Why use a Lawyer in Spain?

Do not rely on the Notary to check that your Spanish purchase or sale is in order:

Every property sale and purchase is undertaken in the presence of a Spanish Notary Public (Notario).

A Notary is NOT a lawyer:

The Notary is not a Lawyer (Abogado). He or she is authorised by the Spanish government to oversee and ratify (approve) documents of any kind, including legal documents.  All the Notary has to do is check that the people in front of him\her are:

- willing parties,

- happy with the content of all the documents,

- have legal status (identification checked),

- that the local council tax is paid up to date,

- only on request, the Notary will check on the morning of completion that no new loans (charges) have been secured against the property.

That's it!  A Notary just checks the identification of the parties and that they are happy with what is in front of them (which is all in Spanish).

In other words, if you do not instruct a lawyer to act exclusively for you AND be with you at the Notary then you do not know that the documents placed on the Notary's table are in fact correct and legal, and the Notary does not care, it's not his/her job to care.

For any peace of mind, you must have an independent lawyer acting for you (not the estate agent or builder):

If you are buying a property your own independent lawyer on your side is essential.  If you do not have one then, you really do not have a right to complain if everything one day goes wrong and you find that you actually only have rights of way to land and buildings (you don't own anything outright or you have a shared ownership with a relative of the seller), or even worse, the seller has no right to sell the property, or the Swimming pool has never had building permission, the garage will be demolished as it was not built on your land - these are all things that A.S.K Legal Services has discovered on behalf of clients, sometimes the Seller is not aware of problems until we show them!   

Horror stories in the UK press and TV:

When we hear of horror stories reported in the press and TV we know that to save money the purchasers relied on the honesty of the seller (or his\her estate agent), or even worse instructed an inexperienced lawyer!  You would not do any of these things in the UK where the legal process is at least five times easier and safer! 

Use a local lawyer:

It is important that your lawyer knows the area, the Notaries and the Town Hall procedures of the area you are purchasing in.  So, we only operate for clients purchasing or selling on the Costa Blanca.

If you are dealing with a property in any other part of Spain, try and get an independent lawyer that you have been recommended to, and by that we mean recommended by the person that had direct dealings with the lawyer not a third party.  Good luck with your sale or purchase, but of course, if you have A.S.K Legal Services on you side, you won’t need to rely on luck!