Handling Probate When Someone Dies Abroad

Taking action after someone has died is never an easy process, but it can feel even more overwhelming when the person in question has died overseas. If you're based in the UK and someone close to you has died in another country, we're here to help you navigate what happens next.

The below applies whether the person who died abroad was there on holiday or whether they lived there more permanently.

First practical steps

If the person has died during a holiday or shorter term trip, your first priority will usually be to contact their travel insurance provider. They may be able to help with expenses and funeral plans.

If the person who died did not have travel insurance in place, or if they lived overseas, you're likely to need to handle the matter of appointing a funeral director yourself. You will need to choose whether to appoint a funeral director local to where the person has died (if you wish for the burial or cremation to happen there) or whether to appoint an international funeral director in the UK (if you wish for the body to be brought back to the UK for cremation or burial).

Registering the death

The death will need to be registered in the country where the person died. The exact rules for doing this will vary from country to country, but you will usually be able to seek advice from the hospital, local police or funeral director. Alternatively, a solicitor who specialises in international probate may be able to offer you support.

You will not need to register the death in the UK if it has been registered overseas. If the body is repatriated (brought back to the UK for burial or cremation) there will be a record of the burial or cremation with the General Register Office. If the funeral takes place overseas and you want to make sure there is a record of this in the UK, you can apply for a consular death registration. (Though this is completely optional.)

Determining domicile

Before you can start the process of administering the estate of someone who has died overseas, you will need to determine under which country's laws this should be done. This often comes down to the question of legal domicile.

Legal domicile is a concept used to determine the country that an individual considers their permanent home. It is not necessarily the same as the country they are resident in, the country they were born in or the country from which they hold citizenship. For example, someone could live overseas, perhaps for work or for their retirement, and yet still consider the UK their permanent home.

Depending on the circumstances of the person who has died, it might be easy to determine where they were legally domiciled. For example, if the person was usually resident in the UK but was on holiday or a business trip overseas, it will often be clear that they were legally domiciled in the UK.

Alternatively, if the person was living abroad permanently at the time of their death, the question of their legal domicile is likely to be more complex. Our help guide on legal domicile is a good starting point here, but you may need to seek specialist legal advice.

Managing probate for someone who died overseas

Wherever the person died, and in whatever circumstances, the first task in terms of managing probate will be the same: you will need to thoroughly assess their estate.

If the person who has died was legally domiciled in the UK and held only UK assets, you will generally need to administer their estate according to probate law in the UK, whether that's in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (probate is administered separately across different parts of the UK). You may also need to apply for a Grant of Probate in the UK (if required), regardless of which country they died in.

In situations like these, once you have dealt with the first steps of registering the death and choosing to repatriate the body (or not), you will generally continue the rest of the probate process in the same way as you would have done if they had died in the UK. One of the few exceptions to this is if the death certificate is written in a language other than English. In this situation, you will typically need to pay for a certified translation in order to use it to apply for probate in the UK.

If the person who has died was legally domiciled in the UK but owned assets abroad (or vice versa), you will be dealing with a matter of cross-border probate. This can be complex, and whether you will need to apply for probate in both the UK and overseas will depend on the specific tax and inheritance laws of the country in which the assets are held, as well as the contents of the person's Will. In situations like these, we would strongly recommend seeking support and advice from a probate solicitor with experience of international probate.

As a general rule, if the person who has died either owned qualifying assets in the UK or was legally domiciled here, you will usually need to apply for probate in the UK (perhaps in addition to applying for probate elsewhere), even if they died in another country.

How to get support

If you are responsible for administering the estate of someone who has died overseas, held assets overseas or was legally domiciled overseas, you might be unsure where to start. Our team will be able to support you throughout the process, no matter how confusing or complex. Why not start with a free discovery call to find out how we could work together?

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to apply for a UK Grant of Probate if someone has died overseas?

If someone has died overseas, you may still need to apply for a Grant of Probate in the UK. It's important to assess where the person who has died was legally domiciled, along with where they held assets. We'd recommend seeking specialist advice from a solicitor with experience with cross-border estates.

Do you need to register a death in the UK for someone who has died in another country?

If someone close to you has died overseas, whether during a holiday or business trip, or whether they lived abroad, it can be difficult to manage the practicalities. You will need to register the death in the country in which the person has died, in accordance with whatever the laws of that country are. If you wish there to be a record of the death in the UK as well, you can apply for an optional consular death registration.

Does legal domicile matter for probate?

Legal domicile is an important legal concept involved in determining where an individual is primarily based for probate purposes. Working out someone's legal domicile is important as it can help decide where their personal representatives will need to apply for probate. However, it may be necessary to apply for probate in a country (or countries) other than that of the individual's legal domicile.

What are the first steps when someone dies overseas?

If someone close to you has died overseas, the first priorities will usually be to register the death and to decide what to do with the body. Whether you appoint a local or international funeral director will be decided by whether you opt for a local burial or cremation, or whether you wish to repatriate the body back to the UK. If the person who has died overseas was on a trip and had travel insurance in place, the insurance company is likely to be able to assist here.