When wealth crosses borders, the rules change entirely. A will valid in one country may be unenforceable in another. An estate that would pass tax-free domestically may trigger significant liability the moment it includes foreign assets. And succession laws in civil law jurisdictions can override the explicit wishes of the deceased in favour of forced heirs.
International estate planning addresses these challenges for individuals with assets, family members, or business interests in more than one country. It is one of the most complex areas of personal finance, and one of the most consequential to neglect.
For a broader introduction to the financial planning context, see our guide on financial planning.
In simple terms, it is estate planning for a life and a wealth profile that does not fit within a single country's legal system.
International estate planning is the process of structuring the ownership, transfer, and succession of assets held across multiple countries. The goal is to ensure that assets pass according to your wishes, that unnecessary tax is minimised, and that legal conflicts between jurisdictions are avoided.
For domestic individuals, estate planning is largely a matter of writing a will, designating beneficiaries, and in some cases establishing a trust or making lifetime gifts. The legal framework is clear: one system, one set of rules.
For individuals with assets in multiple countries, each step must be evaluated against multiple legal systems that may have fundamentally different approaches to inheritance, taxation, and the recognition of foreign legal documents.
The starting point for any international estate plan is a full inventory: where assets are located, what type they are (real property, financial accounts, business interests, intellectual property), and which jurisdictions' laws govern each category.
The legal complexity of international estate planning stems from a simple fact: there is no universal framework governing succession. Each country applies its own rules, and those rules can conflict dramatically.
The world operates under three principal legal traditions, each with a different approach to succession:
An estate that spans jurisdictions governed by different legal traditions faces three different sets of succession rules simultaneously.
Forced heirship is the single most common legal conflict in international estate planning.
In France, children are entitled to a fixed portion of the estate (the réserve héréditaire) regardless of what the will says. If an individual attempts to leave their entire French estate to a spouse, a charity, or a business partner, the children can challenge the will and claim their statutory share.
Here is the key point. This rule applies to assets located in France even if the deceased was not a French resident. A British national living in Dubai who owns a French holiday property must account for French forced heirship rules in their estate plan.
A will written in one country is not automatically valid in another. Recognition of foreign wills depends on factors including the form of the will, the applicable law chosen, and any international conventions to which the relevant countries are party.
In practice, individuals with assets in multiple countries typically require separate wills for each jurisdiction where material assets are held. One document is almost never sufficient.
Estate and inheritance taxes vary enormously across jurisdictions, from 0% in the UAE to 40% in the UK and up to 55% in Japan. Without careful planning, the same assets may be taxed in more than one country.
| Jurisdiction | Tax Type | Rate | Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Inheritance Tax (IHT) | 40% | £325,000 nil-rate band |
| United States | Estate Tax | 40% | $13.61M (2024, federal) |
| France | Inheritance Tax | 5–45% | Varies by relationship |
| Germany | Inheritance Tax | 7–50% | Varies by relationship |
| UAE | No estate or inheritance tax | 0% | N/A |
| Japan | Inheritance Tax | 10–55% | Varies by amount |
Double taxation on estates can arise in three ways:
The OECD Cross-border and International Tax framework addresses some of these conflicts through bilateral tax treaties, but estate and inheritance tax treaties are far less common than income tax treaties. Many countries, including the UK and the US, have only a small number of estate tax treaties in force.
For specific strategies to reduce inheritance tax exposure, see our guide on inheritance tax planning.
International trusts are one of the primary legal vehicles used in cross-border estate planning. A trust separates legal ownership of assets (held by the trustee) from beneficial ownership (held by the beneficiaries), creating a structure that is more flexible and more portable than direct asset ownership.
In a trust structure, the settlor transfers assets to a trustee to hold and manage for the benefit of specified beneficiaries. The key planning advantages are:
Common trust jurisdictions for international families include Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein, and the DIFC.
The DIFC has its own trust law (DIFC Trust Law 2018, amended 2024) that is broadly aligned with English common law trust principles. DIFC-registered trusts can hold assets located anywhere in the world and are governed by an independent, well-established legal framework.
Two international frameworks are particularly relevant for individuals with assets or family members in Europe.
For individuals with assets in EU member states, the EU Succession Regulation (Brussels IV) provides a mechanism to elect the law of your nationality as the governing law of your estate, rather than the default law of your habitual residence. This election must be made explicitly in the will.
This can be significant for, as an example, a French national habitually resident in Germany who wants French law to govern their succession rather than German law.
The regulation applies in 26 of the 27 EU member states (Denmark opted out). It does not apply to the UK.
The Hague Convention of 1 August 1989 on the Law Applicable to Succession provides a framework for determining which country's law governs a cross-border estate. It has been ratified by a limited number of countries, but it provides a useful reference for understanding how conflict of laws questions are approached in international succession.
Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) is increasingly used by HNWI families as a cross-border estate planning vehicle. PPLI is a bespoke life insurance wrapper in which the policyholder's assets are held within an insurance structure, with the death benefit payable to named beneficiaries.
The estate planning advantages of PPLI include:
For a detailed exploration of PPLI structures and offshore insurance wrappers, see our guide on term life insurance.
The UAE presents a distinctive, and for internationally mobile HNWI often advantageous, estate planning environment.
The UAE does not impose inheritance tax, estate duty, or capital gains tax. This makes it one of the most tax-efficient jurisdictions in the world for estate planning purposes, provided that the estate is properly structured so that assets are governed by UAE law rather than the law of another jurisdiction that imposes such taxes.
Prior to the introduction of the DIFC Wills Service in 2015, non-Muslim expatriates in the UAE faced the risk that their estates would be distributed according to Sharia inheritance rules, regardless of their own wishes. The DIFC Wills Service resolved this by allowing non-Muslim residents and property owners to register a common law will governing the distribution of their UAE assets and the guardianship of their children.
According to the DIFC Academy (2024), the DIFC Wills Service has been significantly expanded to allow non-Muslims to include their financial assets held at DIFC firms within the scope of a registered will, providing considerably broader protection than was previously available.
The ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) has established a similar wills registration service for non-Muslims with assets in Abu Dhabi.
For non-Muslim expats resident in the UAE, the recommended minimum estate planning structure involves four steps:
For HNWI individuals who own business interests in multiple countries, business succession is an additional layer of complexity. The core questions are:
Business succession planning requires coordination between estate lawyers, tax advisers, and corporate advisers in each relevant jurisdiction. It should be reviewed whenever the ownership structure of the business changes materially.
For families with financial planning needs that span borders, the following strategies are most commonly used in combination:
Our financial planning and wealth management guide covers how to identify and work with qualified financial advisers and estate planning specialists across jurisdictions.
International estate planning is not a do-it-yourself exercise. The interaction of multiple legal systems, tax regimes, and planning tools creates a level of complexity that requires specialist expertise in each relevant jurisdiction.
Professional guidance is particularly important when:
International estate planning requires specialist expertise across multiple legal systems and tax regimes. Our advisers work with HNWI families and internationally mobile individuals to build coordinated structures that work across every jurisdiction.
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International estate planning is the process of structuring the transfer of assets held across multiple countries in a way that reflects the individual's wishes, minimises tax, and avoids legal conflicts between jurisdictions. Anyone with assets, family members, or business interests in more than one country benefits from this, particularly HNWI individuals, expats, and globally mobile professionals.
In most cases, no. A will valid in one country may not be recognised in another, and each jurisdiction's succession laws may apply to assets located there regardless of the will's instructions. Individuals with material assets in multiple countries typically need separate wills in each jurisdiction. Begin Your Journey With Us to discuss a coordinated multi-jurisdiction estate plan.
Forced heirship is a rule in civil law countries that reserves a fixed portion of an estate for close relatives, typically children and sometimes a spouse, which cannot be overridden by will. It applies to assets located in the jurisdiction, regardless of the deceased's residence or nationality. In some cases, trust structures or PPLI wrappers can mitigate its impact, but the effectiveness of these strategies varies by jurisdiction and should be assessed case by case.
A DIFC Will is a registered will under the DIFC's common law framework that governs the distribution of UAE-based assets and the appointment of guardians for minor children. It prevents UAE assets from defaulting to Sharia inheritance rules for non-Muslim expats. The DIFC Wills Service covers assets including property, financial accounts at DIFC firms, and business interests. Contact us for guidance on DIFC wills and international estate planning in the UAE.
Estate tax is levied on the total value of the deceased's estate before distribution; the estate pays the tax. Inheritance tax is levied on the amount received by each beneficiary; the recipient pays the tax. The US applies a federal estate tax. The UK applies inheritance tax. France applies inheritance tax at the beneficiary level. The UAE applies neither.
