Expat Wills

What Is an Expat Will?

An Expat Will is a Will created for someone living outside their country of nationality or who owns assets abroad. It ensures that your estate is distributed according to your wishes, even when multiple legal systems are involved. Without the right Will, your assets may be tied up for years, taxed more heavily, or even passed on to the wrong people.

Why Expats Should Make a Will

A Will outlines exactly what you want to happen to your assets when you die. Without a valid Will in place, your hard-earned assets will find themselves distributed under the rules of intestacy. More often than not, this results in your assets being distributed in a way you would not want and your loved ones losing out.

For expats, there are even more reasons to ensure you have a valid Will in place. Living abroad often means your estate is subject to more than one legal system, and each country has its own rules on inheritance, property, and tax. You need a Will that protects your assets as much as possible and ensures that your wishes are carried out, wherever your estate is located.

An Expat Will also gives you:

• Clarity across different legal systems:  Each jurisdiction has unique succession laws, so a Will helps prevent conflicts or delays. 
• Protection for property abroad:  Immovable assets such as homes or land may fall under local succession rules unless your Will accounts for them. 
• Tax efficiency:  Without careful planning, your estate may be taxed twice, once in the UK and once abroad. A properly structured Will can reduce the risk of unnecessary tax burdens. 
• Guardianship for children:  If you have young children, an Expat Will allows you to appoint guardians who can be legally recognised in both the UK and your country of residence. 
• Peace of mind: With the right Will, you know your loved ones won’t face complicated disputes or financial hardship at an already difficult time.

It is vitally important that any Will you make as an expat meets the requirements of the country in which you live and is legally valid. If you do not have the right type of Will in place, you risk the following:

• Your assets may not end up where you want them to go 
• It can take several years to sort out disputes across different jurisdictions 
• Your estate may face higher tax bills than necessary.

How the Process Works

Making an Expat Will may sound daunting, but our solicitors make the process straightforward. Here’s what working with us typically looks like:

1. Initial consultation: We start by discussing your personal circumstances, where you live, and what assets you own (both in the UK and abroad). This helps us understand your priorities and what you want to achieve. 
2. Review of domicile and residency: Domicile and residency can affect how your estate is taxed and how your Will is applied. We will review your circumstances and explain the general principles that may apply, including any risks of double taxation. Where specialist tax or foreign legal advice is needed, we can point you in the right direction. 
3. Advice on structure:  We discuss whether you need one international Will or separate Wills in each country where you hold property or assets. We also consider whether forced heirship rules or local succession laws may override your wishes, and how to plan around them. 
4. Drafting your Will(s):  Once we have all the information, we prepare a clear and legally valid Will (or Wills). Our solicitors ensure the wording avoids conflicts between jurisdictions and properly reflects your wishes. 
5. Liaising with overseas lawyers: If necessary, we work with trusted legal contacts in the relevant countries to ensure that your Will complies with local requirements and will be recognised internationally. 
6. Final review & signing: We guide you through the signing process to make sure your Will is executed correctly and cannot be challenged later. 
7. Ongoing support:  Life changes quickly, especially for expats. If your circumstances change — such as marriage, divorce, moving abroad, buying or selling property, or welcoming children or grandchildren — you can return to us at any time to update your Will.

By managing each stage for you — and coordinating with lawyers in other jurisdictions where needed — we remove the complexity and give you peace of mind that your estate planning is in safe hands.

Domicile, Residency and the New Residence-Based Inheritance Tax Rules

Knowing your tax residence and historic residence status is critical when you live abroad, because they can affect how your estate is taxed, and which assets fall within UK Inheritance Tax (IHT) scope.

Until recently, UK inheritance tax treatment was heavily based on domicile (and deemed domicile) status. Your domicile could be determined by factors such as where you were born, where your parents were born, where you have lived, and where your assets are located. Even if you are non-resident in the UK for tax purposes, under the old regime your domicile might remain in the UK and you could still be liable to IHT on your worldwide assets.

However, from 6 April 2025, UK law changes significantly:

• The concept of domicile (and deemed domicile) as the connecting factor for IHT is being replaced by a residence-based test. 
• Under the new rules, you may be classed as a long-term UK resident (and thus liable to IHT on your non-UK assets) if you have been a UK tax resident in 10 out of the previous 20 tax years. 
• When someone qualifies as a long-term UK resident, non-UK assets may come back into the scope of IHT when death or transfers occur. 
• Moreover, if you cease UK tax residence, a so-called “IHT tail” may apply — your worldwide assets may still remain subject to IHT for a number of years after departure, depending on how many years you were resident. 
• Trusts and non-UK assets held in trust may also have new IHT charges under these changed rules if the settlor is or becomes a long-term UK resident.

What this means in practice is that domicile is no longer the predominant test for IHT exposure, and residence history is becoming the central factor in determining whether non-UK assets are taxed on death or transfer.

To ensure that you pass on as much of your estate to your heirs as possible, you should consult a professional to determine your situation and receive advice on inheritance tax planning. In some cases, your estate may be taxed in more than one country.

Succession Law and Expats

How Succession Law applies to the distribution of your estate as an Expat depends on the scope of your Will. Some Wills can be valid worldwide, some everywhere except certain countries, or only remain valid in one particular country. You must also consider the willingness of any foreign jurisdiction to recognise a Will made in another country and how this influences your succession planning.

In many European countries, including France and Spain, they operate a system of forced heirship. This means that all, or a proportion of an estate, passes to the protected heirs regardless of the details of the Will. These systems can clash with a UK-made Will, which generally gives you the freedom to gift as you want, as long as it is clearly written in a valid Will.