A holiday home in Spain, an apartment in France, a farmhouse in Italy — for many British families, owning property abroad is the reward for decades of hard work. It also raises an entirely reasonable question: can a UK Will actually deal with it?
For property in Europe, the answer for most British owners is yes. Under the EU Succession Regulation — widely known as Brussels IV — a British national can elect in their Will for the law of their nationality to govern their whole estate, including a property situated in a participating EU country. Drafted properly, one UK Will can cover the French farmhouse and the house in Surrey alike, and local forced heirship rules need not dictate who inherits. This is work we do for clients regularly.
What matters is that the election is made correctly and expressly. That is where the real risk lies — not in the idea that a UK Will cannot reach overseas property, but in a Will that never made the election in the first place.
Why the question arises: lex situs and forced heirship
English law allows you to leave your estate as you wish. Several popular destinations for UK second-home owners — France, Spain and Italy among them — traditionally applied their own succession law to property within their borders (the “lex situs” principle), including forced heirship rules that reserve a fixed share of an estate for certain family members, usually children, whatever a Will might say.
That default still exists. Left unaddressed, it can mean a surviving spouse cannot inherit an overseas property outright because children from an earlier relationship have a protected share. It is precisely the outcome the Brussels IV election is designed to prevent.
How the Brussels IV election works
The EU Succession Regulation has applied since 17 August 2015 across the participating EU states (all EU members except Ireland and Denmark). Its central rule is that succession is governed by the law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at death — but it also allows a person to choose, instead, the law of the country of their nationality.
The UK never opted into the Regulation, and Brexit did not change the position for British owners. That is because participating states apply the Regulation “universally”: they will give effect to a choice of the law of a non-EU nationality, including UK law, in the same way. A British national can therefore elect for English and Welsh law (or Scots or Northern Irish law, as applicable) to govern the succession to their estate, and the notary or court in France, Spain or Italy will apply it to the property there.
Three points decide whether that election does its job:
- It must be express. A choice of law needs to be made clearly in the Will — or in terms demonstrated by the terms of the Will. It is not implied simply because the Will happens to be a UK document.
- It must name the right law. The UK has three legal systems, and the election should identify the correct one for the testator’s nationality and connection.
- It must be consistent with everything else you sign. A later local Will, a marriage regime chosen on purchase, or a joint-ownership structure agreed at the notary’s office can all cut across the intended result.
Two practical caveats are worth stating plainly. The election governs succession — who inherits — not tax. Local inheritance tax can still apply. And it does not override every local protection: in France, for example, a “prélèvement compensatoire” mechanism introduced in 2021 can allow certain heirs to claim compensation out of French assets where the chosen foreign law gives them no reserved share. This is well-trodden ground for advisers who work in it, but it is a reason to have the position confirmed for the specific country rather than assumed.
Do you still need a second Will?
Often, no. For many clients a single UK Will containing a properly drafted Brussels IV election is the cleaner answer, and it avoids the most common cross-border accident of all: two Wills, each with a standard revocation clause, one silently cancelling the other.
There are cases where a separate local Will genuinely helps — where the property sits outside the Regulation’s reach, where local formalities or the land registry make the transfer significantly quicker, or where the estate is complex enough that a local document earns its place. Where a second Will is used, both documents must state clearly and consistently which assets each one covers, and each must expressly preserve the other. That coordination is the whole job.
Domicile, double taxation and reporting
Succession law and tax are separate questions, and both need answering. Your UK domicile status affects whether your worldwide estate — including overseas property — falls within the scope of UK Inheritance Tax, charged at 40% above the available nil-rate bands. The nil-rate band remains £325,000 (frozen until 2030), with a residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 where a home passes to direct descendants, tapering above a £2 million estate, giving many couples a combined allowance of up to £1 million.
At the same time, the country where the property sits may levy its own succession tax under entirely different rules, rates and allowances. The UK has estate double taxation treaties with a number of countries, including France, and unilateral relief can be available elsewhere, but the position varies country by country and should be checked for your specific case. Executors also need to declare overseas assets to HM Revenue & Customs as part of the UK estate even where local tax has been paid, and obtaining valuations and documents from another jurisdiction adds time to probate — where fees in England and Wales rise to £526 from 13 July 2026.
Practical first steps
- Check whether your current Will contains an express election under the EU Succession Regulation. If it does not, that is the single most useful thing to fix.
- Establish exactly how the property is held, in whose names, and under what marriage or ownership regime it was bought.
- Confirm the position in the country concerned — particularly France, where compensatory claims can still arise.
- If you already have a local Will, have both documents read together to make sure neither revokes the other.
- Review how your domicile status and local succession tax interact, so your executors are not met with an unexpected bill.
- Revisit the position after any change in family circumstances, a purchase or sale, or a change in local law.
Owning a home in Europe does not mean your estate has to be complicated. It means the Will needs to be drafted with that property in mind. If you own property abroad, or are considering it, a Legacy Protection Assessment looks at your full picture — UK and overseas assets together — and confirms whether your Will does what you think it does. The next step from there is usually a Discovery Call to talk through your specific circumstances.