World Wide Wills

A client brought to my attention the issue of wills when you hold property or assets in other jurisdictions.

Clients who have a home in Spain are often advised to make a will there, but it can cause problems. The last executed will can end up the legally valid one, so the executors can be left with issues to deal with- granted many times the lawyers get the sense of what is happening and make things make sense, but it is fairly obvious that there may be a case where they don't.

An innovation is the world wide will, offered by a number of trust companies and lawyers is a mechanism to ensure that your will is executed in a way that covers all your property.

Worth thinking about

P.S. Remember that Spain does not recognise trusts, so arrangements like UK trust planning don't exist there. There are a number of ways to effect the same advantage.

One way to do so is to create a debt or mortgage on the Spanish property and put the money in a jurisdiction where you can use trust planning for your familly, and that has other income and capital gains tax advantages.

The key issue is to give careful consideration to your assets, how they are held, and what you want to happen to them, then talk to soemone competent to tell you how the tax interactions work. Then review the arrangement regularly. Otherwise you are asking for trouble.