Brussels IV
The Brussels IV agreement may effect you if you have any assets outside the United Kingdom, particularly if they are in almost any European Union (EU) country.
If you do have assets in another or several other EU countries then you may want to take advantage of the most recent bit of EU legislation regarding inheritance.
Many countries in Europe have different rules to those that we enjoy in England & Wales regarding who you can leave your estates to, somecountries demand that you leave large proportions of your estate, in equal shares, to your children (this is called forced heirship) rather than you spouse or partner and this may not be what you’d like to happen. In Engalnd and Wales we are lucky enough to have Testamentary Freedom subject to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 which was subsequently amended by the Inheritance and Trustee Powers Act 2014.
What is Brussels IV all about?
There has recently been some new regulation that’s come out of Europe called EU Regulation 650/2012 but is more commonly known as ‘Brussels IV’, this became law on 17th August 2015.
It’s a clever little loophole for anyone of English or Welsh Nationality or people who live in England or Wales to write a clause in their wills saying that they’d like the Inheritance rules of England and Wales to aply to their whole European Union Estate which means that those assets in other EU countries (except Ireland and Denmark) are controlled by our laws rather than those of the countries that they are situated in.
If you want to take advantage of this new legislation then you will need to alter your existing will slightly whcih gives you the opportunity to update it at the same time. Our Online Will forms now include provision for this clause in your wills.
Please get in touch with us if this applies to you and we will be able to correct your wills for as little as £39.
