Since midnight on 17 August 2015, the European Regulation 650/2012 on international succession upon death (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) has applied to international inheritances caused by persons who have died since that date in twenty-five Member States (the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark do not participate). This represents a major change in national legal and family traditions.

Perhaps the most significant of the eighteen main instruments adopted in the field of European Civil Justice, rules in which, to a greater or lesser extent, I have had the honour of participating on behalf of Spain.

The Regulation, which is technically very complex, requires education and information.

The Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is well aware of this and is currently carrying out a campaign to make our workers and civil servants abroad aware of the major changes involved. Briefly considered these are: when there is an international element (very open question) the national law of the deceased does not apply. The law of the place where the deceased resided at the time of death will apply to the succession, irrespective of his nationality and the situation of his assets and even if this leads to the law of any corner of the world. In other words, the deceased Spanish national with assets in Spain will, in such a case, be subject to a law that is not Spanish, with the consequences that this entails: in the position that by law corresponds to the children, the widow or widower, the relatives. On the other hand, Spanish law will apply to anyone who resides in Spain, because this is where the vital centre of their interests lies, even if they are not a European, but a national of any other country. This surprising change - although the application has been delayed for three years - can be overridden by the choice of national law in the will. In Spain it is easy. A notarial will will rarely exceed 50 euros, by far the lowest amount in Europe. However, it will not be as easy in other European countries due to the lack of a notary network as widespread as in Spain and the associated costs. The Spanish Consulates are also prepared, in any part of the world, to attend to the needs of our nationals.

The Regulation introduces other new features. The first concerns the rights of the widower. Pending approval in the European Union of two Regulations on the property rights of spouses and registered partners, the rights of the surviving spouse will be succession rights except for strictly family rights (such as certain rights over the family home) which, until such approval, will be governed in Spain by the law chosen or, failing that, by the initial residence of the marriage. This, in addition to being complex, contradicts a ruling of the Supreme Court of 28 April 2014, at the time disputed and now unacceptable. It is not possible that a spouse who has a current account outside Spain or a child to accept or repudiate abroad - beyond the deceased's own habitual residence outside Spain - should be attributed rights other than those that do not have an external element. Let us not talk about registered partnerships, where the absence of a material state regulation and clear rules of inter-regional conflict leads to absurdities such as the fact that, in certain Autonomous Communities with civil regulatory capacity, all couples are obliged to have civil neighbourhood for their registration, when civil neighbourhood is reserved exclusively for Spanish nationals. Therefore, in the next legislature, the modification of inheritance law by the state legislator will be unavoidable. In inter-regional and material terms.

In Spain there are seven applicable regulations. In addition to the Civil Code, there are special regulations in Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque Country and Navarre, with complicated territorial and subjective rules. Non-Spanish residents in a legislative unit will be directly subject to these varied rules - which will lead to many surprises - while Spaniards residing in Spain with an international element will be subject to the more rigid and sometimes unsuitable rules that apply according to their civil neighbourhood. The Regulation therefore requires the establishment of clear and simple rules of conflict. In material terms, it will also require, as in Germany, the - not strident - modification of our system of legitimation. New rules are needed on disinheritance, ingratitude, maintenance entitlements or the absurd burden - which has numerous exceptions - of all assets being earmarked for payment of the legitima, which often leads to unfair situations, among other more specific issues.

It would not be inappropriate, moreover, to carry out a serious study in which Spanish domestic legislation, some of which is both technically and sociologically superior to the Civil Code, could be approximated. It is time for a normative reunion in Spain. It is curious, but sometimes Finland is closer to Madrid than Barcelona is to Seville.

The author has been the expert of the Spanish Ministry of Justice in the negotiation of the European Succession Regulation and is a Legal Officer attached to the D.G. Registros y Notariado.