Having just bought a house, the missus is nudging me to getting a will sorted. The problem is, we’re no longer in the UK, although we do have assets there.

Sooo… what’s the deal with wills. If we get UK wills, will they be applied in a foreign country (Canada)? If we get Canadian wills, can they be applied in the UK?

A quick google shows precious little information, and not knowing a decent lawyer, we’re a bit stumped.

Hmmm – Interesting question and one I should really think about (I’m also in Canada). My current assumption is that the will will apply to assets in that country. Also if you only have one will it will apply everywhere but I really have no idea. I’m just commenting so this gets in my activity on the forum so I can find it again if someone posts something illuminating.. 😀

If the will, benefactors and capital are in Canada you’ll have no trouble with a Canadian will being applied in Canada. In the UK a will does not even need to be registered to be valid so having it registered in a foreign country is one up from just leaving a letter in your belongings hoping someone will find it. We checked for France/England as we have dual nationality and the French one is perfectly adequate. The main thing is that you notify benefactors even if all you say is “in the event of my death contact lawyer X at Y adresse”.