Making a Will Abroad With UK Assets

Many countries have their own formal requirements for a will to be recognised as valid, and a will drafted under the law of one country does not automatically transfer smoothly into another country's legal system, particularly for immovable property such as land or buildings. If you own a UK property while living abroad, a will made abroad may need to go through additional recognition processes in England and Wales before UK probate can be granted, or it may not cover the UK assets in the way you expect at all.

For this reason, many people with assets in more than one country choose to make separate wills, one for each jurisdiction where they hold significant assets, each drafted to deal only with assets in that country. This is not compulsory, but it is a common and often sensible approach, since it lets each will be drafted clearly under the law that will actually be applied to those specific assets.

Your domicile, broadly the country you treat as your permanent home and intend to return to, is different from your residence, and it plays a central role in UK inheritance tax. If you are UK domiciled, your worldwide estate is potentially subject to UK inheritance tax, using the nil rate band of £325,000 and the residence nil rate band of up to £175,000 where a home passes to direct descendants.

If you are non-UK domiciled but hold assets situated in the UK, those UK assets can still be subject to UK inheritance tax even though your worldwide estate outside the UK is not. Domicile is a complex, fact-specific legal concept, not simply a matter of where you currently live, and it is worth getting a clear assessment of your domicile status from a specialist adviser if your situation is not straightforward.

If you decide to make more than one will for different countries, each one needs a carefully worded revocation clause that only revokes earlier wills covering the same jurisdiction or assets, rather than a blanket clause that unintentionally revokes your other country's will as well. A poorly worded revocation clause is one of the most common and most serious mistakes in multi-jurisdictional will planning.

It is also important that the wills do not create conflicting instructions over the same assets, and that executors named in each will understand their role is limited to that jurisdiction's assets. This kind of drafting genuinely needs professional input, ideally involving lawyers in each relevant country working from a shared understanding of your full estate.

A UK bank account, pension or investment held while you live abroad may need UK probate before it can be released, even if you also have a will and executors appointed under a different country's law. Executors managing a UK asset from overseas can face practical hurdles too, such as identity verification, currency transfers and coordinating with UK institutions that are used to dealing with UK-based executors.

Naming at least one executor who is either UK-based or familiar with UK probate procedure can smooth this process considerably, even if your main executor lives with you abroad. See our guide on choosing an executor for wider guidance on this decision.

If you hold significant UK assets while living abroad, this is not a situation for a single DIY or online will covering everything. The interaction between domicile, UK inheritance tax, and the requirements of your country of residence needs advice from a solicitor experienced in cross-border estates, sometimes working alongside a lawyer in your country of residence.

A UK-only online will can still be useful as the vehicle for the UK-specific will once you have taken that advice, provided it is drafted to cover only your UK assets and is coordinated properly with any other will you have in place elsewhere.