Will Aid: Free will in November

Free will by solicitors in your area for a donation to a number of charities.  Suggested donation of £75 per single will, £110 for a pair.  Less than it would cost to get one drafted.

Check this site for more information and to book your appointment.

http://www.willaid.org.uk/index_public.cfm

that's a great idea.

if i had any assets or children, i'd definitely sign up! 

Thank you very much for posting this, Aimiloo.

Great idea - and great charity.

However as a US citizen is subject to United States estate taxes on worldwide assets your UK solicitor would have to be a specialist not just in UK rules but also in US Federal rules plus rules in the State where you are domiciled.  Therefore there will only be a few UK solicitors able to advise properly on Wills for US folk.

Great idea - and great charity.

However as a US citizen is subject to United States estate taxes on worldwide assets your UK solicitor would have to be a specialist not just in UK rules but also in US Federal rules plus rules in the State where you are domiciled.  Therefore there will only be a few UK solicitors able to advise properly on Wills for US folk.

what about after you've got your ILR?

How the devil is the US government going to know you've even died if you are living (and die) outside the US?

How the devil is the US government going to know you've even died if you are living (and die) outside the US?

Well, otherwise they will be expecting your tax return, right?

most of our stuff is in both our names....in fact all our large assets are.  that's my only concern, if i was to die, i'd want him to just be able to take over all our money with no issues......

So when we move back to the USA, does that mean i'm going to need a USA/UK specialist as well as my husband will not be a US citizen for a while?

1. A UK domiciled spouse can only leave £55,000 plus the nil rate band (currently £285,000) to a non-UK domiciled (eg American) spouse before UK inheritance tax is payable.  Consequently for many who - say - own a home in the UK there will be UK IHT to pay if the American spouse dies first.

If both spouses have the same domicile then unlimited amounts can be transferred on deah without any UK inheritance tax being payable.

Moving to the US will not necessarily change domicile for UK purposes, so you may have different domiciles for a long time in the the future.

2. For US estate tax purposes one can only leave $60,000 to a non-US citizen spouse before US estate tax is payable.  Again for 2 US citizen spouses the amounts that can be transferred on death are unlimited.  Consequently if the US citizen spouse dies first there may be US estate tax payable (unless a special trust - known as a QDOT - has been created to defer the US tax).

Do bear in mind that in reading my comments that talk about 'spouses', that for UK purposes (only) civil partners are regarded as spouses.

The IRS will be notified of the death because the executor of the estate will have a fiduciary duty both to file US income tax returns up to the date of death and to file US estate tax returns.
The executor will doubtless also wish to notify the US embassy of the death so that the passport can be cancelled to avoid identity fraud, which I understand is common with fraudsters assuming deceased identities.

Guya,
By domiciled, do you mean having citizenship in that country?  I am American.  I have ILR here in the UK with my English partner and no intention of ever moving back to the US.  We have bought a house here.  We are contemplating a CP.  When I am eligible, I hope to apply for UK citizenship.  Would it only be then that I would be *domiciled?*

No - you are domiciled at birth in the place (for an American a US State) that your father is domiciled in at birth.  If you settle somewhere else permanently expecting to remain there for ever and abandon your conections to your previous domicile then you may acquire domicile in that new place.

Owning property, length of residence, nationality, pension rights etc does not by itself prove domicile.  Rather one proves domicile by intention.  So if you have settled in England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland permanently then you are domiciled in one of these 3 countries.  If alternatively you still call a State in the US home, keep your State drivers licence, vote there and may return there should your spouse pre-decease you then you would not yet have acquired domicile within the UK.

For most folk in the UK who can claim non-Uk domicile it is a money saving device because it enables one to put all of one's savings offshore and pay no UK tax on interest, dividends and capital gains unless these items of income are remitted to the UK.