expat wills

An Expatriate Will works in conjunction with your primary Will, to cover any assets that you hold in a foreign country.

Am I too young to write a Last Will and Testament?

Am I too Young to Write a Last Will and Testament? 

Over 60% of adults don’t have a Will, and this is across all of the countries that we support; the US, UK and Canada. For Expats, this number is almost certainly going to be higher, because the process is that much more complicated.

This means one out of two adults are woefully underprepared for their own death! On a daily basis not many of us like to think about our inevitable demise, it’s morbid and something that most of us don’t want to think about. Like going to the dentist or sitting an exam, there are some uncomfortable scenarios that we put off for as long as possible. Writing a Last Will and Testament should not be one of them.

However, there comes a time when we need to face the cold hard reality that we won’t live forever and you need to write a last will and testament. Granted, writing a Last Will and Testament isn’t the most fun you can have, and when you’re young there are a million and one exciting things you would rather do but it’s really not such a long and laborious process as you might think. To help you see the benefits of having a Will we have outlined the reasons why you’re (almost) never too young to write one.

The Young Ones

In 2014 Rik Mayall, a star from the popular ‘The Young Ones’ TV series passed away unexpectedly without leaving a Will. This resulted in extra fees and expenses for his surviving family, never mind the added turmoil of not knowing how he would have liked his estate to be shared.

But this happens all the time. If you took just musicians, you could form a supergroup of Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse, Billy Holliday, Bob Marley, Barry White…..the list goes on.

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Confused about Wills? Unusual expressions demystified.

Although estate planning can be easy and intuitive, the legal jargon surrounding Wills can make it confusing for those who aren’t familiar with the process. Although many aspects of estate planning are actually relatively simple, the unfamiliar language that people associate with the law can make these aspects seem daunting, even unintelligible. The awkward words used in Wills may be intimidating, but you shouldn’t let a few unusual terms turn you away from preparing your own Will.

Wills

One of the philosophies that governs ExpatLegalWills.com is the idea that the law should be accessible, and that jargon terms shouldn’t prevent anyone from understanding their Wills. You shouldn’t be required to spend significant sums of money on legal advice just to understand your own Will. This glossary presents some of the most common terms that surround estate planning law, terms that will be useful as you write your Last Will and Testament. If there are others you would like to see, please add them in the comments.

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How to write a Will – the service at ExpatLegalWills.com

How to write a Will

Most people know that they need a Will, but with 65% of adults in Canada, the UK and the US without a Will, there is clearly a barrier to getting it done. In most cases there is a misconception that in order to prepare a Will, you must have an estate planning lawyer or solicitor involved.

For Expats this presents a unique challenge, especially if assets are held in more that one country. You need a Will for each country in which you are holding assets, and you would need to find a qualified legal professional in each country to deal with your estate planning needs.

You may have heard about using do-it-yourself Will kits, or online Will services, but again, with assets held in different countries, you are rightly skeptical that an off the shelf Will kit would be able to cope with the complexities of your estate.

But travelling to each country to meet with a lawyer or solicitor to draw up the legal documents is simply not practical, especially if there are other family members involved. This makes the estate planning bill escalate into the thousands of pounds or dollars. Continue reading →

US Last Will and Testament: Write it from anywhere.

The US diaspora reaches every corner of the World. There are sizeable US contingents in Mexico, the Philippines, Israel and Liberia, but this is just a start. Millions of US citizens are finding new lives in Europe, Asia and Africa there are millions of US citizens with statistical estimates of anywhere from three to six million Americans living abroad. The following map is provided by www.americansabroad.org

US Last Will and Testament

www.americansabroad.org

A good proportion of these US citizens still hold assets back in their home country, and where you hold assets, you need a Will. So what are the steps involved in preparing your US Last Will and Testament, when you are living in a foreign country? What options are available to you? and how important is it to have a Will in place anyway?

Which approaches are available for preparing a US Last Will and Testament while living abroad?

There are fundamentally four methods of preparing a US Last Will and Testament while living overseas. Continue reading →

UK Wills: how to write one from overseas

I am completely confused. I was told that a new arrangement with England and France will come into force this year, allowing me as an english woman domiciled in France to make a Will leaving my assets in France and in England to whoever I wish, as I could if I were domiciled in England.

There are millions of Expats living overseas, and our service at ExpatLegalWills.com serves the needs of the 2.8 Million Canadians, the 6 million Americans and the 13 million Brits who now regard themselves as Expats.

UK Wills

Many of these expats still have property in their homeland, and are in the process of writing their UK Wills. The question that immediately comes to mind is that if they are living say, in Dubai, Continue reading →