Asset types across borders

Many legal systems take different approaches to different categories of asset when someone dies. For example, some systems apply the law of where an asset is physically located, while others apply the law of the deceased’s domicile or habitual residence. The result is that two assets owned by the same person can fall under different rule sets at the same time. Understanding the categories below is a starting point for asking the right questions, not a substitute for advice.

Immoveable assets are typically things that are fixed to a location, most often land and buildings. In many jurisdictions, the law of the country (and sometimes the state or province) where the property sits is the law that decides how it is inherited, regardless of where the owner lived or held citizenship. That can mean a single property is governed by rules quite different from the rest of an estate.

• Examples: a flat, a house, agricultural land, a beach plot, a holiday villa
• The local rules may include forced-heirship provisions, spousal entitlements or limits on who can inherit
• Transfer typically involves a local registry, local fees and sometimes a local tax

Moveable assets are physical things that can in principle be relocated. In many jurisdictions, the law that applies to moveables on death is the law of the deceased’s domicile or habitual residence rather than the law of the place where the items happen to sit. Different systems define "domicile" and "habitual residence" in different ways, so the same person can be assessed differently by two countries. See our domicile vs tax residence page for the four concepts side-by-side.

• Examples: vehicles, furniture, art, jewellery, personal possessions kept abroad
• Items held in a safety-deposit box in a third country may still be treated as moveable
• Some categories (cultural artefacts, antiques, firearms) carry country-specific export rules

Intangible assets are rights and digital things that have no fixed physical presence. They often raise tricky cross-border questions because the "location" of the asset can be contested. Common examples include cryptocurrency held on exchanges in one country by a person living in another, intellectual property registered in multiple jurisdictions, and online accounts whose terms of service specify a particular country’s law.

• Examples: cryptocurrency, digital wallets, domain names, copyrights, patents, trademarks, online business accounts
• Inheritance often depends on platform terms of service as well as on succession law
• Without recovery details, intangible assets can be effectively lost on death

Financial assets (bank accounts, brokerage accounts, pensions, retirement accounts, life policies and similar) are usually contractual relationships with a regulated provider. The provider’s home country often imposes specific procedures on inheritance, separately from succession law. Some products (named beneficiaries on policies, joint accounts, payable-on-death designations) can pass outside a will entirely, which can either help or unintentionally undermine an estate plan.

• Examples: current accounts, savings accounts, fixed deposits, brokerage portfolios, pensions, retirement accounts, life insurance
• Beneficiary nominations on policies and pensions usually take precedence over a will
• Some jurisdictions impose withholding or freezing of accounts until probate completes

A typical cross-border estate combines two or three of these categories at once, for example a home in one country, a brokerage account in another and digital assets that span several. Estate planning in this situation usually involves mapping each asset to a category, identifying the rules likely to apply, and then deciding whether one will or several locally-drafted wills serves the situation best. That decision is exactly the kind of judgement to take to a qualified professional who works across the relevant jurisdictions.