Cross-border wills — is this a do-it-yourself job?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: the plan decides which law governs which assets, whether separate wills are needed, and how executors will obtain authority in each place.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Do I need a separate will for my property abroad?
Often, though not as a general rule. The questions are whether one document will be accepted as formally valid in both places, and whether the authority your executor obtains in one country will be recognised in the other. Where separate wills are used, each is confined to the assets in its own jurisdiction and the revocation wording is drafted so that neither cancels the other. That is where home-made pairs of wills usually come apart: a standard clause revoking all previous wills, signed second, quietly undoes the first. The answer turns on where the assets are and what each system demands of a will, not on a preference for one document or two.
Will a Canadian will be accepted in my home country?
Acceptance is decided by the law of the place where the asset sits, and it is decided on several grounds at once. Formal validity comes first: how the will was signed, who witnessed it, whether it was made in a language the local registry will read. Then come the substantive rules. Some systems reserve fixed shares of an estate for children or a surviving spouse regardless of what the will says. Some treat property acquired during a marriage as jointly owned before the will operates at all. A will can be perfectly valid and still fail to achieve what it was drafted to achieve, and it is worth knowing which of those two problems you have.
Can one will deal with assets in two countries?
Sometimes it can, and where it works it is the simpler arrangement to administer. The plan has to decide which law governs which assets before that question can be answered, because a single will only works if every jurisdiction involved will accept it in the form it takes and give it the effect it intends. Real property is usually the sticking point, since land is generally governed by the law where it lies rather than by where the owner lived. A review starts with a list of the assets and where each is registered, and the structure follows from that list rather than being chosen first.
Does a trust in my will create reporting in another country?
It can, and this is one of the most common surprises in a cross-border plan. A structure that is ordinary and tax-efficient in the country where it is drafted may be a reportable foreign trust in the country where a beneficiary or a trustee lives. The reporting obligation usually falls on people who never asked for the trust and may not know it exists, and it can attach to the trustees, the beneficiaries, or both. Before a will creates a trust, it is worth asking where every likely trustee and beneficiary will be living, and what each of those countries will make of the structure once it comes into existence.
What is forced heirship and can it override my will?
Forced heirship is the rule, found in many civil law systems, that reserves a portion of an estate for certain family members, so a will cannot dispose of it freely. Where it applies it is not a formality that careful drafting avoids; it is a substantive limit on what you may give away and to whom. The practical consequence for a cross-border plan is that a gift which is perfectly effective over assets in one country may be reduced or set aside over assets in another. The place to establish this is at the planning stage, since it determines how the estate is divided rather than merely how the paperwork is prepared.
How does my executor get authority over foreign assets?
Separately, in each place, and usually in a sequence that matters. A grant issued in one country does not by itself allow a bank or a land registry in another to release anything. The second jurisdiction will want its own appointment, its own evidence of death, and often its own confirmation that local filings are satisfied. An executor who applies in the wrong order can find the first grant expiring, or a document needing to be re-issued, while the second application is prepared. This is part of why cross-border estates take longer than families expect, and why the sequence is planned in the will rather than improvised afterwards.
Do I pay tax when I inherit property abroad?
The inheritance itself is often not income to you, but three other things can create tax: the estate may owe tax where the deceased or the property was situated, some countries tax the recipient directly, and the gain from the date you inherit to the date you sell is yours. Reporting obligations can also attach to holding the asset. See inheriting property abroad.
What is a double tax treaty and what does it actually do?
It is an agreement between two countries that divides up the right to tax. Article by article it decides which country taxes employment income, dividends, interest, royalties, pensions, property and business profits — and where both may tax, it caps what the source country can withhold and tells the other to give credit. It also breaks residence ties and opens a government-to-government channel for disputes. What it never does is apply itself: a treaty position is claimed. See our treaty work.
