Do You Need a Separate Will for Your Foreign Property? (2026)

Published on: June 16, 2026

Quick answer: Owning property in two countries raises two separate questions: whose law decides who inherits, and which country's law applies. The EU Succession Regulation ("Brussels IV") defaults to the law of your country of habitual residence but lets you elect your nationality's law in your will (professio juris), the single most important clause for anyone with EU assets. It governs succession, not tax. You can have one coordinated worldwide will or ring-fenced local wills; the disaster is a second will with a blanket "I revoke all previous wills" clause that accidentally cancels your main one.

You've made a will at home, and you own an apartment in Spain or a house in France. So far, so tidy, until you realise the two countries may not agree on whose law governs who inherits, and that one badly drafted clause can accidentally cancel a will on the other side of a border.

This is the document-level question that most cross-border estate planning skips: not "what's my estate plan," but "how many wills should I actually have, and how do they interact?" Get it wrong and your heirs face delay, double probate, extra tax, and in the worst case an outcome you never intended.

This guide covers one will vs two, the EU Succession Regulation (the famous "Brussels IV"), forced heirship, the revocation trap, and how international probate works in practice. It's general information, not legal advice, see the note at the end.

The core problem: two countries, two rule-books

When you die owning assets in more than one country, two questions arise:

1. Succession law, who is legally entitled to inherit, and in what shares. Some countries (France, Spain, much of continental Europe) impose forced heirship: a fixed share of your estate must go to certain heirs (usually children), whatever your will says. Common-law countries (UK, Ireland, most of the US) generally allow freedom of testation, you leave it to whomever you choose.
2. Which country's law applies, and this is where cross-border estates get messy, because two legal systems may both claim a say over the same property.

Historically, many civil-law countries applied the law of the deceased's nationality to their worldwide estate, while others applied the law of the location of the property (especially for real estate). A British person owning a French house could find French forced-heirship rules overriding their English will, handing a fixed share to children even if the will said otherwise.

The EU created a regulation to bring order to this. It's essential to understand.

The EU Succession Regulation ("Brussels IV"), in plain English

Regulation (EU) 650/2012, in force since 17 August 2015, sets a single default rule for participating EU countries: the law that governs your succession is the law of your country of habitual residence at death, applied to your entire estate, wherever the assets are.

The powerful part is the opt-out, called professio juris (choice of law):

You can state in your will that you want the law of your nationality to govern your succession instead of your country of residence.

This single clause is the most important tool in cross-border estate planning for anyone connected to the EU. Examples:

• A British national living in France can generally elect English law in their will, which as of 2026 should allow them to leave their estate freely rather than under French forced heirship (subject to tax, see below). Note that since France's 1 November 2021 reserved-heirship rule, disinherited children may in some circumstances claim a compensatory share from French assets where the chosen law offers no child protection; the position is evolving, so take local legal advice.
• A German national resident in Spain can generally elect German law to govern their Spanish property, though the practical effect on who inherits depends on the substance of German law (which has its own compulsory-share rules) and individual circumstances.

Critical points people get wrong:

• The UK, Ireland and Denmark opted out of the Regulation. But it still affects them: an EU country dealing with their citizen's local property applies the Regulation, so a British national can still use professio juris to elect English/Scots/NI law over an EU asset. The opt-out limits how the UK's own courts apply it, not whether you can use it abroad.
• It governs succession law, NOT tax. Choosing English law over your French house decides who inherits; it does not stop France charging French inheritance tax on that house. Succession and taxation are two separate questions, possibly the single most misunderstood point in this whole area.
• You must make the choice explicitly, in a valid will, while you're able to. It isn't automatic.

So, one will or two?

There's no universal answer; it's a genuine trade-off.

The case for two (or more) wills, one per country

• Speed. A local will, in the local language and form, lets the local probate process proceed without waiting for a foreign will to be translated, certified, and recognised.
• Familiar form. It's drafted by a local notary/lawyer in the format the local registry expects (a French notaire, a Spanish notario), reducing the risk of formal defects.
• Cleaner administration of that country's specific asset.

The case for one will covering everything

• Coherence. One document, one plan, no risk of two wills contradicting each other.
• No accidental revocation (the trap below).
• Simpler to keep updated when life changes.

The danger that makes this decision matter: the revocation trap

Most wills contain a standard clause: "I revoke all previous wills." If you make a second will in another country with that clause, it may, depending on the applicable law and wording, cancel some or all of your first will, including the careful provisions for your home-country assets. People set out to add a will for their foreign property and accidentally delete their main one.

The rule: if you use more than one will, each must be expressly limited to the assets in its own country and must say so, e.g. "this will deals only with my assets situated in Spain and does not revoke my will dealing with assets elsewhere." This is exactly the kind of clause that needs a lawyer coordinating both wills together, not two lawyers working in ignorance of each other.

Best-practice pattern for many people: either one carefully drafted will covering the worldwide estate with a professio juris election, or coordinated country-specific wills each ring-fenced to local assets and each preserving the others. Either works, uncoordinated wills with blanket revocation clauses are the disaster.

International probate: what actually happens

Probate (or its civil-law equivalent) is the legal process of proving the will and transferring assets. Cross-border, expect:

• The local process for the local asset. Foreign real estate is almost always administered under the law and procedure of the country where it sits, regardless of where you lived.
• A potential extra layer. Your home-country probate may need to be recognised abroad, often requiring certified translations, apostilles, and local legal representation, time and cost.
• The European Certificate of Succession (ECS). Within participating EU states, heirs can obtain an ECS that proves their status across borders and streamlines dealing with EU assets, a major simplification, but it doesn't cover non-EU assets.
• Delay and double cost where wills aren't coordinated: parallel processes, conflicting clauses to resolve, and heirs caught between two systems.

For the family left behind, a coordinated plan can mean weeks; an uncoordinated one can mean a year or more.

A practical checklist

1. List every country where you own assets, especially real estate, which is the stickiest.
2. Identify each country's succession regime, forced heirship or freedom of testation?
3. Decide whether to elect your national law via professio juris if any EU asset is involved.
4. Choose your structure, one coordinated worldwide will, or ring-fenced local wills, and make sure revocation clauses can't cross-cancel.
5. Separate succession from tax, plan for local inheritance tax and any tax in your home country; the will doesn't fix the tax bill.
6. Use coordinated professionals, ideally one cross-border estate lawyer overseeing local notaries/lawyers, not silos.
7. Review after every move or major change, your "habitual residence" can shift, and with it the default law.

Frequently asked questions

Do I legally need a separate will for property abroad?
Not always, a single, well-drafted will can cover a worldwide estate. But a coordinated local will often speeds up probate of foreign real estate. The real requirement is that your wills don't contradict or accidentally revoke each other.

What is the EU Succession Regulation / Brussels IV?
EU Regulation 650/2012 (since 2015). By default it applies the law of your country of habitual residence to your whole estate, but lets you elect the law of your nationality in your will (professio juris). It governs succession, not tax.

Can I avoid French or Spanish forced heirship?
Often, by electing your national law via professio juris if your home law allows free disposition. This affects who inherits, not the local inheritance tax, and has limits, take local legal advice.

Will electing English law stop France taxing my French house?
No. Choosing the governing succession law does not change which country has taxing rights over the asset. French inheritance tax will generally apply to French property, subject to available allowances, reliefs, and any relevant estate-tax treaty. Succession law and tax are separate, so take tax advice on your specific position.

What's the biggest mistake people make?
A second will with a blanket "I revoke all previous wills" clause that accidentally cancels their main will. Always limit each will to its own country's assets and coordinate them together.

Get the document right before it matters

The will is the one piece of cross-border planning your family can't fix after you're gone, and it interacts with the tax bill, the wrappers you hold, and the structures you use to pass wealth on. Coordinate it with the wider cross-border inheritance picture and a vetted adviser. JanusHermes lets you compare property and residency pathways across 50+ countries with the full ownership-and-succession picture attached, explore listings and country intelligence on JanusHermes.

This article is general information about cross-border succession and is not legal or tax advice. Succession and inheritance-tax rules are complex, country-specific, and change over time, and small drafting errors can have large consequences. Always instruct a qualified cross-border estate lawyer (and local notaries where needed) to draft and coordinate your wills.