Cross Border Wills for International Clients

We are frequently instructed to assist clients who have connections to several different countries. Despite the recent Covid restrictions on travel, the world has become a much smaller place and more and more clients have interests outside of the UK.

At Purely Probate we enjoy working with lawyers from different countries to ensure that your global assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes through the use of suitable Wills and matrimonial property contracts (commonly used in civil law countries such as France).

If you have assets in Europe, we may be able to provide (by including a suitable choice of law clause in your Will) that English succession law applies to your global assets. This does not necessarily mean that UK IHT would be chargeable on your global assets. This may be attractive in order to benefit from English succession law, which allows a person to freely dispose of their assets as they wish and sidestep any local succession laws which provide for a form of forced heirship. Such forced heirship rules may benefit children in preference to a surviving spouse or partner and have the effect that you are not able to freely dispose of your assets in accordance with your wishes.