A New Zealander living abroad, a foreign citizen living in Aotearoa or a family holding property in several countries needs an estate plan that recognises different legal systems. A New Zealand will does not automatically determine who inherits an overseas home, and foreign tax rules can apply even where New Zealand has no general inheritance tax. The starting point is a country-by-country asset map, coordinated legal advice and executors who can administer property across borders.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipMap the estate by country before drafting a will
For every asset, record the owner, exact location, account institution, approximate value, legal structure, debts and document location. Distinguish a New Zealand rental property, Australian bank account, UK pension, overseas company shares, family trust interest and cryptocurrency exchange account. These are not all governed by one simple rule.
Also document nationality, current residence, previous residence and the locations of spouses, partners and children. A person may be a New Zealand citizen without being a New Zealand tax resident. IRD's tax residency guidance explains the 183-day and permanent-place-of-abode tests, as well as the general rule for becoming non-resident after extended absence.
Tax residence is not identical to the law that determines succession rights, and neither is interchangeable with immigration status. An estate-planning adviser should identify the relevant connecting factors for each country and each kind of property, not simply apply the client's passport nationality.
When a NZ will can cover overseas assets
A New Zealand will may express intended gifts of overseas property, but whether foreign authorities recognise the will, accept its execution and apply its terms depends on local law. Some countries distinguish immovable property such as land from movable property or financial assets. Others apply compulsory inheritance rights or different matrimonial property systems.
The Wills Act 2007 provides the formal NZ requirements. A will drafted and signed in accordance with those rules may still require local legal steps abroad. Do not promise that a standard NZ online kit eliminates overseas probate or local succession questions.
For high-value foreign assets, ask lawyers in each relevant country whether a separate local will, a coordinated multi-jurisdictional plan or another legal arrangement would be most effective.
One will or several coordinated wills?
One global will can simplify the record of intentions, but it may complicate local administration where a foreign bank or land registry will not accept it without additional formalities. Multiple wills can solve some practical issues but create another risk: a later will's generic revocation clause may accidentally cancel an earlier will intended to operate in a separate country.
Each adviser should review all the proposed documents. Where separate wills are appropriate, their scope and revocation provisions should be coordinated carefully. Executors should know which original is held in which country and what legal instruments they may need to produce.
An executor handover pack can identify lawyers, overseas banks, asset locations and the operative documents. It is not, by itself, proof that a foreign court will recognise a particular grant.
NZ probate and overseas grants
The New Zealand High Court grants probate where a valid will and executor require formal authority, or letters of administration where there is no operative will or no executor able to act. In some cases, overseas grants can be resealed or a fresh grant may be needed in New Zealand.
New Zealand Government guidance explains basic probate steps. Local advisers should confirm whether a foreign grant is eligible for resealing, whether translation or authenticated copies are needed, and whether land and other assets trigger separate registration requirements.
Since September 2025, certain individual holdings up to NZ$40,000 may be released under the statutory small-estate procedure without a grant. That does not mean an entire cross-border estate can always be administered without court authority, particularly if it includes land or substantial financial assets.
Understand New Zealand's tax position without importing overseas rules
New Zealand currently has no general inheritance tax on a person's estate or the ordinary receipt of an inheritance. But NZ income-tax residence can affect how worldwide income is treated, and the sale or receipt of particular assets may have its own consequences. IRD's tax residency page notes that becoming resident can depend on more than simply spending 183 days in the country.
An overseas government may impose estate, inheritance or gift tax on property located there or on a person considered resident or domiciled in that jurisdiction. A New Zealander living in the UK, for example, may encounter UK inheritance-tax rules depending on long-term residence and other facts. A person with US connections may have a different set of obligations.
Treat tax treaties and reliefs as questions to research, not automatic guarantees. The executor may need separate valuations, deadlines, currency conversion records and reporting for each country. The legal right to an asset and its tax treatment can be different.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipOverseas land: the highest-priority legal complication
Land often brings the most immediate country-specific rules. A holiday home in Queensland, an apartment in London and a villa in Italy can each require local title searches, tax advice and succession documents. The fact that the deceased lived in Auckland when making the will may not settle which inheritance rules apply to those properties.
Ask who legally owns the property, whether it is subject to joint tenancy or a local equivalent, whether a company or trust holds it, and which court or notary can authorise transfer. Also ask whether the surviving partner has property rights independent of the will.
In New Zealand, the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 may permit a surviving qualifying spouse or partner to choose between accepting under the will and seeking relationship-property division. Different countries may use community-property or matrimonial-property rules that create separate legal interests.
Family protection claims and overseas families
New Zealand's Family Protection Act 1955 provides certain relatives with potential claims against qualifying estates. Whether and how such rights operate across national borders requires a proper conflicts analysis. A British or Australian claim should not simply be treated as identical because the countries share legal history.
A person supporting children or parents in another country should document the practical arrangements, including education, disability needs and ongoing financial obligations. Careful blended family planning may reveal conflicts between a second spouse and children from an earlier relationship.
If a foreign country has forced heirship or compulsory shares, a testamentary gift that appears unproblematic in New Zealand may be restricted there. Legal advice from the country of the asset is indispensable.
KiwiSaver and other cross-border retirement savings
KiwiSaver generally forms part of the member's New Zealand estate under the KiwiSaver Act 2006, subject to a small-estate payment exception. An expat should keep the provider, scheme and withdrawal requirements documented. Do not assume an Australian superannuation fund follows the same death-benefit rules merely because both are retirement products.
Foreign pensions may be governed by the trust or contractual terms of the scheme. Beneficiary nominations and survivor pensions may operate independently of the will. Request death-benefit information for every substantial foreign pension and life-insurance policy.
A digital asset inventory should distinguish the legal source of each entitlement, rather than lumping all retirement funds together as one generic asset.
Guardianship across borders
Parents who may die while children are living in another country should coordinate guardian nominations with the law and court practice where the children habitually live. A New Zealand testamentary guardian does not automatically acquire the power to relocate a child across borders. Existing guardians, custody orders and welfare considerations may matter.
General children guardianship can help identify family preferences, but a cross-border guardian plan may require specialist family-law advice. Record proposed carers' willingness, contact details, visa or residence issues and how financial support would be provided.
The goal is to avoid imposing on an otherwise appropriate guardian a legal and practical challenge they cannot carry out.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipA case study: Kiwi parent in Australia
A New Zealander living in Brisbane owns a property in Auckland, Australian savings and KiwiSaver, and has children from an earlier relationship. The appropriate planning questions include property title in each country, an NZ will's effect on NZ assets, the Australian succession and probate requirements for Australian holdings and which pension death-benefit rules apply.
A later Australian will could accidentally revoke an earlier NZ will if not drafted in coordination. Executors on both sides of the Tasman may need to exchange court-certified documents. The person should consider whether separate coordinated instruments are warranted and avoid relying on the assumption that the two countries share identical law.
A comparison of estate planning lawyer vs online estate planning tools is helpful in identifying when professional advice is worth far more than the drafting fee.
A case study: returning Kiwi with a foreign business
A returning New Zealand tax resident who retains foreign company shares, a business bank account and overseas property should review both legal title and tax reporting. Shares held personally are not equivalent to assets held by a separate company. A will cannot casually transfer ownership of the company's property merely because the deceased was a shareholder.
Keep governance documents, shareholder agreements, business contacts and registered ownership records with the executor's inventory. A digital inheritance guide can help identify business-related cloud accounts and domains that may be lost if subscriptions are cancelled.
Ask lawyers in both jurisdictions who can act as director or signatory after death and how the shares can be transferred. Business continuity may be more urgent than distribution of a personal savings account.
Create an adviser brief that can travel between countries
Give every adviser the same factual brief. Include your current home, citizenships, places you have lived, family relationships and the countries where significant assets are held. Identify whether each asset is owned personally, jointly, through a company or through a trust. List the documents already signed, their dates and the lawyers who prepared them. An adviser cannot coordinate an overseas will they do not know exists.
Keep the brief factual rather than guessing the legal result. For example, record that an account is held with an Australian institution and that you moved to Sydney on a particular date. Let the advisers determine the resulting tax residence, succession law and administration requirements. A checklist is most useful when it exposes uncertainty instead of concealing it behind a statement that everything is covered globally.
Use family document organisation to give each original, translation and certified copy an identifiable location. Keep a register of documents that have been superseded, while retaining any records advisers need to understand earlier arrangements. A family should not have to guess whether a document in another language is a will, a power of attorney or a property agreement.
Ask about the administration sequence before signing
A cross-border plan should identify what the executor actually does after death. Which country is likely to deal with the first grant? Which assets require local authority? Where will the original will be sent? Can the other court accept a certified copy, or must it wait for an original already lodged elsewhere? Translation, certification and recognition requirements can create delay even when nobody disputes the inheritance.
The Ministry of Justice's High Court probate information explains the New Zealand process. Foreign procedures need their own current advice. Resealing is not a universal international passport for every grant. Ask the receiving country's adviser which route applies to the actual originating grant and asset type, rather than assuming common legal history produces automatic recognition.
An executor living overseas may face practical identification, correspondence and banking issues even where legally eligible to act. Discuss a substitute or additional executor, the location of professionals and how documents will be supplied. Practical executor readiness means planning those steps in advance, not merely naming a trusted person who lives several time zones away.
Keep living-authority documents separate from the will
A will addresses what happens after death. An enduring power of attorney addresses specified decision-making during life under its own legal conditions. A New Zealand appointment should not be assumed to operate unchanged in another country. The bank, medical service or land registry may require a locally recognised instrument. Review these documents together when moving, rather than waiting for incapacity to reveal a recognition problem.
Record the relevant advisers and documents in a memorandum of wishes, while keeping the legally operative instructions in their proper instruments. A personal memorandum cannot turn an unrecognised authority into a valid overseas appointment. It can, however, explain who prepared the documents and where an authorised person should seek help.
Write personal preferences in a letter of wishes where appropriate. For an expat, this might explain whom to notify, where relatives live and which cultural or family arrangements matter. Avoid inserting an alternative set of gifts into a casual note that conflicts with the coordinated wills. The executor should find explanation rather than another legal puzzle.
Wills, Powers of Attorney & GuardianshipPlan for cash flow, tax reporting and foreign exchange
List likely immediate expenses in each country: property costs, insurance, professional fees and ordinary family support. Identify funds owned independently by survivors and funds belonging to the estate. Banking access planning should provide institution contacts and lawful access routes. A family member knowing an overseas account password does not establish authority to transfer its balance into New Zealand.
Keep family insurance records with the policy currency, owner, insured person and beneficiary arrangements. Ask whether a foreign policy's proceeds enter the estate, whether a local claim is needed and which documents the insurer accepts. A policy written years before a move may need review for residence or other conditions. Do not assume its original purchase country determines every later tax result.
Where the estate earns income, the executor should review Inland Revenue's deceased-estate responsibilities and any foreign reporting obligations. Keep original-currency statements and the exchange rates used for the relevant valuations and returns. The amount that appears on a New Zealand bank statement after conversion may not be the correct figure for an earlier date-of-death inventory or foreign filing.
Include Māori land and family-specific obligations in the map
Māori freehold land interests require particular attention even when the owner lives overseas. The Māori Land Court's succession guidance should be considered alongside the relevant legislation and specialist advice. Do not assume a broad clause leaving all New Zealand property to a foreign partner can override restrictions on who may succeed to those interests.
Likewise, identify support for children, former partners and dependent relatives wherever they live. Record any family arrangements, court orders or property agreements. The country in which a beneficiary lives can affect practical administration or tax reporting, while their relationship to the will-maker can affect possible claims. These are distinct questions and should be presented separately to the advisers.
Make the handover work during another relocation
Use secure document storage for the location map and reference material, with an authorised route to the originals. Keep the storage account's recovery details current after changing phone numbers or countries. Password hygiene can prevent an otherwise useful plan becoming inaccessible through an abandoned email address.
Consider how to store passwords so family can access them alongside practical records that trusted people may need. Permission to read an inventory is different from a power to manage assets. Evaheld can organise the family contacts, wishes and estate information involved; it should sit alongside coordinated legal instruments and appropriate local advice. Review the whole map after relocation, marriage, a major acquisition or a change to the advisers responsible for either country.
A coordinated review should end with named responsibilities
At the end of a cross-border appointment, identify who is responsible for each follow-up. One adviser may confirm the New Zealand title, another the foreign tax exposure, and an executor candidate may need to confirm willingness. Record the required documents and unresolved questions. A plan described as internationally compliant is not useful if nobody has checked which country's procedure applies to a particular asset.
Ask for confirmation that each adviser has seen the documents whose operation they are coordinating. After a later change, circulate the revised instrument to the relevant advisers through an appropriate secure route. Do not assume the professional in one country automatically knows about a new will signed in another. Keep a short completion record showing which questions have been answered and which require a further decision.
Step-by-step international estate planning checklist
Map assets, liabilities and ownership by country. Determine residence and tax exposure. Identify each country's will, probate and inheritance rules. Discuss one will versus coordinated wills. Name capable executors and substitutes. Review partners' rights, children's needs and foreign pension nominations. Execute documents correctly and store originals accessibly. Track foreign adviser contacts and update the plan after each relocation or major acquisition.
Related Evaheld legal resources may use Australian examples. Use their general planning concepts alongside the New Zealand legislation and official guidance cited here; do not apply foreign legal rules to an NZ will.
Your next step
Keep country-by-country document locations and adviser contacts in a digital legacy vault for international families. The record helps people discover your plan while coordinated legal advice determines the operation of each document.
