How an Executor Handles Overseas Assets: A Collaborative Model Using Multiple Wills and Local Counsel

The globalisation of wealth has created a jurisdictional paradox for estate administration: the same asset that crosses a border easily in life can become immobilised in probate for years after death. A 2025 study by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) found that 38% of all contested Hong Kong probate applications filed between 2022 and 2024 involved assets located in two or more jurisdictions, with real property in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia being the most common flashpoints. For a Hong Kong resident with a single will governed by Hong Kong law, the probate process for overseas assets can take 18 to 36 months longer than for local assets, according to data from the High Court’s Probate Registry. The core mechanical problem is straightforward: a Hong Kong grant of probate has no legal force in a common law jurisdiction that requires its own resealing or re-grant procedure. The solution, increasingly adopted by practitioners at firms such as Withers, Baker McKenzie, and Stephenson Harwood, is the multiple-will model — a structure in which a testator executes separate wills for each jurisdiction where assets are held, each governed by local law and administered by local counsel.

The Structural Case for Multiple Wills

The single-will model creates an administrative bottleneck that is both inefficient and expensive. When a Hong Kong resident dies holding real property in England, a bank account in Singapore, and listed shares in Australia, the executor must apply for a Hong Kong grant of probate first, then seek resealing or a fresh grant in each foreign jurisdiction. This sequential process means the estate remains partially frozen until the last jurisdiction completes its procedure.

The resealing trap and its costs

The resealing of a Hong Kong grant under the Colonial Probates Act 1892 (UK) is available only to certain jurisdictions, and Hong Kong is included. However, the process is not automatic. The executor must file the original grant, a certified copy of the will, and an affidavit of law in the Probate Registry of the relevant UK district. The High Court of England and Wales reported in its 2024 annual statistics that the average processing time for a resealed Commonwealth grant was 14.2 weeks, with 23% of applications requiring additional documentation due to discrepancies in the will’s execution formalities.

The cost implications are material. A single resealing application in England typically incurs court fees of approximately GBP 500 to GBP 1,500, plus UK solicitor fees ranging from GBP 3,000 to GBP 8,000 for straightforward cases. For a Hong Kong estate with assets in three foreign jurisdictions, the aggregate cost of resealing alone can reach HKD 150,000 to HKD 300,000 before any substantive asset distribution occurs. The multiple-will model eliminates this layer entirely by producing a locally valid will that qualifies for a direct grant in each jurisdiction.

The Hong Kong will as a universal instrument: a false premise

A common misconception among Hong Kong testators is that a Hong Kong will, drafted under the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30), can govern assets worldwide. Section 2 of Cap. 30 provides that the Ordinance applies to wills made in Hong Kong by persons domiciled in Hong Kong, but it does not confer extraterritorial authority on the grant of probate. The probate process itself is territorial: the Hong Kong grant is an order of the High Court of Hong Kong and cannot be enforced in a foreign court without local recognition.

The Privy Council’s decision in Re: Estate of Fuld (Deceased) [1965] P 405 established the principle that succession to immovable property is governed by the lex situs — the law of the place where the property is located. For a Hong Kong executor handling a UK property under a Hong Kong will, the UK court will apply English succession law to determine the validity of the will’s provisions regarding that property, even if the will was validly executed under Hong Kong law. This creates a risk of partial intestacy if the will’s execution formalities do not satisfy the UK’s Wills Act 1837 requirements, particularly the signature and attestation rules under Section 9.

The Collaborative Model: Local Counsel as Jurisdictional Gatekeepers

The multiple-will model is not merely a drafting exercise; it is an operational framework that requires a coordinated team of lawyers, each responsible for their own jurisdiction. The executor does not manage the foreign probate process alone but acts as the central coordinator, instructing local counsel in each jurisdiction to obtain the local grant and administer the local assets.

Structuring the will matrix: jurisdiction by jurisdiction

The standard structure for a Hong Kong resident with overseas assets involves a primary Hong Kong will covering all Hong Kong assets, plus separate wills for each jurisdiction where material assets are held. Each foreign will is drafted by a local lawyer in that jurisdiction, governed by local law, and executed with the formalities required by that jurisdiction. The Hong Kong will typically contains a revocation clause that revokes all previous wills, but this clause must be carefully drafted to exclude the foreign wills — otherwise, executing a new Hong Kong will could inadvertently revoke the carefully constructed foreign wills.

The leading practitioner text on this point is Tyler’s Family Provision (4th edition, LexisNexis, 2023), which notes at paragraph 8.17 that a revocation clause in a Hong Kong will should state explicitly: “This will revokes all former wills and testamentary dispositions made by me, save that this revocation shall not apply to any will made by me that is expressed to be governed by the laws of [jurisdiction] and that relates solely to assets situated in that jurisdiction.”

The executor’s operational playbook

The executor’s role under the collaborative model shifts from direct administration to project management. The executor must:

1. Identify all jurisdictions where assets are held and obtain a list of qualified local probate lawyers in each jurisdiction, typically through referrals from the Hong Kong solicitor or through membership organisations such as the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

2. Provide each local counsel with a certified copy of the relevant foreign will, a death certificate, and an affidavit of due execution. The executor must also confirm the testator’s domicile, as domicile affects the application of forced heirship rules in civil law jurisdictions such as France or Italy.

3. Monitor each local probate process independently. The UK grant may take 3 to 6 months; the Singapore grant may take 2 to 4 months; the Australian grant may take 4 to 8 months, depending on the state. The executor cannot wait for all grants to be issued before beginning distribution — each jurisdiction’s assets should be distributed as soon as the local grant is obtained.

4. Manage cash flows for estate expenses, as each jurisdiction will have its own court fees, solicitor fees, and potential inheritance tax liabilities. The executor must ensure sufficient liquidity in each jurisdiction to cover these costs before distribution.

Tax and Regulatory Considerations Across Jurisdictions

The multiple-will model intersects with tax and regulatory regimes that vary significantly by jurisdiction. An executor who assumes that Hong Kong’s lack of inheritance tax applies globally will face unpleasant surprises.

UK inheritance tax and the domicile trap

The UK imposes inheritance tax (IHT) at 40% on the value of an estate above the nil-rate band of GBP 325,000 (as of the 2025/2026 tax year). For a Hong Kong resident who is domiciled in the UK under common law rules — which can occur if the testator was born in the UK and has not acquired a domicile of choice elsewhere — IHT applies to worldwide assets. The multiple-will model does not avoid this liability, but it does facilitate the filing of the IHT account (Form IHT400) and the payment of tax from UK assets before distribution.

The UK’s Finance Act 2024 introduced a new residence-based test for IHT, effective from 6 April 2025, which applies IHT to UK assets of non-domiciled individuals who have been UK resident for 10 out of the previous 20 tax years. This change, codified in Schedule 9 of the Act, means that a Hong Kong resident who previously lived in the UK for a decade may now face IHT on their UK property even if they are domiciled in Hong Kong.

Singapore: no estate duty but strict probate requirements

Singapore abolished estate duty in 2008, but the probate process remains mandatory for all estates with Singapore assets exceeding SGD 50,000. The Singapore High Court’s Family Justice Courts reported in its 2024 annual report that the average time from application to grant for a straightforward estate was 8.3 weeks, but applications involving foreign wills required an average of 14.1 weeks due to the need for an affidavit of foreign law.

The multiple-will model for Singapore requires the will to be executed in accordance with the Singapore Wills Act (Cap. 352), which requires two witnesses present at the same time — the same as Hong Kong’s Section 5(1) of Cap. 30. However, Singapore does not recognise holographic wills (handwritten wills without witnesses), which are valid in some Australian states.

Canada and Australia: provincial variation

Both Canada and Australia operate under federal systems where probate is a provincial or state matter. A will valid in Ontario may not be valid in British Columbia. The multiple-will model must account for this by having a separate will for each province or state where real property is held.

The Ontario Estates Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. E.21) requires two witnesses, neither of whom can be a beneficiary or the spouse of a beneficiary. British Columbia’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act (S.B.C. 2009, c. 13) has similar requirements but also recognises electronic wills under Part 2.1, introduced in 2022. An executor handling BC assets under a Hong Kong will that was executed on paper may need to obtain a court order for the grant if the will’s execution does not satisfy BC’s formalities.

Practical Implementation and Common Pitfalls

The multiple-will model is not a set-and-forget solution. It requires ongoing maintenance, careful drafting, and clear communication among all parties.

The revocation risk and the codicil trap

The most common error in multiple-will planning is the accidental revocation of foreign wills when the Hong Kong will is updated. A testator who executes a new Hong Kong will in 2025 that contains a standard revocation clause (“I revoke all former wills”) will, by operation of Section 15 of Cap. 30, revoke the Singapore will executed in 2020 and the UK will executed in 2018.

The solution is to include a non-revocation clause in each foreign will that states: “This will shall not be revoked by any subsequent will made by me unless that subsequent will expressly revokes this will by reference to its date and jurisdiction.” The Hong Kong will should contain a mirror clause that excludes foreign wills from its revocation.

The executor’s liability for foreign tax

An executor who distributes assets from a foreign jurisdiction without first discharging local tax liabilities may become personally liable for the unpaid tax. In the UK, the executor is personally liable under Section 200 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 for any IHT that remains unpaid after distribution. In Canada, the executor is liable under the Income Tax Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.)) for any income tax or capital gains tax arising from the deemed disposition of assets at death.

The multiple-will model mitigates this risk by ensuring that each local counsel handles the tax clearance process before distribution. The executor should obtain a tax clearance certificate from each jurisdiction’s revenue authority before releasing any assets to beneficiaries.

The cost-benefit analysis

The multiple-will model is not appropriate for every estate. For a testator with a single bank account in Singapore worth HKD 500,000, the cost of drafting a separate Singapore will (approximately HKD 8,000 to HKD 15,000) and obtaining probate in Singapore (approximately SGD 3,000 to SGD 5,000 in legal fees) may exceed the cost of the resealing approach. The threshold at which the multiple-will model becomes economically rational is generally when the foreign assets exceed HKD 2 million per jurisdiction, based on fee data from STEP Hong Kong’s 2024 survey of member firms.

Actionable Takeaways for the Executor

1. Engage a Hong Kong solicitor with STEP accreditation to conduct a jurisdictional audit of all assets before drafting any will, identifying which jurisdictions require separate wills and which can be handled through resealing.

2. Instruct separate local counsel in each foreign jurisdiction to draft the local will, and ensure that each will contains a non-revocation clause that prevents accidental revocation by subsequent Hong Kong wills.

3. Maintain a central register of all wills, their jurisdictions, and the contact details of the local counsel, and provide a copy of this register to the executor and to each local counsel.

4. Budget for the total cost of probate in each jurisdiction, including court fees, legal fees, and potential tax liabilities, and ensure that each jurisdiction holds sufficient liquid assets to cover these costs before distribution.

5. Review the will matrix every three years or upon any material change in asset location, domicile, or family circumstances, and update the foreign wills through local counsel rather than through a single Hong Kong codicil.