Making a 1st time will Ireland/Spain

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Sunnygirl69

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If a Irish married couple is making a will in another EU country, in this case Spain to cover an asset there..... Must they also make a will here in Ireland to deal with what's in Ireland?
I thought 1 will would cover all but I now believe that a will must be made in Spain for Spanish asset. Also this is a first will. Don't know if that makes any difference? Thank u
 
1. If you have asset(s) in Spain you need to make a will there.
2. If you have asset(s) in Ireland you need to make a will here.
3. One will will not cover the other, you need two wills.
 
I don't know if you have an Irish Times subscription but Dominic Coyle had an interesting (and relevant) reply to a question about a making a will in relation to assets in France and Ireland: https://www.irishtimes.com/business...r-two-dealing-with-foreign-property-1.4860599

Here is an extract:

"In practical terms, the main reason for having separate wills in each country where you have assets is to streamline the probate process. If there is only the one will, it will have to go to probate successively in each country where there are assets and this can be a time consuming process. Worse, distribution of the assets can be held up while the process is ongoing.
One international legal firm recounts the possibly apocryphal tale of a client who had one will covering assets in seven different countries. The process of getting probate took 23 years, during which time most of the intended beneficiaries passed away themselves. Not that it would have made much difference, they said, as by the time lawyers in the seven different countries were paid for sorting out the man’s affairs, there was precious little left for them to inherit anyway.

With separate – but not contradictory – wills, the legal process can run concurrently in whatever number of countries you hold assets.

A second issue is that legal constructs that are valid in one country might not be accepted in another. One example, in the French case, relates to their understanding and treatment of trusts......

........
This is the bread and butter of many legal practices: wills are legal documents and they have a language all their own which is designed to ensure there is no confusion. Money spent on legal advice and guidance in writing a will is money well spent – all the more so for people with anything other than the simplest of personal finances, such as yourselves with this foreign property.

A key risk with multiple wills is that one inadvertently revokes the intention of the other. In general, a subsequent will overrides any previous will. So if you have an overarching will to cover, say, your worldwide assets and then subsequently draw up a French will that clashes with certain provisions of th Irish will, it is the later French will that determines what happens to the assets it covers.

If for no other reason, this alone explains the worth of letting solicitors / notaires handle these matters. And make sure they have sight of both wills to check that they do not work counter to one another, or revoke intended provision for inheritance."
 
Early Riser said:
I don't know if you have an Irish Times subscription but Dominic Coyle had an interesting (and relevant) reply to a question about a making a will in relation to assets in France and Ireland: https://www.irishtimes.com/business...r-two-dealing-with-foreign-property-1.4860599

Here is an extract:

"In practical terms, the main reason for having separate wills in each country where you have assets is to streamline the probate process. If there is only the one will, it will have to go to probate successively in each country where there are assets and this can be a time consuming process. Worse, distribution of the assets can be held up while the process is ongoing.
One international legal firm recounts the possibly apocryphal tale of a client who had one will covering assets in seven different countries. The process of getting probate took 23 years, during which time most of the intended beneficiaries passed away themselves. Not that it would have made much difference, they said, as by the time lawyers in the seven different countries were paid for sorting out the man’s affairs, there was precious little left for them to inherit anyway.

With separate – but not contradictory – wills, the legal process can run concurrently in whatever number of countries you hold assets.

A second issue is that legal constructs that are valid in one country might not be accepted in another. One example, in the French case, relates to their understanding and treatment of trusts......

........
This is the bread and butter of many legal practices: wills are legal documents and they have a language all their own which is designed to ensure there is no confusion. Money spent on legal advice and guidance in writing a will is money well spent – all the more so for people with anything other than the simplest of personal finances, such as yourselves with this foreign property.

A key risk with multiple wills is that one inadvertently revokes the intention of the other. In general, a subsequent will overrides any previous will. So if you have an overarching will to cover, say, your worldwide assets and then subsequently draw up a French will that clashes with certain provisions of th Irish will, it is the later French will that determines what happens to the assets it covers.

If for no other reason, this alone explains the worth of letting solicitors / notaires handle these matters. And make sure they have sight of both wills to check that they do not work counter to one another, or revoke intended provision for inheritance."
Click to expand...
That's interesting piece early riser
 
Sunnygirl69 said:
If a Irish married couple is making a will in another EU country, in this case Spain to cover an asset there..... Must they also make a will here in Ireland to deal with what's in Ireland?
I thought 1 will would cover all but I now believe that a will must be made in Spain for Spanish asset. Also this is a first will. Don't know if that makes any difference? Thank u
Click to expand...
One Will CAN deal with your entire estate worldwide if it is worded correctly. Ie should not contain any clauses limiting it or the revocation clause to a particular jurisdiction.

However If the Will includes any restrictive or limiting clauses such as “ this is my last will and testament in respect of my assets in Ireland” or “ in respect of my assets in Spain” then the will can only deal with the assets in that country.
If you make more than 1 will you must be very careful that the wording in the revocation clause in each will clearly states that you are only “revoking all previous wills made dealing with your assets in this jurisdiction “ or “revoking all previous wills save and except my last will dated ....... dealing with my assets in Spain”
If the revocation clause is worded incorrectly and revokes all previous wills then only the last will executed can be proved.
This could mean that you die testate in relation to your estate in one jurisdiction BUT Intestate in relation to the assets in the other jurisdiction. Which could mean that the distribution of your estate is not as you would have intended.

If there is Only one Will made then the Original of that will is proved in one jurisdiction ( usually the one with the most assets or where domiciled but it is up to the Executor which he deals with first )
As the original Will will then be retained in the Probate Court in that jurisdiction your Executor will need to exhibit & file a court sealed and certified copy of said Will in the other jurisdiction in order to obtain Probate.

Hope this is helpful to you. Should be some info on www.courts.ie on the solicitors page
 
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