If you’re searching for what you need to sort out financially before moving from the UK to Spain, the honest answer is: more admin than you’d like, spread across two tax systems, and most of it easier to handle before you leave than after. The problem is usually that nobody hands you the full list, so things get missed — an ISA left open and forgotten, HMRC never told, a will that only covers UK assets, or a Spanish reporting obligation nobody mentioned until it was already due.

This is that list, organised into three stages: what to sort before you leave the UK, what needs doing in your first few months in Spain, and what becomes an ongoing habit once you’re settled. None of it is personal advice — the specifics always need a proper conversation — but it’s a solid starting map.

Before you leave the UK

Tell HMRC you’re going. If you’re leaving the UK to live abroad, HMRC needs to know, generally via a form completed with your final UK tax return (or separately if you don’t normally file one). That starts the clock on your UK tax residency changing. The UK and Spain each have their own tests for when residency begins and ends, so the two don’t always line up neatly.

Work out what happens to your UK bank accounts. Some UK banks are happy to keep accounts open for non-residents; others will close or restrict them once your address changes. A UK account is often useful when you have sterling income or ongoing UK commitments, so it’s worth checking with each provider directly rather than assuming it carries on.

Check your ISA. You can generally keep an existing ISA open, but you typically can’t pay new money in once you’re no longer UK tax resident. The bigger point for Spain is that the ISA is a UK tax wrapper: Spain doesn’t recognise it, and as a Spanish resident taxed on your worldwide income, the income and gains inside that “tax-free” account can look very different through a Spanish lens. See our full piece on what happens to your UK ISA when you move abroad.

Don’t forget your UK pension. Whatever you hold — workplace pension, personal pension, or SIPP — it stays a UK-regulated asset wherever you live. Moving to Spain does not move it into a Spanish arrangement, and you should be wary of anyone who implies it can or should. What is worth doing before you go is knowing what you hold, reviewing whether it’s still working for you, and considering whether scattered old schemes are worth consolidating — all of which needs regulated advice. We cover the shape of this in what actually happens to your UK pension when you move abroad.

Review your protection cover. Life cover, income protection, and critical illness cover bought in the UK don’t always travel well — some policies exclude claims once you’re resident abroad, others simply lapse. Check the wording before you assume anything carries over to Spain.

Sort your UK tax position for the year you leave. Splitting a tax year between UK and Spanish residency has its own rules, and the two countries don’t even use the same tax year, which adds a wrinkle. This is a genuine “speak to a tax adviser” situation — the rules depend on dates, income sources, and your remaining ties to the UK.

Flag that you’ll need a Spanish will. A UK will doesn’t automatically stop working when you move, but it may not deal sensibly with assets you acquire in Spain, and Spanish succession law can interact with a UK will in ways that catch people out. Put it on the list now even if you action it after you land.

Your first few months in Spain

Sort your residency and registration. Living in Spain means the practical paperwork of settling — the residency permissions relevant to your situation and the local registrations that unlock day-to-day life. Requirements differ by circumstances and by nationality post-Brexit, so confirm what applies to you rather than relying on what a friend did.

Open a Spanish bank account. You’ll want this fairly quickly for rent, utilities and day-to-day spending, and most banks will ask for identification, proof of address, and a residency or tax-identification document. Requirements vary by bank, so check what a given provider needs before you arrive if you can.

Understand the 183-day tax residency test. Broadly, spending more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year — among other tests, such as where your main economic interests sit — can make you Spanish tax resident, and Spanish residents are taxed on their worldwide income and gains, not just what arises in Spain. This is the single biggest change from a UK financial picture, and exactly the thing to get proper tax advice on early.

Get to grips with the Modelo 720. Spain requires resident taxpayers to declare certain assets held outside the country — overseas accounts, investments and property — through a return commonly known as the Modelo 720. If you keep UK accounts, an ISA, investments or pensions after becoming resident, this reporting obligation can apply to you. It’s an obligation people routinely don’t know exists until it’s relevant, so understand it and get it handled properly with an adviser.

Understand wealth tax as context. Spain also operates a wealth tax on residents, which works differently from anything in the UK system and varies by region. You don’t need to become an expert, but it’s worth knowing it exists so it factors into where your assets sit.

Register for healthcare. How you access Spanish healthcare depends on your residency route and whether you’re working, drawing a pension, or covered privately. Sort it early so you don’t sit with a gap while the paperwork catches up.

Start a Spanish will covering your local assets. Once you have accounts, investments or property in Spain, it’s worth a will drafted to cover those Spanish assets under local law, ideally alongside your UK will rather than replacing it. Expats often assume one will “covers everything” — across two countries, it frequently doesn’t.

Ongoing, once you’re settled

Think in euros as well as sterling. Once you’re earning or drawing income in one currency and spending in another, the euro–sterling rate stops being a holiday concern and becomes a permanent feature of your finances. Where your savings and investments sit — sterling, euro, or a mix — matters more the longer you live in Spain, and what suited you in year one may not suit you in year five.

Review your full picture as a whole, not as separate UK and Spanish pieces. A UK pension, UK investments, cash in two currencies, and cover in two countries can each make sense individually and still add up to something disorganised once Spanish tax and reporting are applied on top. Worth stepping back periodically and looking at the whole thing together.

Keep your reporting and tax position current. Modelo 720 and your Spanish tax return aren’t one-off events. Time spent back in the UK, a change in where your income comes from, or a change in family circumstances can all move things — this isn’t set-and-forget.

Check in on cover and wills every few years. Life changes — a new property, a growing family, a change in health — and cover or estate planning arranged years ago doesn’t always keep pace automatically across two legal systems.

Where this fits together

None of these steps are complicated in isolation. The difficulty is that they touch two countries, two tax systems, and two currencies at once, and it’s easy for one piece to fall through the cracks because nobody was looking at the whole picture. A UK pension left untouched, an ISA nobody re-examined through a Spanish lens, a reporting obligation nobody flagged — these are rarely disasters, but they’re far cheaper to sort out properly than to unwind later.

Our free offshore guide covers the broader basics of investing and moving money as an expat. If you’re British specifically, the wider guide for British expats goes deeper on UK residency, ISAs, pensions and domicile — the things that change most when you leave the UK. If Spain is specifically where you’re headed, the guide for expats investing from Spain goes deeper on how a UK-built portfolio interacts with Spanish residency. And if you’re already partway through a move, that’s exactly the kind of conversation a short introductory call sorts out faster than piecing it together yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to tell HMRC I’m moving to Spain?

Yes — generally via a form completed with your final UK tax return, or separately if you don’t normally file one. This starts the clock on your UK tax residency status changing when you leave to live in Spain.

Can I keep my UK ISA after moving to Spain?

You can generally keep an existing ISA open, but you typically can’t pay new money in once you’re no longer UK tax resident. Spain doesn’t recognise the ISA wrapper, so as a Spanish resident the income and gains inside it can fall within Spanish tax on your worldwide income.

Can I transfer my UK pension to Spain?

Your UK pension stays a UK-regulated asset wherever you live — moving to Spain doesn’t move it into a Spanish arrangement. It’s worth reviewing what you hold and consolidating old schemes, but any decision needs regulated advice specific to your situation.

What is the Modelo 720?

It’s Spain’s declaration of overseas assets — accounts, investments and property held outside Spain — that resident taxpayers may be required to report. If you keep UK accounts, investments or pensions after becoming Spanish resident, it’s an obligation to understand early, with proper guidance.

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This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Rules on tax residency, foreign-asset reporting, and cross-border pensions are detailed and change over time — always confirm current requirements and seek advice specific to your circumstances before making decisions.