Inheritance of assets in several jurisdictions: how to properly plan and transfer property to children without unnecessary taxes and conflicts
11 December, 2025
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Large international business owners often focus on its development, while the issue of inheritance of personal assets is often postponed. But one day, unexpectedly, it becomes a family problem, while the business can stop due to family disputes.
In today’s realities, owners have assets in different countries, namely: companies in one, real estate in another, bank accounts in a third one, while their owner and his/her family live in a fourth one. War and relocation have only strengthened such trend: more and more Ukrainian businessmen have personal assets both in Ukraine and abroad.
Such geographical diversification of assets may create many problems and difficulties during inheritance. Various jurisdictions have their own rules for inheritance of assets, their taxation, and mandatory share of relatives. Without advance planning, the inheritance can drag on for years due to separate procedures in different jurisdictions and potential disputes between heirs, causing additional costs for foreign advisors. Furthermore, the assets will remain frozen without access thereto by heirs, and the heir will not be able to immediately enter into business and/or continue its management until acceptance of the inheritance is completed.
Here the testator’s interest is simple and clear: will my heirs be able to inherit what I have earned without hindrance, in precisely defined proportions, without unnecessary legal obstacles and tax costs?
Interlegal’s practice shows that such situations often arise when clients need assistance with planning inheritance of assets in several jurisdictions. Meantime, we face the heirs’ difficulties and problems caused by the heir’s postponement of such issue and lack of advance planning and structuring the procedure for inheritance of their own assets.
In this article, we will highlight key rules and features of asset inheritance in various jurisdictions, tax risks and pitfalls.
Will as a tool for simplifying inheritance procedure.
A properly drawn up will is the key to a planned and predictable procedure for inheritance of assets in several jurisdictions. It allows mitigating potential disputes between heirs over the inheritance and their shares therein, streamlining and significantly accelerating the process of transferring inherited assets, as well as optimizing tax burden on heirs. The will fixes the law of which state applies to inheritance of assets, with regards to the rules set below, which eliminates potential conflicts and facilitates that inheritance procedure takes place in the jurisdiction where the testator planned.
For example, a citizen of Ukraine residing in Austria chooses Austrian law for drawing up a will. In such case, the main inheritance procedure should take place in Austria, while real estate in Ukraine should be inherited separately at the place of its location.
Conflict of laws in inheritance: rules for resolution
The most common question from our clients is: where should I draw up a will if the assets are located in several countries?
Imagine that a citizen of Ukraine lives in Austria and plans to draw up a will. In such case, inheritance includes assets in Switzerland, Ukraine, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands. This pool included, in particular, real estate in Ukraine and EU member states, bank accounts abroad, cars, shares and stocks in Ukrainian and foreign companies.
Such situations are governed by the rules of private international law (PIL), in particular, its provisions on conflict of laws. Meantime, legal framework is quite broad and contains various approaches to such issues. It includes:
• national specialized laws (e.g., the Law of Ukraine “On Private International Law”; Loi n° 1.448 dated June 28, 2017, Monaco; Federal Law PILA, 1987, Switzerland; Law No. 91/2012 Sb., Czech Republic);
• EU regulations, in particular, No. 650/2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions, acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on creation of a European Certificate of Succession;
• interstate legal assistance agreements, e.g. between Ukraine and the Czech Republic/Poland.
With proper knowledge and correct application of such rules, one can avoid legal conflicts, mitigate tax costs and secure quick and safe receiving of assets by the chosen heirs.
Which law shall apply to provisions of the will: where to draw up and how to execute it.
In international inheritance, it is important to understand and distinguish the following two aspects:
• under the law of which state the will is drawn up,
• under the law of which state(s) the will is executed.
Such issues are of primary importance when planning an inheritance, since they provide an understanding: in which country the will is drawn up, in which country the procedure for executing the will actually takes place, and, finally, which inheritance legislation of which country or countries is subject to analysis and assessment.
The general rules are the following:
• inheritance procedure is governed by the law of the country where the person is permanently residing at the moment of his/her death and/or at the moment of drawing up the will;
• when drawing up a will, the testator may choose the law of his/her citizenship state;
• procedure for inheriting real estate is always governed by the law of the state where it is located. It shall apply even in cases where the testator in the will has chosen the law of another state.
Such rules are of key importance during execution of a will, because such nuances as the mandatory share in the inheritance, its size and scope of persons to whom it is guaranteed may differ depending on inheritance legislation of the states.
The above example shows that a citizen of Ukraine can choose the law that will govern the issue of drawing up a will and its execution in respect of movable property: either the law of Ukraine as the state of citizenship, or the law of Austria where (s)he permanently resides. Imagine that (s)he chose the law of Austria.
Why is this important? In such case, the drawn up will is subject to execution in Austria at the place of residence. The hereditary mass consists of all assets, except real estate in Ukraine. The procedure for inheriting real estate shall be carried out at the place of its location and registration. In our case, the Client’s Ukrainian real estate is inherited only here, while the procedure shall be carried out according to the rules of the Ukrainian inheritance legislation.
One more example: a citizen of one of the EU member states is permanently residing in another European state. His connection with Ukraine is covered by local real estate and shares in the capital of several Ukrainian companies. The Client’s foreign assets included shares in companies registered both within and outside the EU, as well as personal bank accounts.
In such situation, the Client draws up a will in the EU, where its execution takes place in respect of almost the entire inheritance. However, in Ukraine the will is executed only in respect of real estate. In such case, the Ukrainian notary shall initiate a separate inheritance case facilitating execution of the will and distribution of real estate between the heirs in accordance with Ukrainian legislation.
Although shares in Ukrainian companies are not inherited in the framework of such case, a foreign certificate of inheritance shall serve as unconditional basis for registering a change in the membership of Ukrainian companies.
Inheritance in several jurisdictions requires a strategic approach and careful planning. Each country has its own rules, conflict of laws and tax specifications, so a mistake in choosing a jurisdiction may cause loss of time, money and complications for the heirs.
Our role as legal advisors is to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the testator’s assets, identifying potential jurisdictions where inheritance procedure can take place. Assessment of the rules of local inheritance law also plays a crucial role, starting from the size of mandatory share in the inheritance among scope of persons to whom it is guaranteed, up to the principal stages of the will execution procedure and their duration.
If experienced lawyers are involved in inheritance planning, they will guarantee that the testator’s will is executed exactly as (s)he wished, without conflicts, tax risks and delays. This approach allows preservation of assets, defense of heirs and securing expected execution of the will in each jurisdiction.
