Canadian Will and POA for UK assets

poseidon1

jem16 said:

Thanks all. Situation is perhaps slightly more complicated as most of the assets are probably under Scottish law. 

Bank accounts are relatively small and all joint bar one. Mostly only kept to aid transferring of gifts from relatives at birthdays and Christmas. 

Both only worked for 8 or 9 years before moving so pension not large either. One is a DC pension and the other DB - local government. Perhaps the DC one may get transferred over to Canada at some point. 

With regards to the Will, their Canadian lawyer has informed them about the resealing process and just wants to know if they’re happy with that and if their UK assets should be mentioned in their Will or not. 

With regards to POA, that was mentioned too but although it may seem sensible to allow someone in Scotland to handle it here, it is of course making it more expensive and more involved. I’ve checked with the Public Guardian’s Office and they may just go down this route for now.



ill suggest they have a look on an expat forum too. 

From a practical standpoint, if the cash amounts are very modest I would be inclined to transfer all sterling to a Wise currency account controlled from Canada. Wise issue a debit card for the account and to all extents and purposes it can be operated similar to a normal current account, albeit with multiple currency options if desired.

https://wise.com/ca/blog/revolut-card-alternatives-canada#:~:text=for ATM withdrawals²-,Wise card: spend like a local,Pay and Apple® Pay

By removing sterling from UK jurisdiction bank account, you remove any question of a requirement for a UK will. 

As for any DC pensions, they are currently outside any UK probate and IHT considerations. This may well change after 2027, but no need to take any precipitous action in this regard until there is  further clarity on how UK DC pensions exceeding the NRB will be taxed in the case of non UK domiciled individuals .

jem16

poseidon1 said:

jem16 said:

Thanks all. Situation is perhaps slightly more complicated as most of the assets are probably under Scottish law. 

Bank accounts are relatively small and all joint bar one. Mostly only kept to aid transferring of gifts from relatives at birthdays and Christmas. 

Both only worked for 8 or 9 years before moving so pension not large either. One is a DC pension and the other DB - local government. Perhaps the DC one may get transferred over to Canada at some point. 

With regards to the Will, their Canadian lawyer has informed them about the resealing process and just wants to know if they’re happy with that and if their UK assets should be mentioned in their Will or not. 

With regards to POA, that was mentioned too but although it may seem sensible to allow someone in Scotland to handle it here, it is of course making it more expensive and more involved. I’ve checked with the Public Guardian’s Office and they may just go down this route for now.



ill suggest they have a look on an expat forum too. 

From a practical standpoint, if the cash amounts are very modest I would be inclined to transfer all sterling to a Wise currency account controlled from Canada. Wise issue a debit card for the account and to all extents and purposes it can be operated similar to a normal current account, albeit with multiple currency options if desired.

https://wise.com/ca/blog/revolut-card-alternatives-canada#:~:text=for ATM withdrawals²-,Wise card: spend like a local,Pay and Apple® Pay

By removing sterling from UK jurisdiction bank account, you remove any question of a requirement for a UK will. 

As for any DC pensions, they are currently outside any UK probate and IHT considerations. This may well change after 2027, but no need to take any precipitous action in this regard until there is  further clarity on how UK DC pensions exceeding the NRB will be taxed in the case of non UK domiciled individuals .

He already has a Wise account. The UK account is really kept for ease of use for relatives. There’s not much kept in it in most cases.