The Cross-Border Estate

A Guide for Estate Attorneys

The book treats the estate with property, heirs or documents in more than one country from the estate attorney’s side: succession law and marital property, trusts in civil-law systems, administration, charitable transfers, disputes, and the conduct of a cross-border practice.

By Caroline E. Ashford, PhD, JD · Clarison Press · In English

Publication notice from Clarison Press Contents

About 600 pagesPage count approximate

23 chaptersIn seven parts

USD 250Sold on its own

In preparationClarison Press

In brief.

Wills across borders, non-probate transfers as the succession and tax laws of the five countries read them, forced heirship, the EU Succession Regulation, incapacity planning and matrimonial property regimes.
The trust in civil-law systems: recognition, substitutes and usufruct, foundations, the Hague Trust Convention, trust migration and decanting, and the GST tax across borders.
Administration: ancillary probate, proof of authority abroad and its recognition in the United States, currency, valuation and timing, qualified disclaimers, and documents for use abroad.
Charitable transfers across borders: bequests to European charities, the U.S. charitable deduction and charitable trusts.
Will contests and litigation with foreign parties, divorce and nuptial agreements, and the cross-border practice: intake, foreign counsel, engagement and risk management.

Readers

The book is written for estate attorneys whose clients, heirs or property are in more than one country. It addresses the questions of succession law, property law, procedure and practice that arise alongside the tax questions, and the points at which the two legal systems give different answers.

The country sections cover Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and the United Kingdom, against the law of the U.S. states. The estate and gift tax conventions are treated as the rule wherever they bear on the result.

What the book covers

Part 2 treats succession law and marital property: one worldwide will or situs wills, the U.S. will substitutes as the five countries read them, the reserved share and the claims it gives against a U.S. fiduciary, the EU Succession Regulation and the choice of law, incapacity planning across borders, and the meeting of foreign matrimonial regimes with U.S. separate and community property.

Part 3 treats trusts in civil-law systems: recognition, the civil-law substitutes and the usufruct, foundations such as the Stiftung, the fondation and the stichting, recognition under the Hague Convention of 1985, trust migration, domestication and decanting, and the generation-skipping transfer tax across borders.

Parts 4 to 7 cover estate administration in depth (ancillary probate, the authority of personal representatives in each of the five countries, currency, valuation and timing, qualified disclaimers, documents for use abroad), charitable transfers across borders, will contests, estate and trust litigation and divorce with foreign parties, and the intake, staffing and risk management of a cross-border practice.

The book stands alone. Like each book of the series, it opens with a foundations chapter on status, situs, the treaties and the reporting forms, adapted to its readers, and gives a working summary wherever its readers must apply a rule that another book of the series treats in full.

The questions the book answers

One worldwide will or situs wills, and how are formal validity and revocation handled?
How do the five countries treat transfer-on-death registrations, joint tenancy, beneficiary designations and the revocable trust?
How does a reserved share abroad collide with a U.S. will or trust, and what does the EU Succession Regulation allow?
How is a U.S. trust recognized, taxed or replaced in a civil-law country?
What authority does the personal representative need in each country, and how is it proved?
When is a disclaimer effective in both systems?
Which court and which law decide a will contest or a divorce with foreign parties?
How is a cross-border matter taken in, staffed with foreign counsel and documented?

Contents · 23 chapters in seven parts

Part I. Foundations
1. Foundations: status, situs, the treaties and the reporting forms
Part II. Succession Law and Marital Property
1. Wills across borders: one worldwide will or situs wills
2. Non-probate transfers across borders: beneficiary designations, joint tenancy, revocable trusts and transfer-on-death registrations in the succession and tax law of the five countries
3. Forced heirship and competing claims against the U.S. fiduciary
4. The EU Succession Regulation and the choice of law
5. Cross-border incapacity planning
6. Matrimonial property regimes and the U.S. estate, with short country sections
Part III. Trusts in Civil-Law Systems
1. The trust in civil-law systems: recognition, substitutes and usufruct, with short country sections
2. Foundations and the civil-law substitutes: Stiftung, fondation, Anstalt, stichting and STAK
3. Recognition of trusts under the Hague Convention of 1985
4. Trust migration, domestication and decanting across borders
5. The GST tax across borders
Part IV. Estate Administration in Depth
1. Ancillary probate and a nonresident’s U.S.-situs assets
2. Authority to administer abroad: the Erbschein and the European Certificate of Succession, the acte de notoriété, the grant of probate and the Swiss and Italian procedures, and their recognition in the United States
3. Currency, valuation and timing in the cross-border estate
4. Qualified disclaimers across borders
5. Documents for use abroad: authentication, apostille, translation and remote online notarization
Part V. Charitable Transfers Across Borders
1. Charitable transfers across borders: bequests to European charities, the U.S. charitable deduction and charitable trusts
Part VI. Disputes and Family Breakdown
1. Will contests and estate and trust litigation with foreign parties: jurisdiction, service and evidence abroad, recognition and enforcement
2. Divorce and prenuptial agreements across borders
Part VII. The Cross-Border Practice
1. Cross-border intake and risk screening
2. Engaging and coordinating foreign counsel
3. Engagement, fees and malpractice-risk management

The book and the firm’s practice

The author, Caroline E. Ashford, PhD, JD, leads Ashford International Law PC. The firm advises on estates with property and heirs in the United States and Western Europe, from the coordination of wills and trusts in two countries to ancillary probate, the authority of foreign representatives and litigation with heirs abroad, and works alongside the client’s attorneys in the other country.

Contents as planned in October 2026. Page counts are approximate; contents, prices and dates may change. Orders and pre-orders are placed with Clarison Press.

This page describes a publication and is general information, not legal or tax advice.