News Articles
Date added ~ Wednesday 18th January 2012
Why is it so important to seek advice on your Will when buying property abroad?
The question of which legal jurisdiction applies to an estate depends on where someone is domiciled. Domicile is a legal concept and is what ties an individual to a particular legal system. This is a complex area and there are many factors which affect the establishment of someone’s domicile.
If you buy property abroad but retain your English domicile then our law makes a distinction between fixed and moveable assets. Moveable assets (for example bank accounts) are governed by the law of the domicile of the deceased at death. Fixed assets, for example land, are governed by the law of the country where they are situated. In some European jurisdictions forced heirship rules operate. Forced heirship laws provide that someone is not entirely free to choose who their estate goes to and that specific people, including children, must receive a share specified by law. So it is possible that these forced heirship rules could apply to the distribution of your foreign home and this may not be what you would choose to happen.
Of course in addition to these issues, there are also inheritance tax consequences to the purchase of property abroad. The concept of domicile for tax purposes can be affected by other rules which seek to bring non-domiciled nationals into the UK Inheritance tax regime. It is also extremely important to review the local laws in the country in question as there may be quite different tax consequences there.
As this brief overview shows, the issues involved where a person dies with property abroad are considerable and far too vast to cover here. For this reason professional advice should always be sought.
If you want to make sure of the future for your loved ones then give us a call on 01604 828282 or 01908 660966. Alternatively you can fill out our online contact form for immediate completion and send it to us. Our Wills and Probate department are always on hand to help.
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