It happens more often than people think. A grandparent’s house in one of the old streets round the Basílica del Socorro passes to the family, the family lives in Alicante, Madrid or Manchester, and when someone finally comes to look at it, nobody can find the keys. They were in a drawer, or with a neighbour who has since moved, or on a ring that went to another cousin.
This is not an emergency, and that is good news: it can be done calmly and properly.
First, the papers
Before anyone opens a door that is not obviously yours, you will be asked to show that it is. For an inherited house that usually means one of these:
- the deed of acceptance of the inheritance (escritura de aceptación de herencia);
- the declaration of heirs or the will, with the death certificate;
- a recent property tax receipt (IBI) in the name of the deceased, together with a document that shows your relationship.
If the house is shared between several heirs, it is wise to tell the others before the door is opened, and better still to have their agreement in writing. A locksmith cannot settle a family disagreement, and should not be asked to.
Then, the neighbours
In streets as old and as close as these, a neighbour may well have kept a key “just in case”. Ask before you book anything. Ask too about a second door: some old town houses have a back door onto a lane or a yard that may be easier to open than the main one.
How the door is opened
Old houses in the centre often have a heavy wooden street door with a mortice lock set into the timber, and sometimes a newer cylinder lock added above it. The usual order is:
- find out which locks are actually locked (often only one);
- open through that lock, without harming the wood;
- drill only if nothing else works, and only once you have agreed.
The full method is on the door opening page.
Afterwards: the lock
Once you are in, think about who else might have a key. If the answer is “we have no idea”, change the cylinder, or the whole lock if it is an old mortice that has seen better days. If the house is from the middle of the last century, the guide on whether the lock is as old as the door will help you decide.
And look around the house before you sign anything else: inherited houses sometimes hide a safe that nobody mentioned. If yours does, and nobody has the code, the guide on a safe with a dead battery and no override key is a good place to start.