In the field of succession law, it is often said that the wishes of the deceased are the law of the succession, although this cannot be understood in absolute terms, but only within the limitations laid down by each legal system, both as to form and as to substance.

The first of those limitations is precisely that the succession is subject to a particular law: the law governing the succession.

In Spain, in order to determine the law applicable to a succession, a distinction must be drawn between purely domestic successions and international successions.

In purely domestic successions, that is, those which do not present any relevant international element, the law governing the succession will be one of the different civil laws coexisting in Spain and will be determined according to the deceased’s civil citizenship (vecindad civil) at the time of death.

In the case of an international succession, Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 applies to the successions of persons who died on or after 17 August 2015. Under its general rule, the law applicable to the succession as a whole is the law of the State in which the deceased had his or her habitual residence at the time of death.

Exceptionally, where it is clear from all the circumstances of the case that, at the time of death, the deceased was manifestly more closely connected with another State, the law of that other State will apply.

In addition, the deceased may choose as the law applicable to the succession the law of the State whose nationality he or she possesses at the time of making the choice or at the time of death.