Curatorship Agreement Spain (Acuerdo de Curatela)

A Curatorship Agreement Spain (Acuerdo de Curatela) is a formal document supporting the judicial or notarial curatela institution established by the Código Civil Articles 286 through 294, as fundamentally reformed by Ley 8/2021, de 2 de junio, de reforma de la legislación civil y procesal para el apoyo a las personas con discapacidad en el ejercicio de su capacidad jurídica — the most significant reform of Spanish civil law on legal capacity since the Código Civil's enactment in 1889. The Curatorship Agreement defines the scope of support the curator (curador) will provide to the person with a disability (persona con discapacidad), the mechanisms for consultation of the person's will and preferences, the reporting obligations to the Juzgado de Primera Instancia supervising the measure, and the procedural framework for the curator's activities, consistent with the reformed Código Civil and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD — Convención sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad), ratified by Spain in 2008 and implemented through Ley 8/2021.

Ley 8/2021, which entered into force on 3 September 2021, replaced the previous regime of judicial incapacitation (incapacitación judicial) and plenary guardianship (tutela plena) — which treated persons with disabilities as legally incapable and substituted their decision-making — with a support-based model (modelo de apoyos) that respects and promotes the person's own legal capacity and decision-making autonomy. Under the reformed Código Civil Article 249, all support measures must be proportionate, tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the person, and must respect the person's will, preferences, and fundamental rights. The reformed curatela under Código Civil Articles 268–294 is primarily assistive (curatela asistencial), meaning the curator assists, advises, and supplements the person's own decisions without replacing them — only in exceptional cases where the disability makes self-directed decision-making completely impossible may the curatela be representativa (representative curatorship), granting the curator authority to act on the person's behalf in specific legally defined acts.

The Juzgado de Primera Instancia (or Juzgado de Familia in jurisdictions where these exist, such as Madrid and Barcelona) exercises judicial oversight of the curatela under Código Civil Article 268 and Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC) Articles 756–770. The court designates the curator, defines the scope of their support role, establishes reporting and accounting obligations, and retains power to modify or terminate the measure as circumstances change. The Ministerio Fiscal (Public Prosecutor) supervises the curator's conduct and may request judicial review at any time under LEC Article 757.

The Registro Civil (Civil Registry) managed by the Ministerio de Justicia records curatela measures under Ley 20/2011 del Registro Civil, providing public notice that specific legal acts by the person may require curator assistance or — in representative curatorship cases — curator authorisation. The Notarial system also plays a role: notarios must verify the existence of curatela measures before executing escrituras públicas involving a person subject to curatela, and must confirm the curator's participation where required by the court order.

Autonomous Community social services — such as the Consejería de Derechos Sociales in Navarra, the Departament de Treball, Afers Socials i Famílies in Cataluña, or the Instituto Madrileño de Atención Social y Familia — provide support to curators and to persons subject to curatela through social workers, disability assessment teams (Equipos de Valoración y Orientación — EVO), and the Fundaciones Tutelares (protective foundations) that act as institutional curators for persons without suitable family members available.

A Curatorship Agreement Spain is needed as a practical support document when a Juzgado de Primera Instancia has designated a curator (curador) under the reformed Código Civil Articles 268–294 to assist a person with physical, intellectual, sensory, or mental disabilities — or when the parties wish to prepare and document a curatela arrangement proactively prior to judicial formalisation.

The curatela is the primary judicial support measure for adults with disabilities in Spain following the Ley 8/2021 reform, replacing the former tutela and curatela parcial structures. A Curatorship Agreement is needed when an adult with an intellectual disability (discapacidad intelectual), autism spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, or serious mental illness requires documented regular support for financial management, housing decisions, healthcare consents, or other acts of legal significance — and their family or support network wishes to define the curator's role precisely to avoid overreach and protect the person's autonomy.

A written curatorship document is needed when the Juzgado designates a family member — typically a spouse, parent, adult child, or sibling — as curator under Código Civil Article 275, and the court's sentencia or auto de curatela requires the curator to submit an annual report (informe anual) on the person's personal and financial situation. The Curatorship Agreement provides the internal framework guiding how the curator gathers information, consults the person, and prepares these judicial reports.

The agreement is also needed when an Autonomous Community's Fundación Tutelar is designated as institutional curator for a person without suitable family members — providing a clear operational protocol for staff assigned to the individual's support under Código Civil Article 278 and the foundation's own statutes registered in the Registro de Fundaciones.

In voluntary curatela arrangements — where a person with a disability proactively designates their future curator through an escritura notarial de designación de curador under Código Civil Article 271 before losing capacity — the supporting private agreement documents the scope and limits of the curator's role, consistent with the person's expressed preferences and subject to subsequent judicial validation.

The Curatorship Agreement is additionally needed following the conversion of prior tutela and curatela parcial measures to the new curatela framework — Ley 8/2021 required all prior incapacitation measures to be revised by the courts within three years of the law's entry into force (i.e., by 3 September 2024) — with a new written agreement helping families and institutional curators align their practices with the reformed supportive model.

Under the Código Civil Articles 657–1087, Spanish succession law applies the legítima system (forced heirship). The Ley del Notariado governs testamentary forms (abierto, cerrado, ológrafo). The Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones (ISD) Ley 29/1987 taxes inheritances. Foral regions (País Vasco, Navarra, Cataluña, Aragón, Baleares, Galicia) have distinct succession rules. The Reglamento UE 650/2012 governs cross-border EU successions.

A valid Curatorship Agreement Spain consistent with the reformed Código Civil and Ley 8/2021 must include the following elements to be effective as a practical support document and to comply with the judicial oversight requirements of the Juzgado de Primera Instancia.

Identification of Parties: Full legal name, DNI or NIE, date of birth, and registered address of the person with a disability (persona con discapacidad) subject to the curatela measure. Full details of the curator (curador) — whether a natural person (family member or trusted friend) or an institutional curator (Fundación Tutelar, asociación de atención a personas con discapacidad). For institutional curators, the Registro de Fundaciones number and the name of the assigned case worker or director.

Judicial Measure Reference: Reference to the sentencia or auto del Juzgado de Primera Instancia designating the curator, its date, the court file number (número de procedimiento), and the specific scope of the curatela as defined by the court — whether assistive (curatela asistencial) in specific life domains or, exceptionally, representative (curatela representativa) for defined categories of acts where the person cannot participate in decision-making.

Scope of Curator's Support Role: Precise definition of the life domains in which the curator provides assistance — personal welfare decisions (salud, alojamiento, relaciones personales), property and financial management (patrimonio, contratos, inversiones), or both. The agreement must distinguish between acts requiring only curator assistance (the person decides with support) and the exceptional acts requiring curator representation (the curator decides after genuinely consulting the person's will and preferences under Código Civil Article 249).

Respect for the Person's Will and Preferences: An express commitment by the curator to the principles of Ley 8/2021 and CRPD Article 12 — the curator must always seek to ascertain the person's will (voluntad), preferences (preferencias), and past decisions in comparable situations, and must prioritise these above all other considerations, including the curator's own judgment about the person's best interests. This is the fundamental difference from the pre-2021 model.

Consultation Mechanism: The practical method by which the curator will regularly consult the person with a disability — frequency of meetings, communication methods adapted to the person's disability (augmentative and alternative communication — CAA — for non-verbal persons; simple language summaries for persons with intellectual disabilities; sign language for deaf persons under Ley 27/2007 de Lengua de Signos Española), and the protocol for resolving apparent conflicts between the person's expressed preferences and their objective safety.

Reporting to the Court: The curator's obligation to submit annual personal and financial reports to the Juzgado de Primera Instancia under Código Civil Article 285, including the content requirements — summary of the person's health and personal situation, significant decisions made during the year, financial accounts (rendición de cuentas) where the curator manages assets, and any significant changes in the person's circumstances. Reference to the court's power to request additional information under LEC Article 760.

Collaboration with Social Services: The curator's commitment to cooperate with the Autonomous Community's Servicios Sociales, the IMSERSO SAAD system (if the person is assessed as dependent under Ley 39/2006), and any support team (equipo de apoyo) designated by the Juzgado under Código Civil Article 250 — professionals (trabajadores sociales, psicólogos, terapeutas) whose input must be considered in significant decisions.

Financial Management and Accounting: Where the curator manages the person's assets (patrimonio), a clear accounting framework — separate accounts, periodic balance sheets (balances), investment restrictions, and prohibition of self-dealing (autocontratación) under Código Civil Article 251, which prohibits the curator from using the person's assets for the curator's own benefit without explicit judicial authorisation.

Termination and Succession: Events triggering termination — full recovery of the person's autonomous decision-making capacity (cese de la curatela under Código Civil Article 291), death of the person, court-ordered removal of the curator (remoción under Código Civil Article 278), or resignation of the curator with court approval. Procedure for transferring accounts and documentation to a successor curator designated by the Juzgado.

Forms-legal.com provides this Curatorship Agreement Spain as a practical support document. Formal curatela measures are established exclusively by judicial resolution of the Juzgado de Primera Instancia — families and persons with disabilities should contact their local Servicios Sociales, the Ministerio Fiscal (Fiscalía), or a specialist abogado to initiate the formal process under Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil Articles 756–770.

Under the Código Civil Articles 657–1087, Spanish succession law applies the legítima system (forced heirship). The Ley del Notariado governs testamentary forms (abierto, cerrado, ológrafo). The Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones (ISD) Ley 29/1987 taxes inheritances. Foral regions (País Vasco, Navarra, Cataluña, Aragón, Baleares, Galicia) have distinct succession rules. The Reglamento UE 650/2012 governs cross-border EU successions.