If I have offshore assets, do I need a foreign will?
South African law allows a person to draft a single "worldwide will" that covers all their assets, both locally and internationally. There is no legal obligation to have a separate foreign will.
However, while a single will is legally valid, it often causes severe administrative delays and legal conflicts. Having a separate, concurrent foreign will is standard practice if the offshore assets are complex or include physical real estate.
Immovable vs movable assets
The type of offshore asset usually determines how it is treated upon death.
Movable assets — such as cash in a foreign bank account, offshore unit trusts, or international share portfolios — are generally governed by the laws of the country where the deceased lived (South Africa). A South African worldwide will is often sufficient to transfer these assets, though foreign banks routinely ask for extra paperwork.
Immovable property — such as a house or apartment located overseas — is strictly governed by the laws of the country where the property physically sits. If a South African owns property in the United Kingdom or Portugal, a local will drafted in that specific country ensures the property transfers smoothly according to their specific real estate laws.
The administrative bottleneck (probate)
When a person dies, their original will is submitted to the South African Master of the High Court so the executor can be formally appointed. This local process takes several months.
If the deceased left only one worldwide will, the foreign authorities cannot act until the South African Master releases the approved documents. Only then can the executor apply to the foreign court for the authority to manage the offshore assets, a process known internationally as probate.
This creates a massive bottleneck, effectively freezing the offshore assets until the South African estate is well underway. Having a separate foreign will allows a foreign executor to begin winding up the offshore estate simultaneously, saving years of administrative delays.
The clash of inheritance laws
South Africa operates on the principle of freedom of testation, meaning a person has the right to leave their assets to anyone they choose. Many other countries do not share this legal principle.
Several countries in Europe and the Middle East enforce forced heirship laws. These laws dictate that a fixed percentage of a deceased person's assets automatically transfers to their surviving spouse or children, regardless of what the will says. A standard South African will cannot always override these local laws, meaning the assets are distributed against the deceased's wishes unless a specific foreign will is drafted by a local legal expert to navigate those rules.
The accidental revocation trap
When individuals decide to draft two concurrent wills, they face a specific legal risk regarding how the documents are worded.
Standard will templates usually begin with a standard clause: "I hereby revoke all previous wills and codicils." If a person signs an offshore will, and two years later updates their local South African will using that standard template, they accidentally cancel their offshore will entirely.
To prevent this, concurrent wills explicitly state their jurisdictions. The South African document declares it deals "only with assets situated in the Republic of South Africa," and the foreign will explicitly limits itself to assets in that specific foreign territory.
Worldwide assets and estate duty
Having a foreign will does not remove the offshore assets from the South African tax net.
If a person is a South African tax resident on the day they die, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) levies estate duty on their worldwide assets. The total value of the foreign bank accounts and properties is converted to Rands and added to the local estate value. The combined total is then measured against the standard R3,500,000 estate duty abatement, regardless of how many wills were used to distribute the assets.
Terms used on this page
- Master of the High Court
- The government official responsible for overseeing the administration of deceased estates, trusts, and insolvent estates in South Africa.
- executor
- The person or institution appointed to wind up a deceased estate — collecting the assets, paying the debts and costs, and distributing what remains to the heirs.
- freedom of testation
- The right in South African law to leave your assets to whomever you choose in your will, rather than being forced to leave them to particular family members.
- estate duty
- A tax levied on the total value of a deceased person's estate, payable before the remaining assets are distributed to heirs.
- abatement
- The slice of an estate that is free of estate duty — currently R3.5 million. Any portion the first spouse's estate doesn't use carries over to the surviving spouse's estate.
Sources
Reviewed July 2026