After a death

1. The first hours

1. Call a doctorThe death must be certified by a physician. At home, through 112 or the health centre; in hospital or a care home it is done there. Nothing proceeds without the medical certificate.
2. Call a funeral directorThey handle removal, the chapel of rest and the paperwork, including registration at the civil registry. In Spain this is the normal route: you do not have to visit the offices yourself.
3. Check the insuranceA póliza de decesos, a funeral policy, is common here. It determines which firm acts — before you instruct anyone, check whether one exists.
4. Registration at the civil registryWithout delay, at the Juzgado de Paz. The burial or cremation licence follows. Justice of the Peace
5. Burial or cremationUsually within a few days. If relatives are travelling from abroad, say so at once — a delay is possible but has to be arranged.

2. Cemeteries in Altea

• Cementeri Municipal d’Altea — Partida les Rotes 1, 03590 Altea. 681 10 59 61. Route to the municipal cemetery
• Cementeri d’Altea la Vella — Partida Font del Garroferet 2, 03599 Altea. 965 84 80 39. Route to Altea la Vella

Graves and niches are granted by the municipality; the charges are in the fiscal bylaws. Burial rights are usually granted for a term — check the cemetery regulations (Reglament del cementeri); if your family holds a grave, know when it expires.

3. Crematorium and funeral homes

• Tanatori Crematori Marina Baixa — N-332, km 142, La Vila Joiosa. A nearby crematorium. 965 89 58 58. Route to the crematorium
• Tanatori El Sagristà — Plaça d’Espanya 4, Callosa d’en Sarrià. 965 88 20 30
• Funerària Germans Femenia Pineda — Camí de Canor 26, Benissa. 649 48 18 44

These are some establishments in the area; the list is not a recommendation. Which firm acts usually follows from the funeral policy.

4. Where the deceased was a foreign national

• Notify the consulate — it issues the certificate for the home country and advises on repatriation. Other offices
• Repatriation — possible; according to the German Foreign Office it takes 3 to 10 days and is handled by funeral directors in both countries. The cost runs to several thousand euros — ask the insurer beforehand what it covers.
• Multilingual certificates — the Spanish death certificate exists in an international version accepted in Germany, for example, without translation. Ask for it expressly at the Juzgado de Paz.

5. Afterwards

• Several copies of the death certificate — bank, insurers, notary, consulate and pension providers will each want their own.
• Certificado de últimas voluntades — the certificate showing whether a will has been lodged. Applied for online at the Ministry of Justice (Registro de Actos de Última Voluntad) — not immediately, but after a waiting period.
• Inheritance tax — the deadline is six months from the date of death, extendable on application by a further six months. It is handled by the Agència Tributària Valenciana (ATV); if the deceased was not, or the heir is not, resident in Spain, by the state tax agency (AEAT). Taxes
• Contracts — electricity, water, Suma, telephone, the owners’ association. Without a change of holder the direct debits continue.
• Pensions — notify both the Spanish and any foreign provider at once. Overpayments may be reclaimed.

6. Making provision

Anyone living here spares their family a great deal by settling three things: a funeral policy or clear instructions, a Spanish will for assets situated in Spain, and a folder with identity documents, NIE, policies and bank details somewhere easy to find.

A Spanish will is made before a notary and noted in the central register. It avoids the laborious process of having a foreign will recognised. How it interacts with a German will should be clarified with a lawyer — a later will can revoke an earlier one.

This page describes the usual procedure. For individual cases, particularly inheritance with a foreign element, legal or notarial advice is the right route.