When Will You Sort Out Your Expat Will?

Who really wants to talk about things such as writing wills and sorting out their estate’s potential inheritance tax liability?  At a guess, no one!  That’s because ultimately, by facing such issues and dealing with such tasks as writing a will, one has to face up to the inevitable and cover very negative ground.

It’s not a case that we all want to go through life ignoring the fate of our family after we have shuffled off this mortal coil, it’s just that very few of us really want to have to think about the day we die and how we can ensure all of our affairs are in order.  Yet this is possibly the most awful catch 22 situation of all – you don’t want to think about writing a will because it means that for that period of time when you’re preparing it you have to think about how your family will cope when you’re gone, but if you don’t write a will, you’ll leave everything in such a mess that your family will have their grief compounded by a burden of worry.

So when will you get around to sorting out your expat will?  Today, this year, next year, sometime or never?  In this article we’re going to show you why you have to face the fact that you need a will more than ever once you move abroad and complicate everything from your tax liability to the location of your assets, and how easy and relatively pain-free the process can actually be if you engage the services of a professional company to take all the hassle out of the process for you.

Why Expats Needs Wills

If you’re domiciled in the UK, it doesn’t matter where you live in the world as an expat, the British tax man has an interest in your affairs when you die.  This means that all expats have to have a UK will.  If you don’t you will die intestate and this can have devastating consequences for your loved ones.  For example, your family may face a battle with the government over the distribution of your estate and have to hire lawyers and face the stress and the expense of that.  If you’re not married to your partner, you’re in a same sex relationship or you have children from more than one partnership or for whom you’re not the legal guardian, this can all compound the complexities of the distribution of your estate if you have not detailed in a will how your assets should be divided up.

This could all mean that the ‘vulnerable’ ones you worked your entire life to provide for are left with nothing but a huge burden of grief when you die.  However, if you make a will and detail who should be included and how your assets should be shared out, you can not only prevent additional heartache for your family, you can potentially prevent the tax man from getting his sticky mits on any part of your estate depending on the value of it and how you ask for it to be distributed.  For example, if you leave your estate to your spouse, such a transaction is IHT free because your spouse or civil partner is an exempt beneficiary.

How to Sort Out an Expat Will

When you move abroad permanently you change the jurisdiction in which you pay taxation, you may find that your estate is potentially liable to IHT in the UK and in your new nation as a result.  This complex situation can be compounded if you also buy or hold assets abroad – and so not only do you need to ensure your will covers you and your estate for any UK based liabilities and legalities, you have to make sure it is 100% compliant and legal abroad too.

To that end, as an expatriate I’m afraid it is usually the case that you need to engage the services of a professional to assist you.  The good news is that there is a brand new service available called Wills for Expatriates, and the professionals who offer the service are affiliate members of The Society of Will Writers and they work in accordance with the terms and conditions of the society and its regulations.  So, it’s no longer difficult to find professionals who understand the potential complexities of your expat situation, and it’s no longer difficult to get your will drawn up, signed, witnessed and completed.

Therefore, we’ll ask you again – when will you sort out your expat will? 

Surely you have nothing to stop you getting it done sooner rather than later – after all, if you keep putting it off, it may one day be too late.  Have a look at the Wills for Expatriates website and see if the service is of benefit to you.