Inheritance of UK assets to Thai wife after I kick the bucket

[Jimmy B]

I have property and assets in the UK and I'd like to will everything to my Thai wife so, when I croak it, there won't be loads of IHT to pay.  My Thai wife doesn't have a British passport or connections in the UK. will my assets automatically pass to her as a non British citizen or do I need to do mountains of paper work to prevent UK government taking even more money. Has Anyone else dealt with this situation or can recommend a lawyer experienced in this field. Cheers.

[roquefort]

Just make a UK will leaving everything to your wife. Any decent UK solicitor can handle it.

[XB12X]

14 minutes ago, roquefort said:

Just make a UK will leaving everything to your wife. Any decent UK solicitor can handle it.

 

But how does she go about processing it if she is in Thailand? 

 

I am in the same situation and was about to post a similar question.

[roquefort]

You'll need an executor in the UK that you name in the will. Someone you trust, or you can pay a solicitor to do it.

[MrBanks]

If your estate is worth more than £325,000, you need to check the position regarding inheritance tax.

UNLESS the situation has changed under Rachel Reeves, a wife (spouse ) who is a UK citizen can inherit tax free, however, a spouse who is NOT a UK citizen will pay 40% inheritance tax on any amount in excess of £325,000.

Certainly this was the position last year, when I was sorting this out, however, I don’t know if Rachel Reeves or Starmer have made changes that alter this.

[Justanotherone]

sell up everything in UK if you have no kids, family or whatever left...????

[khunPer]

On 1/15/2025 at 2:03 PM, Jimmy B said:

I have property and assets in the UK and I'd like to will everything to my Thai wife so, when I croak it, there won't be loads of IHT to pay.  My Thai wife doesn't have a British passport or connections in the UK. will my assets automatically pass to her as a non British citizen or do I need to do mountains of paper work to prevent UK government taking even more money. Has Anyone else dealt with this situation or can recommend a lawyer experienced in this field. Cheers.

An estate is handled by a court in the country of primary residence. So, id you live in Thailand, it will be a Thai court and follow Thai law.

Thai lawyers suggests to make two wills, if you have assets in both your home country and country of residence. Property might still follow law in the country where the property is places, even that the will is handled by a court in another country.

[alanrchase]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

An estate is handled by a court in the country of primary residence. So, id you live in Thailand, it will be a Thai court and follow Thai law.

Thai lawyers suggests to make two wills, if you have assets in both your home country and country of residence. Property might still follow law in the country where the property is places, even that the will is handled by a court in another country.

Not true if you are a Brit. He owns a house in the UK so HMRC will consider him domiciled in the UK and his worldwide assets will be used for inheritance tax calculations. The only good news is that you can get up to £175,000 tax free for the house making a total of £500,000.

[alanrchase]

3 hours ago, alanrchase said:

Not true if you are a Brit. He owns a house in the UK so HMRC will consider him domiciled in the UK and his worldwide assets will be used for inheritance tax calculations. The only good news is that you can get up to £175,000 tax free for the house making a total of £500,000.

Need to update that information as it seems it will change on 6 Apr 25. Seems they are changing from domicile to residence however UK inheritance tax will still apply to UK assets. 

 

https://www.stoneking.co.uk/literature/e-bulletins/october-budget-2024-changes-domicile-uk-inheritance-tax

[rocketboy2]

Oops.

Got it. 

 

[Maybole]

A frequently overlooked point. English law, Scots law or N.I. law. All can e subtly different.

[liddelljohn]

14 hours ago, MrBanks said:

If your estate is worth more than £325,000, you need to check the position regarding inheritance tax.

UNLESS the situation has changed under Rachel Reeves, a wife (spouse ) who is a UK citizen can inherit tax free, however, a spouse who is NOT a UK citizen will pay 40% inheritance tax on any amount in excess of £325,000.

Certainly this was the position last year, when I was sorting this out, however, I don’t know if Rachel Reeves or Starmer have made changes that alter this.

Thats not correct  I have recently  done a new will  , my Thai wife   will inherit    there is £325K   plus £175k IHT free for the house  and  a non UK spouse gets another IHT free allowance of £50k   so thats £550k IHT free  but i have added my daughter into house deeds she is  UK citizen so its unlikely any IHT will be payable,,,

But I could transfer it all to Austria  or Thailand and pay ZERO IHT

 

 Direct Inheritance  to Children 

[MrBanks]

5 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

Thats not correct  I have recently  done a new will  , my Thai wife   will inherit    there is £325K   plus £175k IHT free for the house  and  a non UK spouse gets another IHT free allowance of £50k   so thats £550k IHT free  but i have added my daughter into house deeds she is  UK citizen so its unlikely any IHT will be payable,,,

But I could transfer it all to Austria  or Thailand and pay ZERO IHT

 

 Direct Inheritance  to Children 

In my case I have too many “ties” to the UK, my wife and I have no children, the lawyers and accountants worked everything out, the best advice was to start selling up in the UK and putting as much as possible into a QNUPS.

Anyway, whatever we have both done, I hope it works out for our families, when it happens we will be gone 😊

I think the long and the short of it is, that this is a subject that the OP needs to take professional advice on, depending on the size of his estate, if it is large enough to invoke IHT, he needs to protect it as much as possible.

[khunPer]

21 hours ago, alanrchase said:

Not true if you are a Brit. He owns a house in the UK so HMRC will consider him domiciled in the UK and his worldwide assets will be used for inheritance tax calculations. The only good news is that you can get up to £175,000 tax free for the house making a total of £500,000.

Please note what I mentioned about property, which might/will be handled in the state where the property is and of course after that state's law. That is why two wills are suggested by Thai lawyers. Heirs resident in Britain might also be taxed after British law, even that inheritance comes from abroad.