Assets in another country

Holiday homes, overseas bank accounts, foreign pensions, investments, and assets left behind after moving country are all common, and all introduce complexity.

Not legal advice, and this is an area where general guidance is particularly inadequate. If any of this applies to you, get specialist advice in both jurisdictions.

Which country's law applies

The first question and it does not have a single answer.

Different systems determine succession by different connecting factors — the deceased's domicile, their habitual residence, their nationality, or the location of the asset.

A common distinction: many systems apply the law of the deceased's domicile or residence to movable property, and the law of the location to immovable property such as land and buildings.

Which means a single estate may be governed by two or more legal systems simultaneously.

Some regional frameworks have harmonised this to a degree, allowing a person to choose the law of their nationality to govern their succession. Where such a mechanism exists and applies to you, making the election explicitly can prevent a great deal of difficulty.

Forced heirship

The complication that catches people most often.

Many civil law countries reserve a portion of the estate for children and sometimes a spouse. This applies to property located there regardless of what a foreign will says.

Someone from a jurisdiction with full testamentary freedom, who owns a house in a forced heirship country and leaves everything to their spouse, may find that the children have an enforceable entitlement to part of the house.

This surprises people regularly and it is entirely predictable with advice.

Multiple wills

A common approach: a separate will in each jurisdiction, dealing with the assets there.

The advantages: each is valid under local law, each can be administered locally without waiting for the other, and delays are reduced.

The danger: a later will may revoke an earlier one entirely, including in another jurisdiction, unless carefully drafted to limit its scope.

This is a well-known trap and it produces intestacy in one country when a will was made in another.

If you have multiple wills, they must be drafted together, by advisers who are aware of each other, with explicit limiting clauses.

Tax

Two or more countries may claim taxing rights on the same estate, on different bases.

Estate tax treaties exist between some countries and are far less comprehensive than income tax treaties.

Unilateral relief for foreign tax paid is available in some systems and does not always eliminate double taxation.

Domicile is a technical concept in some systems, distinct from residence and nationality, and it is sticky — people who left a country decades ago frequently retain domicile there and remain within its tax net.

Anyone who has moved country, or holds assets abroad, should establish their domicile position rather than assume it.

The practical difficulties for an executor

Recognition of authority. A grant of probate from one country is not automatically effective in another. A separate application, or a resealing procedure where one exists, is generally required.

Language and translation. Documents frequently require certified translation and sometimes legalisation or apostille certification.

Local professional costs in each jurisdiction.

Timescales, which extend substantially. Cross-border estates commonly take years.

Different procedures. Civil law jurisdictions frequently involve a notary rather than a court-based probate process, and the roles and steps differ fundamentally.

Currency and transfer restrictions in some countries.

Property that cannot easily be sold, particularly where several heirs have shares under forced heirship rules and one refuses to agree.

The situations that most often cause trouble

A holiday home bought without succession advice.

Moving abroad in retirement without reviewing wills made previously.

A pension or investment left in a former country of residence.

Marriage or partnership across jurisdictions, particularly where matrimonial property regimes differ — some systems apply community property rules that substantially affect what forms the estate.

Assets in a country whose legal system is unfamiliar and whose procedures are slow.

What to do

Make a list of where your assets actually are, including accounts you may have forgotten.

Take advice in each relevant jurisdiction, ideally from advisers who will coordinate.

Consider whether to simplify. Selling a foreign property, or consolidating accounts, may cost less than the complexity it removes.

Make an explicit choice of law where a mechanism exists.

Check matrimonial property arrangements if you married abroad or moved after marrying.

Tell your executor what exists and where, and warn them that the estate has a foreign element, so that they instruct appropriate advisers from the outset rather than discovering it later.

Review after any move, in either direction.

The proportionality point

A small foreign bank account may not justify elaborate planning. A property, a business, or substantial investments do.

The cost of advice is generally a fraction of the cost of an estate administered badly across two systems, and the difference is measured in years as much as in money.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Cross-border succession and taxation are complex and jurisdiction-specific. Consult qualified advisers in each relevant country.