Over the past 20 years our legal counsel has assisted dozens of clients achieve the recognition of foreign judgments. We are experts in processing exequátur anywhere in Spain.
We take care of
Everything
- Information on, and as required, recompilation of documents to submit with the exequátur petition.
- Legalization of foreign documents to be submitted and arrange for certified translations.
- Process powers of attorney in country of origin to be signed by a local notary and legalized by apostille or at a Spanish Consulate near the client’s residence.
- Draft and submit the exequátur petition to the appropriate Spanish court.
- Management of notifications to the other party living abroad by the service of international cooperation for civil and commercial cases.
- Follow up on the proceedings in all phases and solution to problems arising during the court action.
- Registration of the foreign judgment in the appropriate Spanish Registries as required once the court proceedings are finalized.
- Enforcement of the foreign judgment which has been recognized in Spain to achieve performance in Spain of the obligations set out in the judgment.
Not all foreign judgments can be recognized to have effect in Spain.
If you want to know if your foreign judgment has the minimum requirements for recognition, please download the free PDF below.
It contains a list which will allow you to check rapidly to see if your judgment could be recognized by an exequátur action. If it looks like it could be recognized in Spain, the PDF also lists the documents required for an exequátur so you can begin to compile them.
We trust it is useful!
What is an exequátur?
If you have a judgment from another country and you want it to have effect in Spain to enforce it Spain you need an exequátur. An exequátur is an action seen by a Spanish court by which the foreign judgment is recognized in Spain, requiring the services of a lawyer and a Procurador (a lawyer who is the liaison between the court and the lawyer), both of whom are admitted to a Bar in Spain.
How long does the process take?
Depending on the complexities of the case (for example, if the other party must be notified abroad or the state prosecutor´s involvement is required if there are minors) and depending on the court (there are courts which operate slower than others because of their workload) the process could take between 6 and 18 months. That is why we recommend our clients to begin as soon as possible; the sooner we begin, the sooner it is over.
What happens once the court action is finished?
If your judgment is a divorce, once it is recognized in Spain your judgment will be recorded in the Spanish Civil Registry. If besides the divorce monetary obligations are involved, they may be enforced by court enforcement action and you will collect what is owed to you, title to real estate property will be transferred to you and you will be able to enforce performance of any other obligations set out in your foreign judgment.
If your judgment recognizes a right or a monetary obligation (for instance the result of breach of a purchase/sale, distribution or agency etc. contract by a Spanish resident who refuses to pay you), once you have achieved the exequátur we are in a position to initiate enforcement proceedings to collect the debt.
How much will it cost?
We propose an online appointment or one at our office with an attorney who is an expert in exequátur to discuss your case, review the foreign judgment and give you a personalized estimate of fees. We offer the following payment terms to our clients: 1) one third when we take on the case, 2) one third when the petition is submitted to court and 3) when the exequátur is achieved.
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