Cross-Border Estate Planning for International Families - What to Watch Out For

Introduction

International families increasingly hold assets, residences and family members across multiple jurisdictions. While estate planning is often undertaken with the best of intentions, advisers are seeing a growing number of cases where plans do not operate as expected once succession is tested in practice.

In many cross-border estates, the difficulty is not a lack of planning, but a lack of coordination. Conflicting inheritance rules, differing tax regimes, outdated documentation and changes in family circumstances can result in outcomes that diverge sharply from a client’s original intentions.

Recent developments in UK inheritance tax, combined with rising global mobility and increased scrutiny of succession outcomes, mean that cross-border estate planning now requires a more integrated and realistic approach. Succession can no longer be considered in isolation from tax exposure, asset location, administration and family dynamics.

This webinar examines cross-border estate planning for international families, focusing on where arrangements commonly break down and how advisers can identify and address risk before it crystallises.

Register today to gain a clearer understanding of how succession, tax and administration interact across borders, and how to approach estate planning for international families in a way that is robust, coordinated and fit for purpose.

The webinar is suitable for advisers working with internationally mobile families whose assets, family members and succession plans span multiple jurisdictions, and is focused on where cross-border estates are now failing in practice rather than in theory.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Why cross-border estates frequently fail despite careful planning
• How succession law and tax exposure can pull in different directions across jurisdictions
• Why asset location often determines estate outcomes more than residence
• Common coordination failures between wills, succession documents and tax advice
• How forced heirship regimes interact with testamentary freedom in practice
• The impact of family mobility and changing residence on estate planning outcomes
• Practical challenges faced by executors administering cross-border estates
• How outdated documentation creates unintended tax and succession consequences
• Key red flags advisers should identify when reviewing international estate plans
• How to structure a coordinated, jurisdiction-aware approach to cross-border estate planning

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Tuesday 6th October 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,300+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.