Changing will while overseas

[SDN123]

Several things have happened since I wrote my will. Including getting married and moving and working overseas. I full intend to to return to the UK, the vast majority of my net worth remains in the UK and I continue to make UK self assessment tax returns (for my BTL rental income and unsheltered UK investment income).

My question is how can I change my UK will? Is it possible by, for example, email? Can any solicitor do this or is a special service required?

Thanks in advance.

[redsturgeon]

Several things have happened since I wrote my will. Including getting married and moving and working overseas. I full intend to to return to the UK, the vast majority of my net worth remains in the UK and I continue to make UK self assessment tax returns (for my BTL rental income and unsheltered UK investment income).

My question is how can I change my UK will? Is it possible by, for example, email? Can any solicitor do this or is a special service required?

Thanks in advance.

IANAL but surely it does not matter where you are as long as you have your signature on the will witnessed by two witnesses.

John

[Clitheroekid]

Several things have happened since I wrote my will. Including getting married and moving and working overseas.

I'm not sure if you realise that marriage revokes (cancels) a Will unless it was specifically stated to be in contemplation of getting married.

My question is how can I change my UK will?

See above - you no longer have a Will to change!

My question is how can I change my UK will? Is it possible by, for example, email? Can any solicitor do this or is a special service required?

The first thing to say is that there's technically no such thing as a UK Will. That's because Scotland and Northern Ireland both have different legal systems to that in England and Wales. So, for example, if you want a Scottish Will you'd need to consult a Scottish solicitor.

However, assuming you're based in England then it's easy enough for an English solicitor to make a Will even though you're living abroad.

Although it doesn't apply to you, one thing that other readers in this situation need to consider is whether they are still actually domiciled in England. If you have cut your links with England and abandoned any intention of ever returning then you may find that you've acquired the domicile of the country where you now live. Consequently, if I'm making a Will for an English person living abroad I always include the following clause:

For the avoidance of doubt I declare that I am domiciled in England and Wales

Of course such a clause is not determinative of domicile, but it's very useful evidence.

So it should be easy enough to do. The finished Will can be emailed to you, so you just print it out and have it signed and witnessed and Bob, as they say, is your uncle!

But as you don't currently have a Will I'd deal with it sooner rather than later.

[pochisoldi]

Several things have happened since I wrote my will. Including getting married and moving and working overseas. I full intend to to return to the UK, the vast majority of my net worth remains in the UK and I continue to make UK self assessment tax returns (for my BTL rental income and unsheltered UK investment income).

My question is how can I change my UK will? Is it possible by, for example, email? Can any solicitor do this or is a special service required?

Thanks in advance.

IANAL but surely it does not matter where you are as long as you have your signature on the will witnessed by two witnesses.

John

First thing - your UK will was invalidated when you got married. As it stands if you pop your clogs, your UK estate (at least) will be divided according to the intestacy rules.

Putting that aside, as far as getting a new will witnessed, I don't think it's that simple.

When you sign a legal document which requires a witness in the UK, you can do this where you like in the presence of whichever witness you choose.

Same probably goes in most common law jurisdictions.

Meanwhile in civil law jurisdictions, such an act may require the same level of palaver as a statutory declaration, or a signature of the equivalent of a commissioner for oaths/notary public/whatever it's called in that neck of the woods.

This is before you even get started on whatever non-UK assets you own - you seem to have made your UK domicile explicit, but that might not be enough for wherever you live. You might need two wills - one for your UK and transferable back to the UK estate, and another for your non-UK estate.

There's a lot of stuff here: no will if you die, possible requirement for separate UK and overseas wills, different intestacy rules for the UK and wherever you are, and you definitely need to get advice specific to your situation, and the same goes for your other half.

PochiSoldi

[Clitheroekid]

When you sign a legal document which requires a witness in the UK, you can do this where you like in the presence of whichever witness you choose.

Same probably goes in most common law jurisdictions.

Meanwhile in civil law jurisdictions, such an act may require the same level of palaver as a statutory declaration, or a signature of the equivalent of a commissioner for oaths/notary public/whatever it's called in that neck of the woods.

Section 1 of the Wills Act 1963 says that the execution of the Will is valid if it conforms to the law of any of the following:

1. The territory where the Will was executed.
2. The territory where the testator was domiciled at the time of execution or death.
3. The territory where the testator had his habitual residence at the time of execution or death - if a testator is habitually resident in England when he makes his Will, the Will is valid if it conforms to English law.
4. The state of which the testator was a national at the time of execution or death - if a testator is an English citizen when he dies, his Will is valid if it conforms to English law.

In the case of the OP he should be able to fulfil at least one of these criteria, in which case he only needs to ensure that the Will is signed and witnessed as it would be in a solicitor's office in England.

You might need two wills - one for your UK and transferable back to the UK estate, and another for your non-UK estate.

In general terms someone domiciled in England and Wales only needs to bother about making a foreign Will if he owns real estate in a foreign country. Assets like foreign bank accounts and securities can be perfectly well dealt with under an English Will.

[SDN123]

Extremely useful and relevant information, thanks to all of the contributors. I’ll be setting up a new will with a UK solicitor ASAP.

SDN123

[JonE]

In general terms someone domiciled in England and Wales only needs to bother about making a foreign Will if he owns real estate in a foreign country.

For a UK-domiciled testator with a Will in the EU I suspect this could be about to get pretty messy although I haven't yet seen any mention of it so the following is just speculation on my part. Perhaps it's been covered in specialist journals.

An EU citizen with 'habitual residence' in an EU country (other than UK, Ireland & Denmark) can, as a result of EU Regulation 650/2012, explicitly state that the law of their 'domicile of origin' (even if not an EU country) will apply to their Will for certain purposes (not, inter alia, taxation). The intention was to simplify cross-border succession and it allows side-stepping of local 'forced inheritance' civil law rules by the use of suitable wording in the Will.

The Regulation came into force in August, 2015 (though not in countries listed above which exercised an opt-out) but in at least one EU jurisdiction it had previously been possible for certain groups to explicitly opt-out of local succession laws in a Will but the validity of any such exclusion clause was removed just prior to the EU Regulation becoming effective (so it doesn't now exist as a fall-back provision). This made review of existing Wills necessary to avoid forced inheritance rules.

It now appears that the UK's departure from the EU will take UK-domiciled testators outside the scope of the Regulation so review will again become necessary to see if forced inheritance rules can be avoided in some way - although I've seen no reports of whether the EU or any individual EU country will make specific provision for this in the event of no Withdrawal Agreement coming into effect.

Cheers!

[Chrysalis]

Gosh, Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving...

(apologies for OT post, couldn't resist)

[JonE]

It now appears that the UK's departure from the EU will take UK-domiciled testators outside the scope of the Regulation

Wrong! Apologies. Those of British nationality will, in general, still be able to opt for succession to be handled in EU member states in accordance with relevant UK law and thereby side-step forced succession rules. EU citizenship is of absolutely no relevance.

When the notion occurred to me a few days ago I'd re-read the articles that I'd seen in 2015 when the EU Regulation came into force and also read other articles plus the European Commission's 6-page leaflet on the topic. However, I've now found and read the EC's 42-page "Citizen's Guide" to the Regulation which was published almost a year ago and have ended up reading the Regulation itself. Misleadingly, some of the terminology used in various publications is not found in the Regulation in the same context. For example, 'domicile of origin' has been used but that phrase does not appear in the Regulation - it seems to have been used as a proxy for 'State of nationality' (which is in the Regulation) but the phrases mean different things.

Everything I'd previously read had a focus on 'citizens' and 'habitual residence' plus interactions between 'Member States' (not including UK or Ireland). In fact, the Regulation applies in participating Member States "to succession to the estates of deceased persons" - with no restriction (and no mention of EU citizenship).

Cheers!