When borders complicate an estate
Countries take different approaches to who inherits, how a will must be signed, and which country's law applies to which property. Some legal systems reserve shares for certain relatives regardless of a will, an idea unfamiliar to most American planning. Real estate is often governed by the law of the place where it sits, while bank accounts and investments may follow the owner's domicile or nationality. A single will drafted for New York may not be recognized smoothly abroad, and a foreign will may face questions here. Families sometimes use separate wills for different countries, which can work when each is drafted so that it does not accidentally revoke the other.
What to assemble across countries
List assets by country, with how each is titled and whose name is on it. Note the citizenship and residence of you, your spouse, and your likely heirs, because each fact can change the tax picture and the governing law. Bring any will or trust document signed outside the United States, together with a translation if you have one. Foreign accounts and entities often carry American reporting obligations, so information about them is useful even if no change is planned. If a lawyer abroad already advises your family, their contact information helps us coordinate.
Coordinating the moving parts
A first meeting usually maps which country's rules could apply to each major asset and where a court proceeding might be needed after death. Estate tax treaties between the United States and some countries can affect the result, but they vary widely, and many countries have no such treaty with the United States. We work alongside advisers in the other country rather than offering opinions on its law. Practical questions also come up, such as who could serve as executor if heirs live overseas and how documents would be authenticated for use abroad. The plan we sketch tends to be a set of coordinated documents rather than one.
