End-of-life planning: life insurance, notaries and paperwork
A notarized will in Spain costs from €50 and a funeral insurance policy covers the burial. Find out which documents to sign so no one has to improvise on your behalf.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A notarized will and a funeral insurance policy are enough to settle both the distribution of assets and the funeral. The rest — final wishes, grave and music — is written down in detail and kept somewhere someone can find it.
There comes an age when you start looking at gravestones differently. At **35** it seems early, but health falters and eyesight fades, and then getting the paperwork in order stops being an annoying chore and becomes a way of not leaving a mess behind.
## Notarized will: what it costs and how it is kept
The will is executed before a notary and costs from around **50 euros**, according to the Notarial Association. You can choose any notary freely and switch to another without explanation. The document is recorded in the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad (Spain's central registry of wills), so any notary can locate it after death.
To name heirs you don't need children or a spouse. You can leave assets to friends, ex-partners or specific individuals, as long as they are identified by name and ID. The reserved share (legítima) only protects descendants, ascendants and the surviving spouse, so without them there is plenty of leeway.
## Funeral insurance and life insurance: not the same thing
Funeral insurance covers the costs of the funeral: coffin, funeral home, transport and ceremony. Life insurance pays a sum to the beneficiaries. It's worth comparing coverage and reading the fine print about included services and age limits.
Transport to another city makes the bill more expensive. Specifying in writing the exact grave — the paternal one in **Ciudad Real**, for example — prevents the family from deciding on their own.
## Final wishes, ceremony and papers nobody can find
The registry of final wishes records instructions on organ donation and sedation. The ceremony, the music and the reading of personal texts are detailed in a separate document, which is given to a trusted person.
A will doesn't always reach the notary in time. Leaving a copy of everything — policies, grave details, list of heirs — in a place known to someone avoids last-minute stress.
This is general guidance: for your specific case, consult a notary and an insurance broker.
There comes an age when you start looking at gravestones differently. At **35** it seems early, but health falters and eyesight fades, and then getting the paperwork in order stops being an annoying chore and becomes a way of not leaving a mess behind.
## Notarized will: what it costs and how it is kept
The will is executed before a notary and costs from around **50 euros**, according to the Notarial Association. You can choose any notary freely and switch to another without explanation. The document is recorded in the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad (Spain's central registry of wills), so any notary can locate it after death.
To name heirs you don't need children or a spouse. You can leave assets to friends, ex-partners or specific individuals, as long as they are identified by name and ID. The reserved share (legítima) only protects descendants, ascendants and the surviving spouse, so without them there is plenty of leeway.
## Funeral insurance and life insurance: not the same thing
Funeral insurance covers the costs of the funeral: coffin, funeral home, transport and ceremony. Life insurance pays a sum to the beneficiaries. It's worth comparing coverage and reading the fine print about included services and age limits.
Transport to another city makes the bill more expensive. Specifying in writing the exact grave — the paternal one in **Ciudad Real**, for example — prevents the family from deciding on their own.
## Final wishes, ceremony and papers nobody can find
The registry of final wishes records instructions on organ donation and sedation. The ceremony, the music and the reading of personal texts are detailed in a separate document, which is given to a trusted person.
A will doesn't always reach the notary in time. Leaving a copy of everything — policies, grave details, list of heirs — in a place known to someone avoids last-minute stress.
This is general guidance: for your specific case, consult a notary and an insurance broker.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (13 replies).
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