Thydney

I was talking about UK probate is the process all Wills should go through in order for execution. In the UK it has nothing to do with changing ownership it is a legal proceedure

Ray

A lot of jurisdictions do not recognize another jurisdictions
wills ..

Thydney

Even so it would still invalidate the other there are ways around this but you can only have one Last Will and Testament.

Ray

In each jurisdiction per one lawyer ... but I don't really know
I believed him...

scrubbedexpat099

You can have 2, one for your US assets, one for UK.

Thydney

No you are wrong. You cannot have two, the last to be signed invalidates all other Wills

scrubbedexpat099

Not necessarily.

Thydney

I used to be a member of the Institute of Professional Will Writers trust me under English and Welsh law the last one is the valid one.

Xebedee

No US visa status, dual nat and USC. So USC in UK as visitor every year (you know, what people try to do here all the time, but cannot).
Assuming we might need one as likely to acquire more sh!t between now and then. Like yer do. Stuff.

Fair enough then, but what about America? Do they care about an English will? England doesn't care about US naturalisation do they?

JAJ

Each jurisdiction (each U.S. state, while in the U.K. England/Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all separate jurisdictions) may have its own rules about whether or not it accepts wills from other jurisdictions.

Don't make assumptions about what is or is not acceptable, and don't listen to off-hand advice from lawyers either (in other words, if it's important, see a specialist and get the advice in writing with reference to the law in that jurisdiction).

Giantaxe

In general, that's true and why it's a good idea to make sure you have other probate-avoiding devices (living trust, joint ownership with right of survival, beneficiaries for IRAs etc) for your assets. However some states have exemptions to probate for small and straightforward estates.

Bob

Yes you can. It depends on the country that holds jurisdiction over where the will was written. So it's worth having one for UK assets in the UK, and one for the state in which you reside in the US.

Thydney

Totally agree.

Sorry Bob but you're wrong they would try and make sense of your US Will.

JAJ

In that case maybe you can explain in a little more detail why that is the case under the law, and not just make a sweeping statement like that.

Just because you have been involved in this area before does not automatically mean you are right, with respect.

And even if you are right with respect to England and Wales law, does it matter if the property concerned is situated in another jurisdiction with a different viewpoint?

Bob

If the will only included assets in that country, it is still valid, it's only an issue if you have wills over lapping assets, then the last will would be the one, other wise they would still be valid.

Not that I can be arsed to drag this about, but it was one of the things I got sorted out before I buggered off out of blighty covering assets in another country as well as stuff from blighty.