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Brexit – The Effect on Wills, Probate & Trusts Part 1
Friday, December 11, 2020
Friday, December 11, 2020
It is worth noting that there is no immediate impact on Wills Probate and Trusts work. There are however some aspects of EU law which remain relevant.
Wills
The EU Succession Regulation deals with the ability to choose the country whose law will apply to your estate when you die. This is important as if there is a difference in the law between the country where you made your Will and the country where the asset is it can lead to the wishes in your Will not being able to take effect. The UK never adopted the regulation and so there is no change to the position. The EU Succession Regulation will continue to be relevant to anyone who has assets in the EU and the impact is something which should be considered as part of the Will making process to ensure that any foreign assets are dealt with appropriately.
Trusts
The most recent Money Laundering Directive had implications for UK trusts in requiring a far greater number of trusts to be registered on the Trust Registration Service with HMRC (regardless of whether the trust has any tax liability). The Directive has been incorporated into UK already, but the part specific to Trust registration was delayed for further consultation about which trusts would need to be registered. It is not expected that Brexit will alter matters, but if you are the Trustee you will need to keep an eye on this as once the regulations are fully implemented there will be deadlines for registration of relevant trusts with penalties for non-compliance.
The Wills, Probate & Trusts team at Samuel Phillips Law would be more than happy to have a discussion with you about anything raised or any concerns you might have leading up to 31 December 2020.
Please contact us at Samuel Phillips Law, in the strictest of confidence, on 0191 2328451 or email privateclient@samuelphillips.co.uk.
Written by Felicity Nelson, Senior Associate and Head of Wills, Probate & Trusts
