Hi everyone,  I live in Spain and have just received my divorce papers and court order. My X wife received the house in the Uk and I have a property here in Spain for which she is going to sign over to me.  I took the documents to the Notario they informed me that I have to have the Court Order and Decree Absolute translated into Spanish in the Uk and an Apostille document is required for this.  Has anyone had similar to this. Do I have to have an apostille document for both the spanish and english documentation.  Any help wpould be appreciated. Thanks in advance Dave

Hola Dave
I cant give you the whole picture but a few pointers:

I checked out apostille for different reasons but see http://www.fco.gov.uk - click on legislation

Any translations must be done by an approved translator (ie not a mate who has some Spanish) and officially stamped

I would think that your X will still need to appear in front of the notary (unless a power of attorney is granted)
to sign papers in Spain

Suggest you need a good Spanish solicitors advice and help.

I would also be concerned that a UK divorce settlement may not be legally binding on Spanish property ie. Although there was agreement to sign over to you it may be difficult to enforce this under Spanish law (??)

Good luck!

Hi Dave, also to follow up we have a rather concise guide to understanding sworn translations. If that doesn’t answer your questions then def post back here.

Rob’s advice about the Spanish solicitor is worth heeding too.

Hi Dave,

I have just finnished a similar case for a client.

You need to get the original UK document(s) apostilled at the Foreign and Commonweath Office (FCO). We have a firm in London who can get it done in a couple of days.

Then you can get it translated, I find that the sworn translations are often cheaper here in Spain.

With the original documents and the translations you can then go to the Notary and sign an ” Escritura de elevacion a publico de documento judicial”.

NB: this should not be considered a “transaction” and therefore be exempt from transfer tax.

e-mail me if you have any further questions .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

DUN MARCHING