SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Álvaro Paniagua Rico and Borja López Pol, Anaford Abogados
8.3 Planning for Incapacity Spanish law provides several legal mechanisms to plan for mental incapacity. Individuals may grant last - ing (preventive) powers of attorney, which remain effective or become effective upon the grantor’s inca - pacity, allowing a trusted person to manage their per - sonal and financial affairs without the need for imme - diate court intervention. Where judicial support is required, the legal system provides for the appointment of a curator (curador) or, in specific circumstances, a judicial defender (defen - sor judicial) to safeguard the interests of persons requiring support in the exercise of their legal capac - ity. In the case of minors, a guardian (tutor) may also be appointed where appropriate. In practice, preventive powers of attorney are increas - ingly used as a planning tool, enabling individuals to determine in advance who will act on their behalf and under what conditions. Judicial support measures are generally reserved for situations in which voluntary arrangements are unavailable or insufficient to protect the individual’s personal and financial interests. 8.4 Elder Law The Spanish government has been addressing dependency issues through various laws, with the primary one being the Dependency Law. This law aims to regulate the fundamental conditions that ensure equality in exercising the subjective right of citizenship regarding the promotion of personal autonomy and the care of individuals in situations of dependency, as established by law. It accomplishes this by creating a System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency, involving the collaboration and partici - pation of all public administrations and ensuring that the General State Administration guarantees a mini - mum common set of rights for all citizens throughout Spain’s territory. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Under Spanish law, all biological children have equal rights, irrespective of whether their parents are mar -
ried. Adopted children enjoy the same legal treatment as biological ones. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Spain recognises same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships. Generally, their legal status is equivalent to that of traditional marriages. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples Spanish law does not provide a uniform legal frame - work for unmarried couples. The legal recognition and effects of de facto couples (parejas de hecho) vary depending on the autonomous community, with each region establishing its own requirements and legal consequences. From a tax perspective, unmarried couples generally do not enjoy the same treatment as married couples. In particular, they are not entitled to joint personal income tax filing and the inheritance and gift tax ben - efits available to surviving partners depend on the legislation of the relevant autonomous community. In some regions, registered de facto partners are granted treatment similar to that of spouses for inheritance and gift tax purposes, whereas in others they are not. Nevertheless, the general legislative trend has been towards increasing alignment between the treatment of registered de facto partners and that of married couples, particularly for inheritance and gift tax pur - poses. Since the 1990s, Spain has had a significant law regu - lating the tax regime for non-profit entities and pro - viding tax incentives for patronage. These incentives apply both to the non-profit organisations themselves and to individuals and entities that make contributions to such organisations. These incentives may include, for example, a full exemption from Corporate Income Tax for the non- profit entity in certain cases, as well as significant deductions for PIT and CIT purposes for contributions made by individuals and entities. 10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving
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