Making will for foreign property

I have heard that in order to pass on your property in France and Spain that you have to make a will in that country. It sounds very strange that a will made in Ireland would not be valid in another country in relation to property there. Is this correct?

Hi - I'm not a legal person, this is not professional advice. My understanding is that laws of inheritance in some European and other foreign countries differ considerably from these western isles (just as the Brehon inheritance laws which preceeded the Anglo-Irish form currently operating in Ireland meant land passed from mother to daughter). Taxes such as CGT payable on the estate or sale of property also differ from country to country

It is true. I know for certain it applies in Portugal as I've just done one. The most ridiculous thing is you have to make a will every time you buy a property!

Allen, I know here in Croatia that wills made by former residents (in ex-Yug) are not valid under modern laws. It just makes as much sense as anything to pretty much translate the foreign property part of your will into the language of the country and lodge it in the court. Here it costs 1to300€, harmless and safe.

I asked my lawyer in Budapest if I needed to make a will there & she said that my Irish one would be binding.

I took her at her word. Now you guys are getting me worried. Should I look into it again ?

perplexed, get one made in Hungary, you do not want to get into a situation where you have the govenment refusing to allow transfer without a court case and mountain of paper. It's a very simple task to make a will, and it'll give you peace of mind in the long run!

Thanks for that Almo. Better to be sure.

Interesting and very important thread. Could anyone tell me what the situation is in France, with their Napoleonic laws etc.? I have tried to figure it out from googled articles, but find it very confusing. Anyone got an idiot's guide?

Thanks for all the replies.
I presume that the foreign will should only deal with the foreign property. Otherwise if the foreign will is more recent than the Irish will the Irish will becomes invalid. I presume then you can have different wills dealing with different parts of the property? I understood that in Ireland a more recent will automatically invalidates all earlier ones?

I know that in many jurisdictions if you make a will that is valid in one country then it can be admitted to probate in other countries. So I've had US wills and UK wills admitted to probate here and vice versa. However even if a valid Irish will could be admitted to probate for eg in France or another country, that countries succession laws might overrule what is in the will, or their inheritance tax laws might mean that your will, which would be tax efficient in Ireland, would be very tax inefficient elsewhere. I think as a rule of thumb that if you have an overseas property that it is a very good idea to take inheritance tax and succession law advice and perhaps make a will in relation to that property only if that is the advice given. You should be careful, as per previous posters advice, that the will relates only to that property and also if you make future wills that they do not overrule this will- so if you later make an Irish will be sure to tell your solicitor that you have already made a will in relation to an overseas property and to phrase the will so that it doesnt invalidate the overseas will.

in some countries you just put everyones names on the deeds, e.g. the wife, kids etc

Thanks Vanilla for that useful advice.

I bought a property in Holland and made out a will at the time. I was told to also make a will in Ireland with the same details to ensure that it was bullet proof, otherwise the will could be subject to contest and it would be very complicated to sort it out.

For an extensive guide to succession law in France:

[broken link removed]

All property bought in France is automatically put under French succession law. It costs around 400 Euros to put your French purchase (and all future French purchases) under irish-style succession law.

Succession law in France is very important if you have children from a previous marriage.

In Spain you need to make a will leaving property to whoever you want to leave it to, wife, mistress/toyboy etc. There is a form of wording used by Spanish lawyers that effectively means that al your assets in Spain go to the main beneficiary, with the exception of specific property going to named persons. In other words, once you make such a will, any additional property that you acquire later will automatically also go to the main beneficiary, i.e. all your Spanish assets at time of death, whether acquired after the will was written or not.

You have to be sure that the will is written in this way, but as I recall this is the standard method of writing it.