The Open Will (Testamento Abierto) in Spain in 2026: CC Article 694, Notarial Requirements and the Ley 8/2021 Disability Reform

A complete guide to Spain’s most common testamentary form, the notarial open will, including the formalities under CC Articles 694 to 699, the 1991 and 2021 reforms, and what foreign property owners need to know.

The testamento abierto, or open notarial will, is the form most people in Spain use to dispose of their estate. Governed by Articles 694 to 699 of the Spanish Civil Code (Codigo Civil), it requires the testator to express their last wishes to a notary, who drafts the will, reads it aloud, confirms the testator agrees, and authenticates it in a single uninterrupted act. The notary keeps the original in the protocolo (the official notarial archive), which eliminates the risk of loss that plagues holographic wills, and the grant is automatically registered in the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad so heirs can find it after death. For a foreign property owner in Spain, the open will is almost always the right choice because it combines legal certainty, low cost and automatic discoverability.

What is a testamento abierto and how does Article 694 define it?

Article 694 of the Codigo Civil, as reformed by Ley 30/1991, states that the open will must be granted before a notary qualified to act in the place of execution, with exceptions set out in the same section of the code. Article 679 defines it more broadly: a will is “open” whenever the testator manifests their last wishes in the presence of the persons who must authorise the act, and those persons become aware of what is disposed.

In practice, the testamento abierto works as follows. The testator goes to a notary, expresses their wishes orally, in writing, or through any technical, material or human means (a phrase added to Article 695 by Ley 8/2021), and the notary drafts the will accordingly. The notary then reads it aloud to the testator, who confirms it reflects their wishes. The testator signs, and the notary authenticates the document with their sign and signature. The entire process must take place in a single act without interruption, as Article 699 requires. The will is “open” because the notary and any witnesses present know its contents, unlike a testamento cerrado (closed will) where the contents remain sealed.

The Consejo General del Notariado confirms that the open notarial will is the most common form in Spain, owing to its advantages over the holographic and closed alternatives.

How did Ley 30/1991 modernise the open will?

Ley 30/1991, de 20 de diciembre (BOE-A-1991-30534), took effect on 13 January 1992 and reformed the testamentary formalities in the Codigo Civil. Its preamble explains the centenarian regulation of the notarial will needed modernisation. The reform’s most significant change was the suppression of the general requirement for witnesses at the granting of an open notarial will.

Before 1992, two witnesses had to attend every open will alongside the testator and the notary. Ley 30/1991 removed this, reflecting the desire for greater discretion in what is an intimate act of disposing of one’s estate. Witnesses are now required only in specific circumstances set out in Article 697: when the testator cannot sign, or when either the testator or the notary requests them.

The reform also adjusted the provision for incapacitated testators (Article 665), regulated the use of mechanical means for closed wills, and introduced rules for testators who express their will in a language the notary does not know (Article 684). It confirmed that Spaniards abroad can grant open or closed wills before Spanish diplomatic or consular officials (Article 734). The Disposicion transitoria validated wills granted before the law took effect that met the new requirements even if they failed the old ones, provided they had not been annulled by a final court judgment.

What did the Ley 8/2021 disability reform change for open wills?

Ley 8/2021, de 2 de junio (BOE-A-2021-9233), reformed civil and procedural legislation to support persons with disabilities in exercising their legal capacity, implementing Spain’s obligations under the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It took effect three months after publication, on 3 September 2021.

For the testamento abierto, two changes matter. First, Article 695 was rewritten by article segundo.Veintinueve of Ley 8/2021. The testator may now express their will “oralmente, por escrito o mediante cualquier medio técnico, material o humano” (orally, in writing, or through any technical, material or human means). A new third paragraph was added: when the testator has difficulty or impossibility reading the will or hearing its content read aloud, the notary must ensure, using appropriate technical, material or human means, that the testator has understood the necessary information and explanations and knows the will faithfully reflects their wishes.

Second, Article 697 was amended by article segundo.Treinta. The old ordinal 2, which required two witnesses when the testator was blind or could not read, was suppressed. The old ordinal 3 (witnesses when the testator or notary requests them) was renumbered as the new ordinal 2. This means the blind or reading-impaired testator no longer triggers a mandatory witness requirement; instead, the notary uses the support-means framework of the new Article 695 third paragraph. This is a change many older guides still miss: they cite the pre-2021 rule requiring witnesses for blind testators.

The reform also suppressed Article 171 of the Codigo Civil (the old automatic extension of patria potestad for incapacitated children) and replaced the incapacitation framework with a support-measures system, but those changes affect succession capacity rather than the form of the open will itself.

When are witnesses required at an open will?

Under the current Article 697 (as amended by Ley 8/2021), two suitable witnesses must attend the granting only in two situations:

Situation	Article	Witness requirement
Testator cannot or does not know how to sign	Art 697, ordinal 1	Two witnesses required
Testator or notary requests witnesses	Art 697, ordinal 2 (renumbered)	Two witnesses required
Testator is blind or cannot read	Art 697 ordinal 2 (suppressed by Ley 8/2021)	No longer required; notary uses support means under Art 695(3)
Standard open will	Art 694	No witnesses required

Article 698 lists additional persons who must attend if applicable: witnesses of knowledge (who may also serve as instrumental witnesses), physicians who examined an incapacitated testator, and the interpreter who translated the testator’s will into the official language the notary uses.

Witnesses must be suitable under Article 681: they cannot be minors (except as allowed by Article 701 for epidemic wills), must understand the testator’s language, must have the discernment necessary for testimony, and cannot be the notary’s spouse or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second of affinity, or persons with a working relationship with the notary. Article 682 adds that in an open will, the heirs and legatees instituted, their spouses, and their relatives within the same degrees cannot serve as witnesses, except for legatees of movable items or sums of little importance relative to the estate.

What are the formalities for granting a testamento abierto?

The formalities are set out in Articles 695 to 699 and must all be performed in a single uninterrupted act (Article 699):

1. The testator expresses their last wishes to the notary, orally, in writing, or through any technical, material or human means (Art 695, as amended by Ley 8/2021).
2. The notary drafts the will accordingly, with expression of the place, year, month, day and hour of granting (Art 695).
3. The notary informs the testator of their right to read it themselves, then reads it aloud (Art 695).
4. The testator confirms the will reflects their wishes (Art 695).
5. The testator signs; if they cannot or do not know how to sign, one of the witnesses signs at their request (Art 695).
6. If the testator has difficulty reading or hearing the reading, the notary ensures, using appropriate means, that the testator has understood the content (Art 695, third paragraph, added by Ley 8/2021).
7. The notary gives faith of knowing the testator or having identified them, and confirms the testator has the legal capacity to grant a will (Art 696).
8. All formalities are performed in a single act beginning with the reading, with no interruption except for a passing accident (Art 699).

If the notary does not know the testator, Article 685 requires identification through two witnesses who know the testator and are known to the notary, or through official identity documents. The notary must also ensure the testator has the legal capacity necessary to test (Art 685). If the testator expresses their will in a language the notary does not know, Article 684 requires an interpreter chosen by the testator, and the will is written in both languages.

What happens if an open will is declared null?

Article 705 holds the notary who authorised a null open will responsible for damages if the defect arose from their malice or inexcusable negligence or ignorance. This is a consumer-protection provision: the notary, as a public official, is accountable for ensuring the formalities are met. Article 687 declares null any will in whose granting the formalities established in the code were not observed. This is why the notary’s role is central: they bear the professional responsibility for compliance.

What are the exceptional open wills without a notary?

The Codigo Civil preserves two exceptional forms of open will that do not require a notary, both in Section 5 (Del testamento abierto):

Article 700 allows a will before five suitable witnesses if the testator is in imminent danger of death and no notary is available. Article 701 allows a will before three witnesses over sixteen years of age in case of epidemic, again without a notary. Article 702 requires the will to be written if possible, but it remains valid even if the witnesses cannot write.

These exceptional wills are temporary. Article 703 renders them ineffective if two months pass since the testator exited the danger of death or the epidemic ceased. If the testator dies within that period, the will also becomes ineffective unless within three months of death the parties apply to a competent notary to have it elevated to a public deed and protocolised (Articles 703 and 704, the latter as reformed by Ley 15/2015). Article 704, as reformed by Ley 15/2015, states that wills granted without notarial authorisation are ineffective if they are not elevated to public deed and protocolised in the manner provided by notarial legislation.

These provisions gained public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Article 701 was briefly discussed as a mechanism for making a will during lockdown, though in practice most people waited to visit a notary.

How does the open will compare to the holographic and closed forms?

Spain recognises three common will types under CC Article 676: holographic (handwritten), abierto (open notarial) and cerrado (closed). The table below compares them:

Feature	Testamento abierto (open)	Testamento olografo (holographic)	Testamento cerrado (closed)
Governing articles	CC 694 to 699	CC 678, 688 to 693	CC 706 to 715
Notary required	Yes	No	Yes (to authenticate the sealed envelope)
Contents known to	Notary and any witnesses	Testator only until death	Notary knows the envelope contains a will, not its contents
Storage	Notary’s protocolo	Testator keeps it	Testator or notary keeps the sealed envelope
Registration	Automatic in Registro de Última Voluntad	Only after post-death protocolisation	Automatic
Risk of loss	None (notary archive)	High if lost or destroyed	Medium (envelope can be damaged)
Post-death procedure	Heirs get a copy from the notary	Must be adverado and protocolised within 5 years	Must be opened and protocolised before a notary
Cost	Notary arancel (approx EUR 50 to 90)	Free to write, but protocolisation has a cost	Notary arancel

The open will’s decisive advantages are the notary’s professional drafting, the security of the notarial archive, and automatic registration. For a foreign property owner, these matter even more: a holographic will must be in the testator’s handwriting, which can be challenged, and a closed will is, as one notarial analysis describes it, “practically non-existent in real life” after the Ley 30/1991 reform removed the general obligation of witnesses in open wills. The testamento olografo and testamento cerrado guides cover those forms in detail.

How much does a testamento abierto cost?

Notary fees in Spain are not freely negotiated. They are fixed by the Arancel de los Notarios, approved by Real Decreto 1426/1989 (BOE-A-1989-28111). The arancel for a testament is set per grantor, and with IVA and disbursements the total for a straightforward open will typically runs between EUR 50 and EUR 90. The same fee applies at every notary in Spain because the schedule is national. A more complex will with specific legacies, guardianship provisions or international clauses may cost more in drafting time, but the arancel itself is the same.

Compared to the potential cost of an intestate succession or a challenged holographic will, the notary fee is modest. For guidance on the broader inheritance planning picture, see our inheritance planning for non-residents guide.

How does the open will work for foreign property owners?

Foreign owners of Spanish property have several practical considerations when making an open will:

Language. Article 684 (as reformed by Ley 30/1991) allows the testator to express their will in any language. If the notary does not know that language, an interpreter chosen by the testator translates the disposition into the official language the notary uses, and the will is written in both languages. This means a British owner can make a Spanish will in English.

Identification. Article 685 requires the notary to know the testator or identify them through official documents (a passport or Spanish NIE is sufficient) or two witnesses. The notary must also confirm the testator has the legal capacity to test.

Consular wills. Article 734 (as reformed by Ley 30/1991) allows Spaniards abroad to grant an open or closed will before a Spanish diplomatic or consular official who exercises notarial functions. Foreign nationals cannot use this route, but they can make a Spanish will before any notary in Spain, or make a will in their home country that covers their Spanish assets (though a separate Spanish will simplifies probate).

Registration. When an open will is granted, the notary communicates the fact to their Colegio Notarial, which sends the information weekly to the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad. After death, heirs request a Certificado de Actos de Última Voluntad from the Ministry of Justice, which lists every will the deceased granted, the date and the notary. This is why the open will is never “lost”: the registry always knows where it is.

A Spanish will does not revoke a foreign will. A UK will and a Spanish will can coexist, each covering assets in its respective jurisdiction. Our Spanish will for property owners guide explains when a separate Spanish will is advisable.

Why is the testamento abierto the default recommendation?

For most property owners, the open will is the best combination of security, cost and discoverability. The notary drafts the will, ensuring it is legally sound and that the testator has the capacity to test. The original is kept in the notarial archive, so it cannot be lost or destroyed. The grant is automatically registered, so heirs can always find it. The cost is modest and fixed by law. The process takes minutes.

The holographic will is free but risky: it can be lost, the handwriting can be challenged, and it must be protocolised within five years of death or it becomes ineffective. The closed will offers privacy but is rarely used, has stricter formalities, and the sealed envelope can be damaged. For a Spanish notary’s role in a property purchase, the same notary who handles your conveyancing can also grant your will.