My estate is valued at over £350,000. If I die abroad, do I have to pay inheritance tax?
Under UK rules, inheritance tax depends on the domicile of the deceased.
Your domicile is often the country of your birth, but is defined as your permanent home.
If you were born in the UK and then move abroad, while you may change your tax residence status to non-resident, you will not have changed your domicile which means that your estate will still be subject to inheritance tax rules in the UK.
In the likely event that you are still UK domiciled, inheritance tax will be owed on an estate which is valued at more than the inheritance tax threshold of £325,000 (£650,000 if your spouse’s/civil partner’s allowance is unused).
It’s worth considering that each country will also have different rules surrounding succession planning, so you should always seek advice about inheritance tax and estate planning – especially when living abroad.
To find out more about inheritance tax as an expat, our expat inheritance tax article explains everything in more detail.
