Expat wills and probate barristers.
Advice for British expatriates and their families on wills that cover more than one country, domicile, inheritance tax exposure and disputed overseas estates.
Living abroad changes the legal shape of your estate, usually more than people realise. The English will drafted before the move may no longer do what it was meant to do. The apartment bought in a country with forced heirship may already be earmarked for children rather than a spouse. A domicile that feels long abandoned may still be attached to you for tax purposes. None of this is obvious until someone dies and the family discovers it.
Clerk&Counsel introduces independent barristers, regulated by the Bar Standards Board, who advise expatriates, returning expatriates and the families of people who died abroad. The panel includes chancery and private client counsel used to working alongside lawyers, notaries and tax advisers in other countries, and counsel with a practice in Spain for clients with Spanish interests.
We take instructions from solicitors, executors, trustees and directly from individuals under the Public Access scheme, wherever they live. Conferences are held by video, and fees are agreed in writing before any work begins.
Getting the structure right while you can.
The work that saves families the most money is done before death, and it is rarely complicated. It means checking that each country where you hold assets is covered by a valid document, that those documents do not revoke each other, that the people named as executors can actually act in the countries concerned, and that the tax position has been looked at as a whole rather than country by country.
Counsel can advise on the structure, review existing wills and identify the gaps, and draft or settle the English will so that it sits correctly alongside a foreign one. Where the position depends on local law, we will identify precisely what has to be confirmed by a lawyer in that country so you are not paying for the same question twice.
Particular care is needed with jointly owned foreign property, with assets held through companies or foundations, with pensions drawn in one country and taxed in another, and with second families, which are common in expatriate life and account for a large share of the disputes that follow.
Dealing with an estate that spans two countries.
Executors of an international estate face duplicated process. A grant may be needed here for English assets while a separate local procedure runs abroad, each with its own evidence requirements, timescales and taxes payable before anything can be transferred. Where a grant from a recognised jurisdiction already exists, resealing it here can save time and cost.
Executors also carry personal risk. Distributing before foreign tax liabilities are settled, or before a possible claim is resolved, can leave an executor exposed. Counsel can advise on protective steps, on the proper order of payment and, where the estate is genuinely contested, on applying to the court for directions rather than making a judgment call alone.
When the family does not agree.
- Challenges to the validity of a will made abroad or made here shortly before or after a move.
- Arguments about whether a later foreign will revoked an earlier English will.
- Domicile disputes affecting both succession and inheritance tax.
- Inheritance Act 1975 claims by spouses, cohabitants and adult children living overseas.
- Claims by second spouses against children of a first marriage, and the reverse.
- Disputes over foreign property bought jointly, or bought in one name for both.
- Claims against executors and trustees for delay, failure to account or misapplication of assets.
- Proprietary estoppel claims where promises were made about a family home or business abroad.
How instructing from abroad actually works.
Most of this work is document based, which makes it well suited to clients in other time zones. Papers are sent electronically, counsel provides written advice, and conferences are held by video at a time that works for you. Where a hearing is listed, many interim hearings are conducted remotely, and counsel will tell you clearly which hearings genuinely require attendance.
For clients who cannot travel, we can also arrange for evidence to be taken and statements to be finalised remotely, and for counsel to liaise directly with your adviser abroad so that you are not left translating between two sets of lawyers.
Fixed fees for advice, clear quotes for hearings.
Written advice, will review and drafting are quoted as fixed fees against the papers, agreed before work starts. Contested matters are staged so that you take advice on merits first and commit to the next step only when you know where you stand.
Hearings are quoted as a brief fee plus refreshers. Clerk&Counsel's service fee of up to £150 depending on urgency is shown separately from counsel's professional fee before you decide. There is no charge to make an enquiry.
Tell us which countries your affairs touch.
Send a short outline of where you live, where your assets are and what documents already exist. We will come back with counsel options and a fixed fee for advice.
Common questions.
Do expats need a separate will for each country?
Often yes, particularly where property is owned abroad. A local will dealing only with local assets, drafted so that it does not revoke the English will, usually makes administration faster and cheaper than trying to run everything through one document. The danger to avoid is two wills with overlapping or contradictory revocation clauses, which is one of the most common causes of expat estate disputes.
If I live abroad, am I still liable to UK inheritance tax?
Possibly. Exposure turns on domicile and on the current long term residence rules rather than on where you happen to live now. A domicile of origin in England is not lost easily, and people who have lived abroad for many years are frequently found to have remained UK domiciled for tax purposes. Advice on this before death is far more useful than advice afterwards.
Which country's law decides who inherits?
Broadly, the law of the country where land is situated governs that land, and the law of the deceased's domicile governs moveable assets such as bank accounts and investments. Some civil law countries apply forced heirship, giving children fixed shares regardless of the will, though an election of national law may be available in some cases. The answer depends on the countries involved and needs to be checked, not assumed.
Can a family member abroad challenge an English will?
Yes. Living abroad is no barrier to bringing a claim in England, whether that is a challenge to the validity of the will or a claim for reasonable provision under the Inheritance Act 1975, provided the jurisdictional requirements are met. Counsel can act for beneficiaries living overseas and conduct most of the work remotely.
Can I instruct a barrister directly from abroad?
Yes. Public Access counsel can advise and draft for clients living overseas, with conferences held by video. Where the matter requires court proceedings with substantial disclosure or a local solicitor on the record, we will say so at the outset and can suggest a structure that keeps the cost proportionate.