GeniB

WELL.... That was enlightening

DID YOU KNOW---- That as a British Citizen... you have to have a will made in the UK ?. I didn't know this .... Apparently upon your death the British Embassy will be informed ,who will then inform her majesties tax inspector . They will expect a British will to be found. .. Irrespective of any wills you may have made in your country of residence. Otherwise they will declare that you died intestate .and your heirs will have one hell of a job on their hands. It could be that the British will simple states... 'see Portuguese will at such and such address, no matter.It has to exist.

On the matter of being 'domiciled' This seems to be one of the biggest scams of all time on the part of HMIT. It seems that there is very little chance of you proving this .. despite in our case the fact we have not lived in..nor held property in the UK for well over forty years. No matter ..'domiciled' is an extremely fluid idea to HMIT especially when it comes to being able to grab your money. So much so that if you do need to prove it.. The only way is to employ a barrister at the cost of 10,000 pounds to stand in court for you.. The only other viable idea is to become a Citizen of Portugal.It seems.. Would love to hear from anyone else who has any better ideas.experience
Yikes... i think we just stepped into another 'glue pot'

spouse of scouse

Just a couple of comments.

Both the UK and Portugal (and various other countries) are signatories to the UNIDROIT Convention. The below cut and paste explains what the Convention is:

The intention behind this convention is to allow clients with assets in multiple countries to prepare one Will that will be effective across them all. There are special requirements for this Will which needs to be prepared in a particular way.

Sounds like a job for a solicitor/lawyer, but if you have assets in two countries it would be far simpler than have two Wills in different countries.

Further information regarding the Convention here
https://www.unidroit.org/instruments/international-will
The countries which are signatories to the Convention are here (countries that are coloured either yellow or blue)
https://www.unidroit.org/status-successions?id=1776

A final note, Commonwealth countries (eg Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada) broadly share the same legal system, and a Will made in any Commonwealth country will be recognised by the Court in any other Commonwealth country. Probate of the will is first obtained in the country the Will was prepared in, and is then sent to the relevant foreign Court for approval (re-sealing).

I only know all this because scouse and I have assets in two countries, so we engaged a solicitor who specializes in this subject.

scot47

See a lawyer This is not something to try on your own.

spouse of scouse

Of course see a solicitor/lawyer to assist draw up a valid Will, that's a given if you have assets in two countries. Scotland has a system that has the same outcome as Probate (a legal system to validate a deceased person's Will and ensure their wishes are met) - it's called something different (the executor needs to apply for a Certificate of Confirmation) and the process is different, but the outcome is the same.
https://beyond.life/help-centre/admi...n-in-scotland/

ps I wouldn't be an executor in Scotland for quids! It might be ok for a small estate, although even that requires a lot of work, but I'd be going with a professional administrator if it was a large estate. And the person who'd died had better left me money to pay for it!

GeniB

Thanks Spouse.... This is what surprised me talking to the tax advisor.. because we do not have assets in any other country now .. except for Portugal..We closed down our Dutch company ( a long and tedious procedure over 10 yrs ) We only have the Time Share weeks in the UK .where we only 'own' the weeks and not the property. I had believed that our Portuguese will would be enough.. but apparently not... We might have been abandoned to our lot with Brexit... but not by Her Majesties Tax Inspector ..Once a British citizen you come under British law....so it seems

GeniB

I think I mentioned that a couple of times Scot. We are seeing a lawyer and a tax advisor. It obviously isn't something to deal with on your own. Finding our more and more as we go along. Its helpful if other people have been there before us though. I hadn't realised for instance that you can take out insurance in order for your family to be able to have some money to pay the inheritance tax etc

Pilou

We made a will in Spain 3 years ago (where we lived at that time).
We have chosen the inheritance law of our nationality.

Now we live in Pt. Do we need to make a new will?
What is the fee the notary asks?