British Citizen with Spanish Domicile – Tax and will queations

fromjenny

Does a retired British Citizen who has been renting in Spain for 2 years, qualify for Private Residence Relief (under the 3-year rule) if they now wish to transfer their only permanent home (owned outright) back in the UK?
This would make the difference between having no Capital Gains Tax to pay on transfer of the property to a child, or presumably a very hefty CGT bill if they no longer qualify for the relief.
It has to be assumed that they are now resident in Spain, but the question of Domicile is maybe less clear.
Does Domicile to any given country mean that for tax purposes you're dealt with by that country? Would that also apply to any Will written in the UK by a UK citizen, whereby the beneficiaries of that Will are still in the UK.
Any insight gratefully received.

Savvy_Sue

I can't answer your questions: you probably need to get 'proper' legal advice, ie the kind you can rely on because you've paid for it, and as someone else so delicately put it somewhere else, the kind which enables you to sue the pants off them if they get it wrong. Although it's always a good idea to get some idea yourself.

However, on the question of wills, I believe it's pretty much essential to write a will in each country where you have assets to dispose of, and again, take appropriate legal advice in the process. That's because the law on what you can and can't leave to whom varies from country to country - it's much easier, for example, to disinherit someone in the UK than it is in France.