Wills and estate planning across two countries

The will you signed back in the States was written for one legal system. Once you own a home, a bank account or a family life in another country, a second system gets a say, and it may not read your will the way you meant it.

The short version

Each country decides what happens to property inside its borders, often using its own rules on who inherits.
Many civil-law countries have forced heirship: children get a fixed share whatever the will says. In France, you can't disinherit your children [5].
In most of the EU, the law of your last habitual residence applies by default, but you can choose the law of your nationality in your will [3][4].
US citizens stay in the US estate and gift tax system wherever they live. The basic exclusion is USD 13,990,000 for 2025 deaths and USD 15,000,000 for 2026 [1].
A non-citizen spouse changes the math: the unlimited marital deduction works differently, and the annual gift exclusion to such a spouse is USD 190,000 for 2025 and USD 194,000 for 2026 instead of unlimited [2][6].

Why one will may not work in two countries

A US will is usually made under the law of one state, signed with two witnesses, and probated in a US county court. Abroad, three things can go wrong.

Form. Some countries accept a foreign will if it was valid where it was signed. Others want local formalities, like a notarial will or a handwritten one, before a local official will act on it.

Substance. Even a valid will can't override local rules on who must inherit. A US will that leaves everything to your spouse may be partly ignored in a forced-heirship country if you have children.

Procedure. A foreign bank or land registry usually won't take a US probate court's letters at face value. Your heirs may need a local certificate of inheritance, translations, apostilles and a local lawyer or notary, which takes months.

That's why many Americans with property in two countries end up with two wills: one for the US assets and one for the host-country assets. The catch is coordination. A standard US will starts with "I revoke all prior wills", and a careless second will can wipe out the first. Each will needs to say which assets it covers and that it doesn't revoke the other.

Forced heirship and the EU Succession Regulation

Forced heirship is the idea, common in Europe and Latin America, that close family, usually children and sometimes a spouse, are entitled to a reserved share. Under French law, for example, the reserved share for children is one half with one child, two-thirds with two, and three-quarters with three or more. Only the rest is yours to leave as you like [5].

For people who die in most EU countries on or after August 17, 2015, the EU Succession Regulation sets which country's law governs the whole estate [3]. The default is the law of the country where you last lived [3]. You can choose the law of your nationality instead [3][4], which for an American means the law of a US state, which has no forced heirship for children. Denmark and Ireland don't take part in the regulation [4].

That choice is powerful but not bulletproof. France, for one, gives children who are left out under a foreign law a way to claw back the equivalent from property located in France, for estates opened from November 1, 2021, where the deceased or a child is an EU national or resident and the foreign law has no reserved share for children [5].

The regulation also created the European Certificate of Succession, which heirs and executors use to prove their status, and which is recognized automatically in all EU countries [4].

Question	Common-law US approach	Typical civil-law approach
Can you disinherit a child?	Generally yes	Often no; children have a reserved share
Who administers the estate?	An executor appointed by a probate court	Often heirs directly, with a notary
Is a handwritten will valid?	Only in some states	Often yes, with strict rules
Is there a will registry?	Rarely	In many countries, sometimes mandatory [3]

Outside the EU, rules differ by country. Ask a local lawyer or notary specifically: which law applies to my real estate here, which to my bank accounts, and can I choose US law?

US estate and gift tax still applies to you

Uncle Sam taxes the worldwide estate of a US citizen, wherever the citizen lived. For most people the exclusion makes this moot: USD 13,990,000 for deaths in 2025 and USD 15,000,000 for 2026, after a 2025 law raised it [1]. The annual gift exclusion is USD 19,000 per recipient for both 2025 and 2026 [1].

Your host country may tax the same estate under its own inheritance tax, often at lower thresholds and with rates that depend on how closely the heir is related. The US has estate tax treaties with only some countries; where there's none, the foreign tax credit may help but doesn't always line up.

For scale: a modest apartment in a French city worth EUR 400,000 is about USD 446,500. That's far below the US exclusion, but the host country runs its own numbers, and its thresholds can be much lower. USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of 1.1163 USD per EUR from October 30, 2026.

Married to a non-American

This is where Americans abroad most often get caught out. Spouses who are both US citizens can pass unlimited amounts to each other free of gift and estate tax. A spouse who isn't a US citizen can't, by default.

Gifts: You can give a non-citizen spouse up to USD 190,000 in 2025 and USD 194,000 in 2026 without gift tax, if the gift would otherwise qualify for the marital deduction [2][6]. The figure is adjusted for inflation each year. Spouses can't split gifts if either was a nonresident non-citizen at the time [2].
At death: To get the marital deduction for assets left to a non-citizen spouse, estates generally use a special trust known as a qualified domestic trust (QDOT). It needs careful drafting and a US trustee.

Our guide to filing status and taxes when you're married to a non-American covers the income-tax side.

Naming guardians and executors abroad

Guardians for your kids

Name a guardian in your will even if you don't expect a court to need it. Courts usually decide guardianship where the child lives, so a host-country court may have the final say. A clearly stated wish carries weight. If your children live abroad, consider:

A guardian who can realistically raise them where they live, or a plan for moving them.
Naming the same guardian in both wills, in matching language.
A separate person to manage money left to the children, especially if the guardian lives in another country.

Executors

Your executor has to deal with a US probate court, US banks and the IRS. Some states limit who can serve if they live out of state, or require a bond. An executor living abroad can face extra hurdles, slow mail and no US phone number. A practical setup is a US-based executor for the US will and a host-country executor or heir for the local one, with each knowing about the other.

Your two-country estate checklist

List what you own, and where: real estate, bank accounts, brokerage and retirement accounts, pensions.
Check beneficiary designations on 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance and US accounts. These pass outside the will, so a will can't fix an outdated form.
Ask a lawyer in each country whether you need one will or two, and how they'll interact.
Decide whether to choose your nationality law in your will if you live in an EU country.
If your spouse isn't a US citizen, look at gifting and QDOT planning with someone who knows both systems.
Sign a durable power of attorney and health care directive too; our powers of attorney guide covers notarizing from abroad.
Tell your executor where the originals are, and register a host-country will if local law expects it.

This is general information, and two-country estates are where specifics matter. A lawyer in each country, plus a US expat tax preparer, can check your situation.

Wills across two countries: why one will may not be enough