resident with everything still there, we asked for 'International ' certificates (which are in several languages) - 5 I think


interestingly - when my husband, British but a resident of Spain, died in the UK - when I asked for 'International' certificates I was told that there is no such thing, & that I would have to get them 'legally translated' if need be, for Spain

 

[Georgia3thom]

It seems that some things are better set up in spain...
I think we did have a certificate so we could travel, but the official one wasn't ready.
I took the ashes on as hand luggage, I wasn't prepared for them to go through the scanner, but heho. The plane wanted to take off early to keep up to time in a headwind, so they didn't spend long looking. I think the Spanish staff were a bit freaked that I had dad in my handbag, I didn't want him chucked about in the luggage, but obviously we have different notions on respect!

Georgia

 

[xabiaxica]

It seems that some things are better set up in spain...
I think we did have a certificate so we could travel, but the official one wasn't ready.
I took the ashes on as hand luggage, I wasn't prepared for them to go through the scanner, but heho. The plane wanted to take off early to keep up to time in a headwind, so they didn't spend long looking. I think the Spanish staff were a bit freaked that I had dad in my handbag, I didn't want him chucked about in the luggage, but obviously we have different notions on respect!

Georgia

we brought my husband's ashes back to Spain as hand luggage on squeezyjet

one of the flight attendants wanted to put the bag up into the overhead locker & I said I'd rather keep it under the seat

my daughter, then aged 16 - piped up - hey, that's my dad in there & if my mum wants to keep him down here don't you think you should let her?

rapid exit by one very red-faced flight attendant - his cheeks clashed dreadfully with his orange jacket!