Section dedicated to all things sworn and legal translation: answers to commonly-asked questions, legal concepts and terminology comparisons, first-hand information about working as a translator, and more.
Q&A
Clear answers to sworn and legal translation FAQs
What is a valid Spanish digital sworn translation?
Until just over a year ago, Spanish sworn translations were only accepted as valid by the Spanish authorities when submitted in hard copy form. In April 2020, after numerous requests by sworn translators, the government body regulating the profession in Spain (OIL)...
How do I know whether someone is a genuine sworn translator?
A recent true story: a client hires sworn translation services but receives a translation self-certified by someone not officially appointed as a sworn translator. The translation then gets rejected by the Spanish authorities. Unfortunately, this is far from an...
Can you do this sworn translation for tomorrow?
While these days I do not get this question as often as I used to, it still pops up every now and then in my emails. ICR Translations does not offer neither next-day nor same-day sworn translation services and in this short article I explain why. Sworn translation...
Working as a translator
First-hand information about life and work as a translator: professional challenges, career path, clients and communication, musings, ICR news and more.
Keeping up with the law: the key to standing out as a legal translator
Developing your legal knowledge is an essential element in a legal translator’s career. For me, the process of building up legal knowledge looks like a pyramid made up of three levels, each one helping translators acquire different skills to keep progressing in their...
ICR now offers Spanish digital sworn translations
In April 2020, the government body regulating sworn translation in Spain (OIL) made an official announcement confirming that digital sworn translations can be accepted as valid in Spain, as long as they are signed electronically by using one of the authorised...
ICR radio interview on Don de Lenguas
Don de Lenguas is a weekly radio programme by Salamanca University's Translation and Interpreting Department. Recently, they reached out and invited me to chat about legal translation for the programme. The interview is now available in Spanish on their blog:...
Legal words
Legal concepts and terminology, analysed from a linguistic and multijurisdictional point of view.
Intestate estates in E&W, SCO, and SPA: what happens when there are no relatives?
When a person dies intestate (without making a will), a series of succession rules are applied in order to establish who is entitled to inherit the estate. But what happens when a person dies without a will and there are no beneficiaries entitled to inherit? In this...
6 differences between English and Scottish wills
Continuing my series of blog posts comparing wills and succession aspects across different jurisdictions, today I look at six differences between English and Scottish wills. For another wills-related comparison, read the article on differences between English and...
5 curious Scots succession cases
During the four-month course on Scots wills and executries I recently completed, I read about and studied numerous cases. While I did not manage to remember as many cases as I would have liked to, some of them stuck early on. The more unusual the facts or the...