International Will Overview
An “international Will” often refers to a Will that is intended to take effect in more than one jurisdiction. Where an international Will is intended to cover a person’s worldwide estate, it may be referred to as a “worldwide Will”.
A similar term is “offshore Will”, which may refer to a second Will that has been prepared to deal with an individual’s foreign assets only. For example, an individual domiciled in South Africa may also have assets located in the British Isles. In this example, the individual may decide to have one Will in South Africa, and a second, separate Will to deal with the succession to the “offshore” assets in the British Isles.
How our solicitors can assist with you?
Our international solicitors can advise on the following:
- When it would be appropriate to have one worldwide Will, and when it would be appropriate to have more than one Will.
- Where an international Will is suitable, we can advise the appropriate territorial scope of the Wills.
- Where a person already has a Will (or Wills) we can advise whether the existing structure of Wills is appropriate, and whether there are any existing risks of accidental revocation or partial intestacy.
- We can provide UK estate planning and UK inheritance tax advice for individuals domiciled in the UK and those domiciled outside of the UK.
If you have assets in more than one country, it may be appropriate for you to consider an international Will.
