Cross-Border Inheritance Planning for Expat Families

For expat parents, ensuring that wealth passes to the next generation efficiently — and according to your wishes — is considerably more complex than it is for families rooted in a single country. Assets spread across different jurisdictions, children who may themselves be citizens of multiple countries, and succession laws that can vary dramatically from one nation to the next all combine to create a planning challenge that demands careful, proactive attention.

This guide explains the key issues expat families face when planning for inheritance, what you can do to reduce risk and complexity, and why acting early is always preferable to leaving matters until they are urgent.

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Why Standard UK Inheritance Planning Is Not Enough

A will drafted in the UK, by a UK solicitor, following UK succession law, may not be legally effective in every country where you hold assets. Courts in France, Spain, Germany and many other civil-law countries have their own succession rules, and some of these may override the instructions in your UK will.

Furthermore, if you die without a valid will in a foreign country, local intestacy laws apply — and these may distribute your estate very differently from how you intended. In countries with forced heirship rules (see below), your spouse or civil partner may not inherit as much as you expect, and children from a previous relationship or a cohabiting partner may receive nothing.

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Forced Heirship: A Key Risk for Expats in Europe and Beyond

Many civil-law countries — including France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and most of Latin America — operate forced heirship regimes. These rules reserve a legally defined portion of your estate for certain relatives (typically children, and sometimes a surviving spouse), regardless of what your will says.

Examples as of 2026:

• France: Children are entitled to a reserved portion (réserve héréditaire). With one child, they receive at least half the estate; with two children, two-thirds; with three or more, three-quarters.
• Spain: One-third must be divided equally among children (the legítima estricta), one-third may be used to improve the share of one heir, and only one-third is freely disposable.
• Germany: Forced heirs who are excluded from a will retain the right to claim a Pflichtteil (compulsory portion) equal to half of their legal intestacy entitlement.

For expats, forced heirship rules can apply based on where assets are located, where you are domiciled, or both. The EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV), which came into force in 2015, allows EU-resident individuals to elect for the law of their nationality to govern their entire EU estate — a significant planning tool for UK nationals living in France or Spain, though its interaction with post-Brexit arrangements warrants specialist legal advice.

Practical step: If you hold property or significant financial assets in any civil-law country, obtain local legal advice on how forced heirship rules interact with your current will and domicile status.

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The Importance of Domicile

In UK law, your domicile — broadly, the country you consider your permanent home — determines which succession law governs your personal estate (as opposed to your real estate, which is generally governed by the law of where it is situated). Domicile is not the same as residence, tax residence or nationality.

If you live abroad for many years but intend to return to the UK, you may retain a UK domicile. If you establish a permanent home in another country and abandon any intention to return, you may acquire a new domicile of choice. This distinction has significant implications:

• Since 6 April 2025, IHT exposure on worldwide assets is determined by long-term UK residence rather than domicile. A "long-term UK resident" — broadly, someone UK-resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years — is within the scope of UK IHT on their worldwide assets.
• Individuals who are not long-term UK residents are (generally) within the scope of UK IHT only on UK-situs assets.
• The IHT nil-rate band of £325,000 (frozen to April 2031) and the residence nil-rate band of £175,000 apply regardless of domicile.

From 6 April 2025, the UK replaced the domicile-based system with this residence-based IHT framework. The old concepts of "domicile" and "deemed domicile" for tax purposes — including the previous "15 of 20 years" deemed-domicile rule — no longer determine IHT exposure, although domicile remains relevant to which country's succession law governs your moveable assets. Specialist advice is essential if you are approaching the 10-year long-term-resident threshold.

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Wills: One Will or Several?

There are two main approaches to making wills as an expat:

A single international will

A single will can in principle govern your worldwide estate. The Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Succession to the Estates of Deceased Persons and the Washington Convention on International Wills provide some framework, but not all countries are signatories. A single will drafted in the UK may still require costly probate proceedings in multiple countries.

Multiple jurisdiction-specific wills

Many international estate planning lawyers recommend having a separate will in each country where you hold significant assets, each governed by local law and each dealing only with assets in that jurisdiction. This reduces friction on death and avoids the risk of one country's courts refusing to recognise a foreign document.

If you use multiple wills, each must be carefully drafted so that revoking the UK will does not inadvertently revoke the others. Your lawyers in each country must coordinate their drafting.

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Trusts and Their Cross-Border Recognition

UK discretionary trusts are a common estate-planning tool, but their effectiveness varies significantly outside common-law jurisdictions. Many civil-law countries do not recognise the trust concept natively, though the 1985 Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition has been ratified by some civil-law nations including Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Potential uses of trusts for expat families:

• Ring-fencing UK assets from foreign forced heirship rules
• Protecting assets for minor children or incapacitated beneficiaries
• Providing long-term wealth governance across generations
• Holding international property portfolios

Offshore trusts (Isle of Man, Jersey, Cayman Islands, etc.) can add further flexibility but also add complexity, cost and reporting obligations. UK settlors and beneficiaries of offshore trusts face specific tax rules; HMRC's treatment of such structures has tightened considerably in recent years.

This is an area where professional advice from a lawyer qualified in both UK law and the relevant foreign jurisdiction is not optional — it is essential.

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Life Insurance as an Inheritance Tool

For many expat families, life insurance is the most practical tool for providing for surviving children and spouses, particularly where assets are illiquid (property) or tied up in business interests. Key considerations:

• Whole-of-life policies written into trust sit outside the estate for IHT purposes and can pay out directly to beneficiaries without probate delay.
• International life insurance policies (often written from Isle of Man, Dublin or Singapore) can cover global nomads who change residence frequently.
• Check whether an existing UK policy covers death abroad and whether the policy terms are enforceable in the country where you reside.

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Checklist: Key Actions for Expat Parents

Use this checklist to audit your current position:

• Do you have a valid, up-to-date will in the UK?
• Do you have jurisdiction-specific wills for each country where you hold significant assets?
• Have your lawyers reviewed how forced heirship rules in your country of residence affect your estate plan?
• Is your UK will structured so it does not accidentally revoke foreign wills?
• Have you reviewed your domicile status and understood the IHT consequences?
• Do you hold life insurance sufficient to meet immediate family needs without relying on probate?
• Is your life insurance policy written into trust?
• Have you appointed guardians for minor children in your will?
• Have beneficiary nominations on pensions and retirement accounts been reviewed recently?
• Are digital assets (crypto, online accounts) accounted for in your estate plan?
• Have you considered a lasting power of attorney (LPA) in both the UK and your country of residence?

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Planning Considerations for Specific Situations

Blended families

Where one or both parents have children from previous relationships, forced heirship rules can create acute conflict. A UK spouse may intend to leave everything to their current partner, who can then provide for all the children — but French or Spanish forced heirship rules may entitle children from the first relationship to an immediate share, potentially requiring the surviving partner to sell the family home.

Assets in non-treaty countries

If you hold assets in a country that has no estate-tax treaty with the UK, double inheritance taxation is possible — the foreign country levies its own death duties on local assets, and HMRC may also seek IHT on the same assets (though a credit may be available for taxes actually paid).

Expatriate children

As children grow up and establish their own lives abroad, they may become resident in third countries with their own succession and gift-tax rules. Regular reviews of family wealth-transfer strategies become essential as the family's geographic footprint evolves.

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Timelines and When to Act

Life event	Action required
Moving abroad	Review existing will; take local legal advice on succession law
Purchasing foreign property	Obtain local will; consider ownership structure
Birth of a child	Update wills; appoint guardians; review life insurance
Change of country of residence	Reassess domicile; update all wills and beneficiary nominations
Reaching 10 years of UK tax residence abroad	Assess long-term resident IHT exposure under new rules
Death of a spouse	Immediate legal review across all jurisdictions

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Assuming a UK will covers everything. It may not be recognised or enforceable in countries where assets are held.
2. Failing to update wills after major life events. Births, deaths, divorces and asset acquisitions all require a review.
3. Ignoring pension death benefits. These pass outside the will; beneficiary nominations must be kept current.
4. Using joint ownership as a substitute for estate planning. Jointly owned property may pass by survivorship in some jurisdictions but not others.
5. Underestimating local succession costs. Notarial fees, succession taxes and probate administration can be substantial in some countries.

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This guide is general information only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Succession law is highly jurisdiction-specific and subject to change. You should seek advice from qualified legal professionals in each relevant country as well as a UK-regulated financial adviser.

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How Global Investments Can Help

At Global Investments, we work with internationally mobile families navigating the intersection of wealth management, estate planning and cross-border succession. Our advisers can help you:

• Review your current estate structure in the context of your international footprint
• Identify gaps in your will and beneficiary nominations
• Connect you with specialist lawyers and notaries in the jurisdictions where you hold assets
• Integrate estate planning with your broader wealth strategy, including pensions, investments and property

Whether you are a first-generation expat with a modest estate or a multi-generational family with assets across several continents, sound planning today protects the people who matter most to you. Speak to one of our advisers to begin a review.