Probate With Foreign Assets or Heirs in the UK: Resealing, Foreign Grants, Inheritance Tax and Translations

A grant of probate issued in Sydney can be sealed by an English probate registry and used like an English grant. A certificate of inheritance from Berlin cannot: the family applies for a new English grant, explains German law and sends every German document with a translation.

Probate with foreign assets or heirs abroad means three sets of rules at once: the probate registry's, HM Revenue and Customs' and the other country's. This guide covers each, plus form PA19, heirs abroad, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Foreign wills have their own guide: wills translation.

What documents does the probate registry need when an estate crosses borders?

The usual documents, plus English versions of anything foreign. Forms PA1P (will) and PA1A (no will) set out the extras:

The forms also ask about foreign assets and how many official copies of the grant you need "for use outside of the United Kingdom". GOV.UK says you will "usually get probate within 12 weeks". The fee is £526 for estates over £5,000, in force since 13 July 2026, and it applies to resealing too.

What is form PA19, and do you need it?

PA19 is HMCTS's form for foreign death certificates, and its first line is plain: "If your foreign death certificate is not already in English, or does not contain an English translation as part of the original document, then you must get the foreign death certificate translated."

It is for "personal applicants (citizens) only", paper or online. The translator states whether they are "a native speaker" or "a qualified translator" and signs a declaration backed by the threat of contempt proceedings. You send the original certificate, the translation and the form.

One exception: "If you have used a licensed translator's company, completion of this form is not necessary, as they should provide a certificate of translation which fulfills the same purpose as this form." Translation companies are not licensed by any UK body, so if unsure whether a company's certificate will do instead, ask HMCTS Probate first.

Can a foreign grant of probate be used in England?

Only from certain places. Under the Colonial Probates Act 1892, a grant from a country the Act applies to can be produced to a UK probate court, a copy deposited and the grant sealed, and it then has "the like force and effect" as a UK grant. A court-certified copy works like the original.

The places are listed, by their 1965 names, in the Colonial Probates Act Application Order 1965 and a few later Orders: they include the Australian states and territories, New Zealand, Canadian provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia (not Quebec), Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malaysia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Jamaica. The Act keeps Hong Kong covered after 1997.

Rule 39 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules adds conditions: the grant must normally have been made to someone entitled under rule 30, it must come with a copy of any will "certified as correct by or under the authority of the court by which the grant was made", and an inheritance tax account must be lodged. If the grant or will is not in English, which can happen with a Cypriot grant, send a translation.

Documents from countries that are not listed, such as India, Pakistan, the United States, Spain and Germany, cannot be resealed, so the family applies for an English grant.

How does probate work if the person lived abroad?

Through rule 30. Where the person "died domiciled outside England and Wales", the registrar may order a grant to "the person entrusted with the administration of the estate by the court having jurisdiction at the place where the deceased died domiciled", or, if there is none, to "the person beneficially entitled to the estate by the law of the place where the deceased died domiciled".

That is why the forms ask for the foreign court's entrusting document or certificate of inheritance. In Germany, for example, the probate court issues the heir an Erbschein, a certificate of the right to inherit and of the share (BGB section 2353). The registrar reads the translation to see who inherits and in what shares, so every name, share and condition must be exact.

Where it does not settle the point, the registry may want evidence of foreign law under rule 19. An executor or heir abroad who does not want to apply can appoint an attorney with form PA11 or PA12; see power of attorney translation.

Does inheritance tax apply to foreign assets?

For deaths from 6 April 2025, it depends on residence. HMRC says that from that date "the domicile and deemed domicile rules were replaced by new long-term UK resident rules." A long-term UK resident, someone UK tax resident for the previous 10 consecutive years or for 10 of the previous 20, may owe tax on overseas assets.

What that means for the paperwork:

• Form IHT417 is for a deceased who "was a long-term UK resident when they died and owned assets abroad". It wants values "in the foreign currency as at the date of death" with the conversion shown.
• Form IHT401a is for when you claim the deceased "was not a long-term UK resident".
• Full details go to HMRC, even with no tax to pay, if the person "had foreign assets worth more than £100,000" or "was living permanently outside the UK" having previously lived here.
• Excepted estates: someone living permanently abroad whose UK assets are worth "£150,000 or less" usually counts as one.
• Double taxation relief may be deducted where similar tax was paid abroad.

HMRC's inheritance tax forms set no translation rule, but translate the foreign valuations and tax assessments your figures rely on.

Using an English grant for assets abroad

Each country decides what proves succession there, and some are strict. A German land registry accepts proof of succession only through an Erbschein or a European Certificate of Succession, or a notarial will with the record of its opening (Grundbuchordnung section 35). An English grant alone does not meet that rule, so the heirs apply to a German probate court.

Where the foreign authority does accept the English grant, order official copies for use outside the UK. The FCDO apostilles documents "issued by a court and sealed with a wet ink court seal", and the translation then follows the destination's rule: for Spain, "a Sworn Translator-Interpreter duly registered in Spain", according to its Consulate General in London. Where a notarised and apostilled UK translation is acceptable, our apostille service can provide it: the certified translation is notarised and then apostilled, and the apostille is attached to our translation, not to the grant.

Heirs abroad: how do they prove they inherit?

With civil records showing each link to the deceased. Without a will, English intestacy rules decide who inherits and the closest relative applies. Where there is no will and no known relative, the estate goes to the Government Legal Department's Bona Vacantia Division, whose published kinship rules show what proof looks like:

• a family tree with "dates of birth, marriage and death of all those on the tree";
• "full birth certificates (showing the parents' names) and marriage certificates of each person between you and the deceased";
• "a full explanation, supported by documentary evidence, of any discrepancies";
• "good quality true copies", not originals, at first; and
• "a certified English translation of each document, prepared by a certified translator", for anything not in English.

It accepts "the overseas equivalent" of its identity documents, and only "foreign adoptions recognised by English law" count. Keep every name spelled the same across the birth certificate and marriage certificate translations, and explain any variant in a note.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland. Executors obtain confirmation from the sheriff court. The inventory must include property "located in England, Wales or Northern Ireland", and confirmation "is possible only if the inventory includes at least one item of money or other property in Scotland." HM Commissary Office, within Edinburgh Sheriff Court, handles foreign domiciles. Under the Administration of Estates Act 1971, a confirmation noting a Scottish domicile works in England and Wales "without being resealed", and English grants work in Scotland the same way.

Northern Ireland. The Probate Office can reseal a foreign grant and will, and "If the Foreign Grant and Will are not in English then a translation must be given and lodged with your application."

Why cross-border estate applications stall

• A death certificate sent without a translation or PA19.
• A certificate of inheritance translated without its shares, conditions or seals.
• Foreign asset values with no currency conversion or valuation.
• Heirs' certificates with names spelled differently from one translation to the next.
• An English grant sent abroad without an apostille, or translated by someone the destination does not accept.

Checklist: documents for a cross-border estate

Questions people ask