Do I need a separate will for property I own in another country?
Often, yes. A single will drafted for one country's rules tends to satisfy neither country fully: the formalities that make it valid, the share family members can claim, and the effect of a matrimonial property regime all differ from place to place. Separate wills, each confined to the assets in its own jurisdiction, are frequently the cleaner answer, provided they are drafted as a set so that one does not revoke the other. Whether that is right for you depends on where the assets are, how they are held, and who will need authority to deal with them.
Will my Canadian will be recognised where my overseas property is?
Recognition is not automatic, and it is not one question but several. Formal validity, meaning how the document was signed and witnessed, is judged by rules that vary. Separately, the law that governs succession to the asset may not be the law the will was written for, which can mean the document is valid but does not achieve what it says. Land is the usual sticking point, because many systems apply their own law to land inside their borders whatever the will provides. The useful exercise is to test the plan asset by asset against the place the asset sits, before the will is signed.
Can my children be left out if I own property abroad?
Not everywhere. Several jurisdictions reserve a fixed share of an estate for particular family members, and that entitlement can override what the will says about the assets sitting there. A plan that works perfectly for the domestic estate can therefore be partly undone abroad, and the residue left to the person you intended is the part that absorbs the difference. This is one of the reasons a single will rarely travels well. Where forced heirship applies, the planning question shifts from what the will says to which assets are placed in that jurisdiction at all, and how they are held.
Could a trust in my will cause a reporting problem in another country?
It can. A trust structure that is ordinary and efficient in the country it was drafted for may be a reportable foreign trust in the other, bringing annual filings and information obligations onto trustees, and sometimes onto beneficiaries who never asked for them. The cost of that is borne after the death, by the people the trust was meant to help. We read the draft against the reporting rules of every country a trustee or beneficiary is connected to, and say plainly where a clause will create a filing obligation. Sometimes the structure still earns its place; sometimes a simpler gift does the same work.
Who will have authority to deal with my foreign assets after I die?
Somebody has to obtain authority in each place the assets sit, and an appointment made in one country is not automatically recognised in another. That has practical consequences for who you name. An executor who cannot travel, cannot act in the other jurisdiction, or would face reporting consequences by acting may be the wrong choice however well suited they are otherwise. Appointing a separate executor for each jurisdiction is common and often sensible, as long as the wills define their territory so that the two are not acting over the same asset. Consider the mechanics of authority, not only trust in the person.
Will two wills in two countries contradict each other?
They will if they are drafted in isolation, and that is the most frequent defect we see. The usual failure is a revocation clause: a later will declaring that it revokes all previous testamentary dispositions, written by a lawyer who did not know an earlier will existed abroad, cancels the plan for the other country's assets. The fix is structural. Each will should state which assets it deals with, and each should be drafted knowing the other exists. Copies belong with both sets of advisers and with the executors, because a plan nobody can locate fails as surely as a plan that conflicts.
Do non-residents pay US estate tax?
Yes, on US-situs assets — and with a far smaller exemption than a US citizen or domiciliary receives, which is why exposure can arise at values people assume are safe. US real property, tangible property located there and shares issued by US companies are generally in; foreign-issued securities and certain deposits generally are not. An estate tax treaty, where one exists, can improve the position considerably. See US estate tax for non-resident aliens.
Is double taxation illegal?
It is legal. Two countries can each have a valid claim on the same income — one because the income arose there, the other because you live there — and nothing prohibits both from exercising it. What exists instead is relief: tax treaties allocate the claim, and domestic law gives a credit for foreign tax paid. The relief is not automatic, though. It is claimed on a return, and unclaimed relief is simply lost. See how double taxation is relieved.
