Complex problem

[Hew]

My brother died domiciled abroad, the foreign country inheritance law states parents and siblings are beneficiaries. My brother also had a UK bank account and shares in a UK business, are beneficiaries recognised under UK law (parents only) or the domiciled country law for the UK assets? The UK bank seemed to only recognise parents as beneficiaries when presented with the requested death certificate.

[efpom]

Questions:
Has the deceased made a will?
What country was he domiciled in at the time of his death?
Was he a citizen of that country?
If he was not a citizen of that country when he died, are you certain that the foreign jurisdiction in which he was domiciled will apply it's own law, rather than the law of the nationality of the deceased?

[Hew]

He unfortunately hadn't made a will as far as I know. He had spoken about his wishes last year which led us to believe there was one. I have checked with the Hague, the notary who dealt with his divorce last year and also the London Probate Dept but haven't been able to locate one. He had lived in Holland for approximately nine years and owned a house there for the past three years. He had a British passport but was proposing to sell his property and move back to the UK.

[efpom]

You may find the following links useful.

https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_...n-166-nl-en.do
https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/...wills-1000077/

[Hew]

Thank you.

[Peridot]

Hi Hew,
without a Will and following your comments that your brother was intending on returning to the Uk I expect he would be deemed domiciled in the Uk. An other immovable property (houses not money or personal possessions) outside eng/wales will be dealt with according to the succession rules of the country they are in.
under eng/ wales rules where there is no Will The intestacy rules would prevail on moveable items so if there is no spouse or children the next in line would be parents.
As far as the property (house) is concerned you would need to know what the succession rules re for the particular country it is located in to establish who would inherit it.