Finding a solicitor to write (not-mirror) wills

Goose_Grass

Hello, everyone.  I am hoping for advice about choosing a lawyer to write new wills for my partner and I, in anticipation of marrying in 2022.  

We are resident in England & Wales, with a mix of UK and overseas income and assets.  Our children are all from previous relationships, a mix of adults living overseas and minors living with us, so there will be at least simple trusts involved.  Our needs should not be alien to an experienced solicitor, but our provision will be more complicated than most of our friends' arrangements, so I'm not sure that asking locally for recommendations will be enough.

I have searched STEP's and The Law Society's directories, but they offer different names in terms of who "specializes" in wills. 

Does anyone here have an opinion on:

1. whether we should get a STEP (full?) member to write our wills?
   
2. the value of Law Society's recommendations for "private client: wills"?
   
3. whether there is a better way to find a local solicitor specializing in wills, including,
   
4. whether I am over-complicating this because asking mates who they used would suffice?
   

Thank you for reading.

Keep_pedalling

A competent local solicitor should be able the UK side of this, but you may also need separate wills for your overseas assets especially if we are talking about property. Not many UK solicitors will be experts in overseas inheritance laws.

Goose_Grass

Thank you @Keep_pedalling

I am a bit confused about separate wills for overseas assets, though: I thought one only ever wanted the one will, and recency decided which one was executed, with any others being ignored.

I do very much take your point about the typical UK lawyer not being au fait with inheritance laws in other countries.  I think I know how to ensure the estate remains domiciled in the UK from the perspective of the other country, and I believe that any overseas beneficiaries would receive their legacy tax-free as long as any UK tax due on the estate had been paid.  But this is through my own research, so I should doubled-check with a lawyer in that country, in case I am incorrect.

Thrugelmir

Goose_Grass said:

I am a bit confused about separate wills for overseas assets, though: I thought one only ever wanted the one will, and recency decided which one was executed, with any others being ignored.

UK laws won't apply overseas. You may well need legal representation where the assets are held. Tax legislation is going to differ. Resulting in tax potentially being paid twice on the same asset. Your legal advisors will need to work with each other. Source a specialist legal firm. 

SeniorSam

There are STEP solicitors that specifically deal with cross border estates, which may be what you are seeking. The link may be of interest.  https://www.step.org/special-interest-groups/cross-border-estates-global-special-interest-group

Goose_Grass

Thank you, also, @Thrugelmir and @SeniorSam

Yes, double-taxation is obviously very bad for the estate, hence my concerns about domicile.

I will enquire with a lawyer in the other jurisdiction about taxes potentially payable by a UK estate.  All property was disposed of before emigration to the UK, and there are no businesses or anything else complicated. What remains abroad are very pedestrian fund investments that exist in tax wrappers (creatures much like SIPPs and ISAs).  Ideally all that would be consumed/repatriated before death, but one knows not the day nor the hour...

As for the overseas beneficiaries, would they prefer no legacy if the only legacy they could receive must bear a tax?  Probably not.  But we shall do our best for them.