Concept
Foreign real estate is the most "stubborn" asset in an estate. Wherever the owner lives, real estate is almost always inherited under the law of the country where it is located (lex rei sitae). This means foreign rules, foreign tax, and foreign forced heirship.
🍓 Real estate is inherited under the law of the country where it is located (lex rei sitae): local forced heirship, local inheritance tax, and a separate local procedure—regardless of the owner's will or residency.
Three Problems
Forced Heirship
An apartment in France or Spain is subject to their forced heirship rules, even if the owner is a citizen of a country with testamentary freedom. A will written "at home" may not work for this real estate.
Tax
Real estate almost always pays local inheritance tax by situs. Without a tax treaty, this threatens double taxation—in the country where the property is located and in the country of residence of the heirs.
Procedure
Local registration of the transfer of title requires local documents, translation, apostille, sometimes a separate "local" will and a local notary—in parallel with the main probate proceedings.
⚙️ Brussels IV allows you to choose the applicable law for EU succession, but it does not abolish lex rei sitae and local real estate inheritance tax.
How It Is Structured
🔗 Related
US estate tax · Applicable law and Brussels IV · Forced heirship · Inheritance tax: country map · Multi-jurisdiction wills
A common solution is to hold real estate through a company: then what is inherited is a share in the company (movable property) under more flexible rules, not the property itself. But this has its own tax consequences, which should be calculated in advance.
💡 The logic of "holding through a company" is the same as for US-situs: see US estate tax.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute individual legal advice.