WHAT HAPPENS IF A WILL DISPUTE INVOLVES PROPERTY ABROAD?
Estates involving overseas property are among the most complicated to deal with. The moment a house or apartment abroad enters the picture, you are no longer dealing with one legal system but potentially two, each with its own rules on who inherits, how the will is treated, and what an English court can actually do.
Families often find themselves managing parallel proceedings in different countries, spending significantly more than they anticipated, and still without a clear answer on who is entitled to what.
If a foreign property inheritance dispute is part of what you are facing, this is what you need to know.
Does English probate cover overseas assets?
An English grant of probate gives the executor authority to deal with the estate in England and Wales. It does not automatically extend to property in other countries. For assets held abroad that are not land or buildings, many countries will recognise an English grant, or at least give it significant weight.
For property such as land or a house abroad, an English grant will often not be enough on its own. This often means a separate legal process is needed in the foreign jurisdiction – either a fresh grant of probate there or a resealing of the English one – before anyone can deal with the property.
Which country’s law applies?
Which country’s law applies depends on whether the asset is movable or immovable.
Movable assets such as bank accounts, investments and personal possessions follow the law of the country where the deceased was domiciled (their permanent legal home) at the time of death. For most people who lived and died in England, that means English law governs their movable estate worldwide.
For immovable property, which means land, houses and other buildings, it is the law of the country where the property is located that governs succession. This is known as the lex situs principle.
A leading case, Re Duke of Wellington [1947], tells us something important about how this works in practice. When English courts apply foreign law to overseas land, they do not just apply that country’s domestic law in isolation. They apply that country’s entire legal system, including its own principles on which country’s law should govern the dispute, so that the outcome matches what a judge in that country would actually decide.
Disputes over foreign homes
Foreign property inheritance disputes can arise for a number of reasons, including where:
- the will does not deal clearly with overseas assets
- local law in the foreign country conflicts with what the English will says
- family members based abroad make competing claims that were not anticipated in the will
- the deceased’s domicile is disputed, affecting which country’s law governs parts of the estate
Some people make two wills, one for their English estate and one for their overseas property. That can create a hidden problem. Most wills contain a standard clause cancelling all previous wills. If a new English will includes that clause, it can wipe out an existing foreign will even if the new document says nothing about the overseas property at all.
In Sangha v Sangha [2023], the Court of Appeal confirmed that a standard revocation clause cancels all previous wills, including any made for overseas property, unless there is strong evidence the deceased intended otherwise.
If the foreign will is cancelled and the new will does not cover the overseas property, that country’s own inheritance rules decide who gets it. The outcome may bear no resemblance to what the deceased actually wanted.
Forced heirship rules add an extra complication in some European countries. In France and Spain, for example, children are entitled by law to a fixed share of the estate regardless of what any will says.
So, a parent who intended to leave their Spanish home to one child, or to a new partner, may find that local law gives other family members a legal share that has to be dealt with in that country, not here. An English will will not usually change that, although in some situations the outcome can be affected by how the will was set up and what it says about which law should apply.
Tax complications
Dealing with property in two jurisdictions can mean paying inheritance tax in both. England and Wales has its own regime, but the country where the property sits may impose its own taxes on top. Where no double taxation treaty exists between the two countries, the same asset can be taxed twice, reducing what any beneficiaries actually receive.
Enforcing the outcome
Winning in an English court does not mean the result will be recognised abroad. In Sidoli v Sidoli [2025], a family spent years fighting a succession dispute through the Italian courts, only to find that the English High Court would not recognise the outcome when they tried to use it here. The court ruled that inheritance disputes fall outside the law that would normally allow foreign court decisions to be registered in England.
The practical point is straightforward: what you win in one country stays in that country. If you need the result to count somewhere else, you may have to start the whole process again from scratch.
Why specialist advice matters in a foreign property inheritance dispute
When the will itself is being questioned in England and a foreign property claim is running at the same time, progress in one country can create pressure in the other. A decision made in the wrong order, or at the wrong time, can close off options you did not know you had.
We handle cases like this regularly. We work out which jurisdiction to focus on first, manage the timing across both sets of proceedings, and make sure nothing done in one country undermines your position in the other.
If an estate you have concerns about involves overseas property, the sooner you get advice the more options you are likely to have.
In some cases, we act on a no-win, no-fee basis. We will explain the funding arrangements in full at the outset, so you understand exactly what is involved before making any decision.
Get in touch to arrange your free initial call.