Maintaining assets in multiple countries can have far-reaching implications at death. Robert Monahan, attorney at HLB Estate Services, notes that in some nations, “the law of the country says certain people must get a certain proportion of the estate.” He continues: “For example, in Ireland if you had a spouse but no children, the law stipulates the spouse has to inherit at least 50 per cent of the estate. If there are children, they must get one-third of the estate.” For many, this can be problematic. When facing an estate distribution that potentially spans over multiple nations, it is important to have complementary wills that are valid in each jurisdiction.
See Debra Cleveland, Double Trouble for Dual Nationals, Financial Review, September 20, 2017.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.
