Lawyers in Spain
We receive lots of queries from visitors enquiring about lawyers fees in Spain.
We always recommend use of a lawyer when purchasing property here, but do advise our users to be wary of two things:
Never ever use a lawyer recommended to you by the estate agent that showed you the property you are purchasing. The job of estate agents is to sell property, not to protect your rights as buyers. And they will inevitably recommend a lawyer known and regularly hired by them, who will naturally protect the sale rather than your rights. It is very important to find an independent lawyer.
Lawyers fees. We have heard all sorts of fees charged to buyers who have little idea of average solicitor fees in Spain and so can easily be overcharged. Bear the following facts in mind
Some lawyers charge a percentage of the purchase price as their fee (anything from 1 to 1.5 percent). So, the more expensive your property, the more you have to pay, even though size and price do not necessarily mean more work.
Some lawyers charge another fee on top of the percentage, which they call a "documents fee". We had a message recently from one Euroresidentes user whose lawyers wanted to charge him 1 percent + .75 percent "documentation fee". He was going to be charged a total of over 2500 euros, which was about double the average price for lawyers services in the area of Spain where he was buying his house.
Other lawyers charge an hourly fee, which can range between 100 and 150 euros per hour, depending on the law firm. House transactions do not actually entail much work for a lawyer in Spain. The paperwork is very straightforward and experienced lawyers will need no longer than a few hours to check everything.
If you are getting a mortgage with a Spanish bank, the bank lawyers will usually check the deeds and property register themselves, and a small fee will be included for this in the mortgage set-up costs. This does not mean that you should not hire the services of your own lawyer, but it is something to bear in mind.
We would advise all property buyers in Spain to take the following steps:
- Find a good, independent and recommended local lawyer who has thorough knowledge of the area in which you are purchasing your property. Ask your local consulate - staff there may be able to help. Alternatively send an email to Euroresidentes (euroresi@euroresidentes.com) specifying where you are looking for (or have found) a property to buy, and we will forward the name of a local reputable lawyer experienced in serving the needs of non-Spanish property buyers. We have a long list of lawyers who have been successfully hired by Brits who have purchased real estate in Spain (See this testimony received from a recent satisfied customer: Recommended lawyer in Costa Tropical).
- Once you have found a recommended Spanish lawyer, agree on the fee before you do anything else. If you decide to be charged a fee based on an hourly rate, ask for an estimated number of hours before you agree. If you are lucky to have more than one recommendation of independent lawyers, get two estimates and compare them.
- Don't use a lawyer recommended to you by the property vendor, whether it is a private sale or an estate agent. In both cases the priority of the vendor is to sell as quickly as possible and at the highest price possible. The buyer's interests however are to ensure that this is a legal sale, that the property itself is legal and sellable, the price is fair, the paperwork is correct, the vendor is in a position to sell, legal services are charged according to local rates and, very important, that the property is in no way under threat from local urban policies.
Related:
Spanish lawyers
Labels: professionals spain
47 Comments:
Dear Sir(s)
I am currently looking for property
in the following 3 areas:
Inland from Denia, Costa Blanca.
Berja, near Almeria.
Motril, in Granada.
Any lawyers you could recommend
would be a great help!
Regards....Shaun
Hi Shaun. If you send us your email address or a telephone number, we will be happy to recommend you an excellent legal company with lawyers who will be able to help you in all 3 areas.
Send your details to euroresi@euroresidentes.com
Good luck with finding a property!
As a Director of an English law firm in Spain I must disagree with some of your comments regarding fees.
You state that the checking procedure should only take a few hours but in reality, since the paperwork is not in order in a high percentage of cases, this is not the case.
After checking the paperwork lawyers will arrange the signing of the Title Deed and accompany buyers to the Notary - a task which in itself can take various hours.
Later the lawyers may have to pick up the deed, take it to the tax office to pay taxes, pick it up again later and then take it to the Land Registry for registration and again pick it up when ready.
In addition, the amount of time explaining to clients items such as NIE and other complcations of the Spanish system is often enormous.
A fixed fee is clearly the best route to take as an hourly fee which, according to the queues one encounters at these various offices could quickly rise to astronomical levels.
The percentage system, whilst it is true seems unfair when the amount of work involved in a transaction of a low or a high value may be the same, the potential liability to the lawyer is not.
It is a pity, however, that buyers do not heed your comments regarding instructing a lawyer before entering into any contractual liability. Every day we have cases of buyers which are difficult if not impossibloe to resolve because they have agreed to a purchase blindly.
People need to know that the judicial system in Spain is disastrous and any legal action they may take against a developer is likely to take years to resolve and is not always guranteed to succeed.
Regards,
Barry Randal-Williams
Legalanswers
Dear Sir / Madam ,
I am purchasing a property on a Polaris Golf Resort , in Murcia , my agent has recommended a lawyer , but i would prefer to enlist one myself , could you recommend a good lawyer in that region ?
Kind Regards ,
Anna
Dear Anna,
Yes, we can recommend you an excellent bi-lingual (English-Spanish) lawyer in this area. We certainly do advise you to get independent legal advice as there have been several items in the news lately about problems Polaris are having with getting planning permission in certain areas of the Region of Murcia.
Please send us an email address to: euroresi@euroresidentes.com with your own email address or a phone number, and we will reply with details of the company of lawyers we recommend in that area.
Good luck with your property purchase.
hi, do you know of any good lawyers in the extremadura area of spain please? I have chosen an area (La Coderosa)and am going over there to look at a couple of properties but need a lawyer and a good bank to open an account at.....any help gratefully received
thanks, Liante
I have agreed a purchase on the Murcia Camposol site and am having difficulty finding a local solicitor?
Replies to: lesbentley@btopenworld.com
My (Spanish) partner and I are selling our flat in Maresme (Barcelona) and we have an offer from a private individual. ie not through our estate agent.
If we sell privately, we save the 1.5m pts estate agent fee (9000€ !!!!)
So obviously this is interesting for us.
My question is, What exactly does the "sellers" lawyer have to do, and what is a reasonable fee for this.
many thanks
C.Grant - Premia de Mar
Hi
We are currently purchasing a property near Arboleas, Almeria. Can you please recommend a solicitor in the area.
Thanks
Terri
terri@tdager.fsnet.co.uk
Hi I am currently buying a property in Alora Spain.Can you recommend a good English speaking lawyer there Thanks Pegeen.My e-mail address is: pegeen@pegeen.f9.co.uk
Hi, could you please recommend an English/Spanish speaking lawyer in the Rojales area. We are looking to sell our current property and buy another. My e-mail address is mmbuild@aol.com
Kindest regards,
Mrs McGillivray
hello, i'm just wondering if you know of any decent lawyers in la linea de la concepcion, or any in gibraltar that can assist with a purchse in spain?
many thanks, michelle
I bought a property in Spain and paid EU3000 to the estate agent to take the house off the market. The vendor signed papers with the solicitor agreeing to sell and I signed mine agreeing to buy. Three weeks after I bought the house I was told the vendor did not want to sell. I became suspicious and tried to buy the house again through another estate agent only to find out that they had sold the house I bought three days before for EU25,000 more than what I paid for it. I am pursuing a compensation claim through the solicitor in Spain as a result of this and my question is "Is it normal for a clause to be written into the original purchase agreement whereby if the vendor backs down from the sale they have to pay double the original EU3000 deposit?"
Hi,
I am currently buying off-plan in Cortes de la Frontera through an estate agent in Fuengirola.
They have lawyers in their offices (Called Lawyers in Spain) but I am wary of using these. Please could you recommomend other lawyers or confirm that Lawyers in Spain are reputable.
Replies to bailbonds73@hotmail.com
Many thanks
Hi,
We are looking to buy a spanish home in Freila, please could you recommend any lawyers in this area as soon as possible as we are flying over there on Tuesday 25th April 2006. Please reply to a.hales@homecall.co.uk.
Many thanks,
Mr & Mrs Hales.
Hi,
I am buying an off-plan property near Granada. Can you recommend a lawyer in this area? Please reply to c_fiak@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Christian
Hi,
I am buying an off-plan property near Granada. Can you recommend a lawyer in this area? Please reply to c_fiak@hotmail.com
Thank you,
Christian
we are looking for a reputable English speaking solicitor in the Granada / malaga area. We hope to buy a property in in Alhama de Granada and would like to know the rates to be charged and also if it is common practice for the solicitor to ask for 50% of his estimated fees up front.
Thank you, could you please respond to kay.sutcliffe@bt.com
I have found a property in Alhama de Granada which is about 40mins from Granada and Malaga, can you recommend a solicitor in this area. Regards Colin
I have found a property in Alhama de Granada which is about 40mins from Granada and Malaga, can you recommend a solicitor in this area. Regards Colin
Hi there
I am looking to by a property on the Corvera delvelopement near Murcia.
Can you recommend some solicitors?
thanks
please post to sr@ctsgroup.uk.com
Steve
Hi there
I am looking to buy a property on the Corvera developement near Murcia.
Can you recommend some Solicitors (english speaking) in this area
thanks
Steve
sr@ctsgroup.uk.com
Hi
I live in Extremadura (incidentally I have a house to sell if anybody is interested). Prior to moving here my family and I lived in Galicia. One evening I backed my vehicle into a car , doing some considerable damage.
The owner of the car turned out to be an English-speaking abogado (lawyer). We subsequently became friends of both he and his family. He is an expert in his profession and a delightful bloke to boot.
If you are happy to deal with a lawyer over the telephone and via email, rather than face to face, I cannot recommend him too highly.
If you would like to contact him, give me a call on 0034-927581060 or email me at john@the-dating-handbook.co.uk.
He and I are now a five hour drive apart, but I have not found that in any way a problem
I am going to buy a property in costa del sol from a friend. He has had his passport taken away for various reasons. He is now living in England and I am wondering how we can conduct this transaction as he can`t go over to Spain himself to see a lawyer. Can this be dealt with in England. I have my NIE number and power of attorney with a lawyer in Spain myself, it is just his part that may be a problem.
Hope you can help.
Thanks Ann.
Hi
I'm looking at buying a property in either ,Antequera or Torrox areas of Andalucia.
Could you please recommend any good lawyers in these areas.
Thanks
kev_baxter@hotmail.com
Hi,
My partner and I have found an apartment just outside Torrevieja. We have been recommended by our estate agents to use their Solicitors but they charge 3% of the value of the property. I would be greatfull if you could point me the direction of a good Solicitor.
Please email becky.wells@baesystems.com. thank you
Hi,
I would be very greatful if you could email me with the details of some Solicitors in Torrevieja. We have just bought an apartment but our estate agents want us to use their Solicitors who are charging 3% of the value of the house. After reading info on on website I'm weary of using them. Email address is becky.wells@baesystems.com.
Thanks very much
i am looking to buy a property off plan at the santa ana complex in jumilla. does anyone have any experience of this development. we are negotiating thru elite properties. any info would be much appreciated. sue
can anyone tell me how to buy a boat in spain to use commercially and what certificates are required? this would be in the costa calida region. graham
Hello - we're looking for an English speaking lawyer to handle a property purchas ein Pollenca (Mallorca) on a fizxed fee basis. Any ideas/suggestios? Help would be much appreciated! I can be reached at amartin@crocodille.com or +420 724 216 551
Dear Sirs:
I am new at this... I would like to find out where one can obtain information as to whether the Property Taxes have been paid on a property in the Bonavista, Tarrogona area. Also, to find out what the value of the house should be. Will probably need to hire an attorney and a realtor.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Paquita joy4him@hotmail.com
I am a Spanish lawyer and I disagree with some of the opinions about us. Do you really think that we only check the documents and that we need only several hours to do our work? I am sure that there are non-reputable lawyers that overcharge their fees, but I can assure that to make a good work, as it must be,it is needed a lot of hours of work, study,communications, queues, meetings etc... that not always are paid.
In any case, any people have access to the colleges of lawyers, were you can find any information about fees and lawyers.
Following the rules of the Colleges of lawyers, you will find that the sistem to calculate a fee is not a percentage of the value of the property, and neither on the hours worked, but it is quite more complex.
If you ask information to the college, sometime you can have a surprise: the bill given by your solicitor has been cheaper than the fee calculated on the basis of the College of Lawyer's rules.
If it is more expensive, you can complain through the College and have a recalculation of the fee.
Isa.
Hi I am looking to purchase a property near Granada and i was hoping you may be able to recommend a couple of lawyers/firms that are expert in both english and spanish. Regards Simon.
Hello, Im looking at buying a property in Granada (near Monachil) and would like an english speaking lawyer, could you recommend one?
Jon Bennett
bennettjon@gmail.com
I am planning to buy an apartment ohh plan in La Manga Del Mar Menor (Murcia). Please recommend good English lawyers. Please reply to mukherjee_debashis@hotmail.com.
Thanks. Dev.
Hi
Just seen your the info on your great website about the legal fees charged by lawyers. I am buying an off-plan in Vista Hermosa for 287,604.02 € (inc VAT). The lawyersofspain is charging me 3,117.95 € which sound too much to me? What do you think?
fs
Hi, I bought a house in Mallorca and I will be happy to recommend you an excellent legal company with lawyers who will be able to help you in all areas.
Good luck with your property purchase.
Alex
We are thinking to buy a second hand property outside Frigiliana between Granada and Malaga. Can you please send me the names of, at least, 2 reputable lawyers in the area ?
clach@washgas.com
Thanks you very much, Chris
I have been offered the chance to buy a property in spain in Andalucia which i believe is in the Granada area. I am looking for a English Speaking spanish lawyer could you recommend any. SAM
samoprey@blueyonder.co.uk
We are buying a house in the Sierra de la Contraviesa, between Albunol and Cadiar.
Could you please recommend an independent english speaker abogado who could help?
Please reply to born2bongo@yahoo.co.uk
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
I have a beautiful Village House or sale in Tiena Granada, only 25 mins from town and 20 mins from the airport. Completely renovated with 3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms and a fabulous roof Terrace with Stunning Mountain Views including Siera Nevada. If quaint village Life with Spanish Locals is your thing then get in touch. ellelh@blueyonder.co.uk
We are desperately in need of an english speaking abogado in Cantabria. We are buying a property near Lierganes. Can anyone help or recommend someone please??
Karen and Peter
I posted before in April, asking for an English speaking abogado in Southern Granada province.
At the time I did not make it clear that we were some way down the line with the purchase, but having difficulties with the abogado we had engaged.
We had begun to suspect he wasn't doing things properly and had sought advice from a second lawyer who confirmed our suspicions but was unwilling to take us on.
We did get a recommendation from you before, but they have not responded to our email and we think it is for the same reason that the second abogado will not take on our case.
The vendor has told us he is willing to give us our deposit back, and we are warming to the idea, simply because our contract is inadequate. This might be a preferable option for any abogado considering our case, and would give him or her the chance to start again when we find a new house to buy. If we do this we would like to make sure we get our deposit back immediately and not after the house is sold to someone else.
Meanwhile, the original abogado has resigned and is refusing to hand over the contract or mortgage documents until we pay him the rest of his (we now know to be) exhorbitant fee.
Is there anyone out there willing to take this on? We thought we did the right thing by engaging an abogado but there seem to be many bad ones and no way to find a good one.
Please reply to born2bongo@yahoo.co.uk
May thanks
I have found a very good firm of lawyers in Cartagena with another easy to find office in La Manga who not only speak English but they have English staff members who speak Spanish as well so I had no problems understanding them and they understood my needs perfectly. They were very reasonably priced and the advise they gave me was excellent. If you wish to contact me at digby1968@gmail.com and I will be happy to pass on their details to who ever wants them.
Hello, I am currently looking into whether some property has been purchased in Spain using funds from the family business, without boring you with a long and complicated story.
I know little about Spanish law. I know that if property is bought by a foreigner in some countries you have to register a limited company, and i could find the owner on the net. Is there a freedom of information act etc?
Can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
I think some of the comments untrue,of course if like in England you can be ripped of if you happen to use a unprofessional estate agent or lawyer.When buying a house anywhere do your research and always use a reputable agent.
Lucy
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