Insight
Does a UK will cover property abroad?
Partly. An English will can generally dispose of worldwide movable assets - accounts, investments, chattels - because succession to movables follows the deceased's domicile. Land and buildings follow the lex situs, the law of the country where they sit, and many of those countries reserve fixed shares for family members regardless of the will. For assets in participating EU states, an express choice-of-law election under the EU Succession Regulation can usually disapply that.
The distinction that decides everything
English conflict-of-laws rules split an estate in two. Movables - cash, bank accounts, shares, cars, jewellery, and on the better view crypto-tokens - pass under the law of the deceased's domicile. Immovables - land, buildings, and interests treated locally as land - pass under the law of the place where they physically are.
So an English will can validly leave a Portuguese apartment to a friend, and Portuguese law can reserve a share of it for the testator's children anyway. Nothing about the will is defective. It is simply overridden as to the reserved portion, and the family finds out during the administration.
Forced heirship, in outline
| System | Broad approach | Practical effect on a British owner |
|---|---|---|
| France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium | A reserved portion for descendants, with the free portion shrinking as the number of children rises. | The most common source of surprise. A nationality election under the EU Succession Regulation is usually the answer. |
| Germany, Austria | A compulsory-portion claim: heirs take a monetary claim against the estate rather than a share of the asset itself. | Less disruptive to ownership, but a real cash liability for the estate. |
| UAE and much of the Gulf | Shariah succession by default, with DIFC and ADGM registered-will regimes available to non-Muslims for UAE assets. | Registration in the right regime, in advance, is the whole game. |
| United States | No forced heirship in most states, but spousal elective shares, homestead rules and state-by-state probate. | Ancillary probate in the situs state is usually needed; a revocable trust often avoids it. |
| India, Pakistan, Bangladesh | Personal law by religion, plus separate rules for agricultural land. | Local documentation and succession certificates matter more than the English will. |
Indicative only, as at September 2026, and simplified. Each of these systems has exceptions that matter on real facts - take jurisdiction-specific advice before relying on any line of this table.
The Brussels IV election
The EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) lets a person choose the law of their nationality to govern succession to their estate. For a British national owning a house in France or Spain, that election frequently converts a reserved-share problem into free disposition, because English law has no forced heirship to apply.
Three practical points. The election normally has to be expressed in the will, not inferred. It governs succession only - local inheritance tax continues to apply on its own terms, and the tax is often the bigger number. And the UK's non-participation is irrelevant, because the election is given effect by the courts of the member state where the asset sits.
How many wills?
As few as will do the job, because every extra will adds revocation risk. The standard structure is a primary English will covering worldwide assets except those in named jurisdictions, plus a limited local will in each named jurisdiction, every one of them containing an express clause confirming it revokes nothing else.
The classic accident. A Spanish will is made for the Spanish flat. Years later an English will is made covering “all my estate” with a standard general revocation clause. The English will silently revokes the Spanish one, and the flat passes under a document drafted with no Spanish advice - frequently into Spanish intestacy.
Domicile, which is not residence
Because movables follow domicile, and because UK inheritance tax turns on it too, domicile deserves analysis rather than assumption. It is not nationality and it is not tax residence. A domicile of origin acquired at birth persists until a domicile of choice is established by both residence and settled intention, and it revives if that intention lapses. Anyone who has moved country, or whose parents did, should have it examined and evidenced while they are alive to explain it.
Common questions
Do I need a separate will for my Spanish or French property?
Usually yes, alongside an English will and drafted with it. A local will speeds up the local process considerably and avoids translation and legalisation of the English one. The critical point is that neither will revokes the other - that requires the two to be drafted in coordination.
Does Brexit affect the EU Succession Regulation for British nationals?
Not in the way people expect. The UK never opted into the Regulation, so nothing changed at Brexit. British nationals can still make a nationality choice-of-law election that EU member state courts will apply to assets in their territory.
Which country's inheritance tax applies?
Potentially more than one. The UK taxes worldwide assets of a person domiciled or deemed domiciled here, and UK-situated assets whatever the domicile. Other states tax by situs, by the deceased's residence, or by the heir's residence. Double-taxation treaties and unilateral relief reduce the overlap but rarely remove it, so the position needs modelling rather than guessing.
Find out where your estate breaks
Twelve questions, two minutes, no account. The cross-border risk check flags the jurisdictions, the forced-heirship traps and the digital assets your current arrangements will not carry across.