Is there anyone with legal acumen? We are not resident in Hungary. We would like to leave our property to Hungarian friends. In the UK we have stated this in our Wills. We visited a Lawyer recently in Hungary as we were under the impression we needed a mirror will in Hungary. The lawyer stated that a Hungarian will would not be legal tender! Do we need a Hungarian will or will our English wills suffice? Totally confused!

When I went through this I was advised that 2 wills are needed. Each will should reference the other. e.g. in my case, as a resident in Hungary, my will states

"This is my last will disposing of my Hungarian and my worldwide assets except my UK assets which will be disposed of by my UK will."

And then

"I revoke any previous wills and codicils except for my will disposing of my UK assets which will be disposed of by my UK will."

So for your case you would have to exchange Hungarian and UK in the above and your Hungarian will will need to state that it only deals with your Hungarian assets and that you revoke previous wills and codicils except for your will disposing of your Hungarian assets which will be disposed of by your Hungarian will.

You will find that not many solicitors are up to speed with wills concerning assets in different countries. You could do the will where your Hungarian assets would be included in your world wide assets but I was advised that it is better to have a will addressing assets in the UK (or in your case in Hungary) Come the event your Hungarian will must be translated into Hungarian by the official State translation agency and then go through Hungarian probate. - but this won't be your problem. Your will(s) must be compiled in your mother tongue.

Since you intend to leave your Hungarian assets to a non-relative Hungarian IHT may be an issue and I don't know how IHT plays out between the 2 countries, but again this won't be your problem unless you want to get into the game of minimising IHT. In Hungary assets left to non-relatives are subject to IHT but my understanding is that such IHT (and property transfer tax (UK stamp duty)) is charged to the recipient rather than coming out of the estate before dispersement as in the UK so your Hungarian friends may have tax to pay. Take advice on this, if it is the case that they have to pay the IHT then provision could be made in your will to defray this if you want the assets to be free of tax..

Health warning
I am not legally qualified - I've just gone through this exercise.

Thanks so much for your prompt and helpful reply. We do not have residency and that's the reason the lawyer in Hungary said that a Hungarian will would not stand in Hungary. I will have to seek clarification in the uk as it's very confusing.

I was told my UK will will stand in the UK - but then Hungary regs are governed by EU law in this matter which allows for wills to be in different national jurisdictions. I've no idea what happens in the UK post Brexit !!