Historic maximum of donations from parents to children due to the housing crisis: "They can be the solution"
The aging of the population means that inheritances arrive later and later, in many cases when the beneficiary is already retired
Economic or property donations signed before a notary have grown by 20% to "historic highs," and the Notarial College of Catalonia links this to the housing crisis and the need for financial aid to purchase a home. "They respond greatly to the desire to help a son or family member who wants to acquire a home, and donations can be the solution: both money to buy one and property if parents are fortunate enough to have more than one," explained the deputy dean of the College, Raquel Iglesias, at the presentation of the data from the V Notarial Observatory of Catalonia. "Donations out of pure generosity, without necessity, do exist, but we don't see them as much," she clarified.
Specifically, during the first quarter of 2026, donations registered in Catalonia have increased by 20% – 8% nationwide – compared to last year. Thus, this start of the year has consolidated the trend also indicated by the annual balance data for 2025: in Catalonia, 22% more donations were made than in 2024, while nationwide they grew by 13%. The volume of donations authorized in Catalonia last year represents up to 10% of the total made across the country.
By age, most people who received an inheritance last year were between 56 and 70 years old (25,885), followed by the 41 to 55 bracket (17,412) and 71 to 81 (10,499). "Age is increasingly rising due to the aging population," said Iglesias, who explained that this fuels the voices advocating for the elimination of forced heirship, which requires reserving a portion for the closest relatives. "Many forced heirs inherit when they are already retired," she explained, adding that the parents of the generation who are now "potential home buyers" – that is, those under 40 – are now between 50 and 60 years old. "Many have saved and perhaps inherited, or perhaps they already own their own home and when they inherit their mother's or father's house, it can be donated to their child," Iglesias posits.
According to data from the Notarial College of Catalonia itself, released in March, in 2025 there were 15,738 lifetime donations from parents to children, higher than the just over 12,000 from the previous year. Regarding the total number of donations – whether from parents to children or not –, the increase in 2025 placed them at 22,980, representing a significant jump compared to 2024 (18,801). In contrast, in previous years the data fluctuated less, between 18,963 in 2021 and 17,669 in 2023.
Inheriting after retiring
For every lifetime donation made in Catalonia, six wills are authorized – last year there were 144,140, 3% more – although Iglesias has insisted that there is no more favorable option in the fiscal field, but rather it depends on each case. Last year, wills continued to rise (3% more), but 2% fewer inheritances were awarded. In addition, Catalonia continues to be the community where more preventive powers are formalized, with 12,822 in 2025, 8% more than in 2024 and almost double that of five years ago.
The wills made in Catalonia represent 19% of the total in Spain, which Iglesias attributes to "the tradition of Catalan society, which is concerned about its succession." More than half of the inheritances have a value between 100,000 and 500,000 euros, and the average is 237,000 euros. Many times the inheritance is a home, which may or may not be accompanied by savings. Notaries have also accounted for about 2,400 inheritances between 1 and 5 million euros, 225 inheritances of more than 5 million euros, and also a small group of inheritances exceeding 100 million euros.
