UK-German probate: process & pitfalls

• 11 common issues when drafting a will or applying for probate when the estate in question involves both UK and German considerations.

If an English testator owns assets in Germany, or if they decide to gift all or part of their estate to someone resident in Germany, a ‘standard’ English will does not adequately cover all the client’s needs. Foreign inheritance tax (IHT) consequences, for example, are often completely ignored, as is the fact that German law neither knows the concept of ‘personal representative’ nor recognises trusts. Standard common law estate planning techniques are thus likely to cause uncertainties, higher costs, longer probate proceedings, and may even produce unintended results with regards to the distribution of the estate.

The typical advice given by English solicitors is to set up a separate independent will for the German assets. This is, however, rarely the best solution, because the existence of various wills