scrubbedexpat099

There seems quite a few on here who may have moved to the US but still have property in the UK.

I am one of them.

Steve_

It depends on what your assets are, where they are and how carefully written your will is. I don't think there is any one correct answer to this.

Certainly I've spoken to other Canadians who have had issues.

The general impression I get is that if your only foreign asset is a condo in Florida for example and the rest of your estate is large and complex, you have a separate will written just for that, that can be used to complete Florida probate.

Like I said it depends on the circumstances. Another issue for example is to what extent your estate could be covered by US estate tax - but few people get hit with it. If you are going to get hit with it, clear delineation is a good idea.

I've spent enough time in court to know that you should make it as simple for them as possible. You might think your will is super clever and covers everything but not so clever if you then have to hire a probate attorney to explain it to the probate court.

It depends on how probate is actually performed as well, like I said if the jurisdiction bases it on a percentage of the estate rather than a flat fee there is an incentive for them to include as much of it as possible under the laws of that jurisdiction. E.g. state estate taxes.

J.JsOH

Hello,
I would like to turn around the OP original question on making Wills and ask for advise for my situation.
Born UK, naturalized USC, lived in North Carolina. Now back in UK

I have some $$ savings in USA and have a US Will etc that I made when I lived in US. No other assets.
Now I have moved to UK, where I have house, savings, all the trappings.

No family in USA, only UK.
I don't expect to move back to USA.
Am running down the amount of $$ in US but they will be there for many years yet.

I am preparing to write a UK Will.
Do I refer to the existence of a US Will or do I supersede the US Will with a new UK Will and designate in my UK Will how I want to distribute my US $$?

All advice appreciated.
Thanks.

S Folinsky

Get legal advice.

I've seen here people conflating the idea of multiple wills with property in differing jurisdictions. To my knowledge, multiple wills are a bad idea.

A will is valid if it validly conforms with the procedures and laws of the place of its making and execution.

The law governing administration of the probate estate is governed by the law and courts of the place of residence at time of death. It is possible for a will validly executed in jurisdiction X to be probated in jurisdiction Y where decedent was domiciled at time of death.

Under limited circumstances, usually involving real property, it is necessary to have an "ancillary" proceeding in the jurisdiction where the property is located.

Again, get legal advice. I'm just passing on some general legal knowledge here.

Steve_

Well I agree, I'm just saying its not etched in stone that having one will to cover everything is the best way to go, it depends entirely on the circumstances of your estate, where it is, who is getting it, blah blah. There wouldn't be lawyers specializing in it otherwise.

This PDF points out the issues I'm getting at: http://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/83/p...atebystate.pdf

Some jurisdictions are flat rates, some are "reasonable fee", some are percentage and you have hybrids. Some jurisdictions have estate taxes, some don't. It all depends.