Technical article
Foreign Probate: Do My Children Need a Second Court Process in Each Country?
Probate is the court process that confirms a will and names who may act for the estate.
Picture a widow in Texas. She owns a house there, a condo in Ontario and a bank account in Singapore. Her two sons live in Mexico and Spain. When she dies, does each son need to open a court case in every place she held something?
Three short terms help. Probate is the court process that confirms a will and names who may act for the estate. A grant is the court paper that comes out of it. Resealing means a second court accepts the first court's paper without starting over.
What the sources show, place by place
| Place | What a grant from elsewhere meets | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| United States | A separate local grant (called ancillary) in each state where the person held property | C |
| Canada | A US grant is not resealed. The family files a new local case | B |
| Australia | The same as Canada | B |
| Singapore | Resealing only for grants from Commonwealth countries or Hong Kong, so a US grant needs a fresh one | C |
| European Union, except Denmark and Ireland | A European Certificate of Succession proves who the heirs are in other member states, with no special procedure | A |
| Mexico | A separate will for Mexican assets, which must refer to the main will and be confirmed by a Mexican court | B |
| Thailand | A foreign will may work, with translation and authentication. Probate takes 12 to 24 months or more on a foreign will alone, against 3 to 6 months with a Thai will | C |
The certificate in the European Union rests on one more rule. The law of the country where the person last lived governs the whole estate, wherever it sits. The United Kingdom did not take part in that regulation. Ireland and Denmark are outside it too.
Spain adds a point of its own. Spanish authorities may find several wills difficult, and the usual practice is one will that covers everything.
The paper banks and tax offices ask for
A court grant is only part of it. Banks and tax offices often want a local document of their own. The sources name a German certificate of inheritance, a Dutch notary statement, and a Spanish foreigner's number for every heir. They also name deadlines: three months in Portugal and six months in Spain for the inheritance tax filing.
Where a trust fits
Assets held by a trustee are not an estate of the person who set the trust up. A Jersey law firm says so when it explains that probate duty there applies only to a Jersey estate grant. So assets that sit inside a funded trust may need no grant at all.
The word "funded" carries the weight. A university extension guide says a revocable trust avoids probate only for what was moved into it. A Maryland government guide agrees. Anything left in the person's own name still goes to probate, and a will that sweeps those assets into the trust, called a pour-over will, is still needed.
You could
You could list every country where you own something in your own name. Next to each item you could write "inside the trust" or "in my name". You could also ask whether a local will, written in that country and referring to the main will, suits the assets there. For heirs in the European Union, you could ask which country's law would apply to your estate, since the answer can be the country where you live at death.
Does your family already hold assets in two or three countries? If you have been through a second court process, tell us how long it took and what the local papers were. Someone else with children spread across borders may find it useful.
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.
Sources
- European e-Justice portal on succession (A)
- Regulation 650/2012 text on EUR-Lex (A)
- Vault country research notes, October 2026 (B)
- Chambers Private Wealth guides for Mexico and Spain, 2026 (B)
- Queensland estate lawyers on resealing foreign grants (C)
- Singapore law firm page on resealing (C)
- Thailand inheritance guide for foreigners (C)
- Carey Olsen on Jersey trusts via Mondaq (B)
- Maryland Register of Wills revocable trust guide (A)
- New Mexico State University guide G256 (B)
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