Cross-border succession · Probate & the foreign estate · Information, not legal advice — as at 24 August 2026
Do I need probate in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France?
No — not in the English sense, and a UK grant of probate is never enough by itself. Portugal, Spain, Italy and France have no probate and no resealing: each establishes the heirs by its own procedure (a habilitação de herdeiros in Portugal, a notarial deed in Spain, the will’s publication and a succession declaration in Italy, an acte de notoriété in France). Your UK grant still matters — as formal supporting evidence, apostilled and translated — and the good news is that the two countries’ processes run in parallel: nothing abroad waits for probate at home.
This is usually the first question a family asks when someone dies owning a home or an account abroad — often after being told by the bank abroad that an English grant of probate “isn’t valid here”. That answer sounds alarming. It is actually the beginning of a simpler picture than most families fear.
Is there probate in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France?
Not in the English sense. Probate is a common-law idea: a court confirms the executor, and the executor then administers the estate. The civil-law countries work differently — the heirs inherit directly, and what the system needs is not a court grant but a formal document establishing who the heirs are. Each of our four countries has its own instrument for that: in Portugal the habilitação de herdeiros; in Spain a notarial deed of declaration and acceptance; in Italy the will’s publication and the succession declaration; in France the notaire’s acte de notoriété. Different names, same job — and all of them run under a will made at home or under local intestacy rules where there is none.
Can my UK grant of probate be used abroad — or “resealed”?
No. Resealing — the Commonwealth shortcut by which some jurisdictions stamp an English grant for local use — does not exist in Portugal, Spain, Italy or France. A UK grant has no direct effect in any of them: it cannot unlock a bank account, transfer a title, or appoint anyone to act. The foreign assets pass through the local process, from start to finish, whatever role the grant plays at home.
So is the UK grant useless abroad?
Far from it — it just changes role. Apostilled and with a certified translation, the grant is excellent supporting evidence: it proves the will was admitted to probate at home and who the executors are, and the foreign notary and registry treat it as significant supporting title. What it never does is transfer the foreign asset itself — title abroad always comes from the local instrument, never from the grant.
Do I have to wait for UK probate before starting abroad?
No — and this is the part families are most relieved to hear. Because the two legs are legally independent, they run in parallel: the foreign side can be opened the week the death certificate exists, while probate at home takes its own course. The foreign tax clocks — Spain’s six months, Italy’s twelve, Portugal’s stamp-duty return (due by the end of the third month after the month of death), France’s six (or twelve, where the death was outside France) — run from the death, not from probate, so starting early is not just possible; it is how the deadlines are met comfortably.
What if there is no will at all?
The same instruments do the work — they simply record the heirs the law itself appoints. Which law that is depends on the EU Succession Regulation: by default the law of the country where the person was habitually resident, though a will can elect the law of nationality instead — the full picture is in which country’s law decides who inherits. And in all four countries, close family are protected by forced-heirship rules — regardless of what a will says — unless a valid election changes the governing law.
What documents will the foreign side actually need?
A short, predictable list: the death certificate (the EU multilingual standard form or an apostilled copy), the will if there is one, the heirs’ passports, a local tax number for each heir — which we obtain — and a power of attorney per heir so everything can be signed without anyone travelling. Where a UK grant exists, we add it, apostilled and translated, as the supporting evidence described above.
Who does all this if I live in the UK or Ireland?
You appoint a lawyer in the country concerned under a power of attorney and stay home. That is precisely what we do: one lawyer, registered and insured in Portugal, Spain, Italy and France, who also knows the English and Irish process from the inside — so the home solicitor keeps the home estate, we run the foreign leg, and the two halves are coordinated instead of colliding. Your solicitor can start with the solicitor’s guides written for exactly this hand-off.