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Topic: Making a will  (Read 788 times)

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  • Wife of Irish, 2004 Expat, & Art Historian from FL
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Making a will
« on: October 04, 2009, 12:22:40 PM »
I am a US citizen, my husband is an Irish citizen, we live in England and are having a baby soon.  So we want to make a will. 

It should be relatively straightforward, as we don't have too many assets, but we do have bank accounts in the US, Ireland, and the UK, and we want the guardianship of our child to be shared between a member of my family in the US and a member of his family in Ireland. 

So I'm thinking we probably need a solicitor who specializes/has some experience with these international situations.  Does anyone have any recommendations for such a person?  Or any other advice?

Thanks!


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Re: Making a will
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2009, 04:07:16 PM »
You can find a specialist solicitor through the Law Society website.  Definitely DO NOT use one of those cowboy will writing companies who accost people in shopping centres! (You may not even know what  I'm talking about but I've been asked 3 times this week about my will!!).

You can also do your will yourself, it's not that complicated and you can even buy DIY will kits from places like Rymans & WH Smith. (I've never actually looked at one of those though, so can't say how good they are). Having assets in various countries you should state in your will which country's law you want any dispute decided according to.

Regarding the guardianship aspect .. this is something people commonly put in their will but you don't actually need to make a will specifically for this purpose. You just need to make a legal declaration under the Guardianship Act which basicallly means you just need write down your wishes, mention the G. Act and sign & date it - no witness required for this. Obviously, it's a good idea to give copies to the intended guardians so they will know what to do should the situation arise.  As you're choosing guardians in two different countries, it would also be wise to state which one you want your child(ren) to live with.

Hope that helps.


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