What is Legalisation?
Legalisation is needed whether you die in your home country with foreign assets or overseas.
Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on a public document is genuine and it’s origin authenicated. This is called an Apostille Certificate and is attached to the document so that it is valid overseas. It is then ready to be presented to the probate office or equivalent in the relevant country.
Why Legalise a Will?
If you have assets overseas, your Will would need to be legally recognised before they could be distributed.
This can involve varying processes from country to country. It is a legal requirement and can be actioned at the time your Will is created, or by your executors on your death, for any countries involved. This applies, even under the recent EU Succession Regulation, No. 650/2012 which allows that a Will can be created and observed between member states.
If you do not have your Will legalised
Legal processes abroad can be complicated, lengthy, and will involve local laws. It may involve applications to the various courts to try to establish the validity of your Will.
In some countries, it can take years. By having your signed Will legalised in the UK at the outset, you would be saving your executors the process, and thereby making the distribution of your estate that much easier.
It is important that you have a legalised Will in place. Our charge for this service is £250 and the process should take approximately two weeks.
Please contact us today to access our legalization of Wills service.