Someone dies holding a house in Kent and a brokerage account in Boston. Probate begins in one country while the other institution asks for documents nobody has yet. Two administrations are now running, and neither waits for the other.
Most of the friction is procedural rather than fiscal. Executors need authority recognised in each place, and each place wants its own paperwork.
In our practice the tax is usually manageable and the sequencing is what costs months. This article is about doing the same work once instead of twice.
What is probate, in each country?
The court step that confirms who may deal with the estate. In England and Wales it gives you a grant of probate. American states run their own versions. Neither one carries authority abroad by itself.
Does one grant cover both countries?
Rarely, and assuming otherwise wastes the most time. A British grant of probate establishes authority over British assets, while an American institution wants authority recognised under its own state's rules before it releases anything. Expect two parallel processes with different evidence and different timescales.
GOV.UK's guide to applying for probate sets out the English process and what the registry requires.
Expect two processes running in parallel, with different evidence requirements and different timescales.
What does the US include in the estate?
For a US citizen, property anywhere in the world. The IRS lists what the gross estate takes in: cash and securities, real estate, insurance, trusts, annuities and business interests. Each goes in at market value rather than cost.
So a house in Kent belongs in the American calculation. No American court will ever see it.
Deductions then bring you to the taxable estate. That is where the facts of each family start to matter.
| Task | Who does it | Where | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obtain a grant of probate | Executors | England and Wales registry | Weeks to months after death |
| Obtain authority over US assets | Executors or a personal representative | The relevant state court | Runs in parallel |
| Value every asset at the date of death | Executors, with professional help | Both countries | As early as possible |
| File the UK inheritance tax account | Executors | HMRC | Before the grant issues, in most cases |
| File Form 706 if required | Executor of the US estate | IRS | Nine months after death, extendable |
| Report a large bequest received | Each US beneficiary | IRS, on Form 3520 | With that year's return |
Who files the American estate return?
The executor, not the beneficiaries. Form 706 is the estate tax return and it belongs to whoever administers the estate for American purposes. Whether it is required depends on the size of the estate and on the status of the person who died.
Whether it is required depends on the size of the estate and on the deceased's status.
Beneficiaries sometimes assume the estate's filing covers them. It does not, and their own reporting is separate.
Our note on Form 3520 and foreign gifts covers the beneficiary obligation that most often gets missed.
Why is the valuation the shared task?
Because both systems want the same numbers, on the same day. Britain needs values for the inheritance tax account. America needs market values for the gross estate, and beneficiaries need them for their future cost basis.
Publication 559 confirms that basis for property received from a decedent is usually its fair market value at the date of death.
One valuation exercise therefore serves three purposes. Commissioning it twice, or not at all, is the common failure.
Get written valuations, dated, from people qualified to give them. Keep copies with the estate papers and give each beneficiary their own.
What does the UK side require?
An inheritance tax account, and usually payment before the grant issues. GOV.UK's overview of wills, probate and inheritance sets out the sequence executors follow. That ordering catches families out, because tax can fall due before the assets that would pay it are available.
That ordering catches families out, because tax can fall due before the assets that would pay it are accessible.
Instalment options and bank arrangements exist for that problem. Raise it early with the solicitor rather than at the point of payment.
Does the estate pay tax in both countries?
Possibly, and relief for that overlap is a specialist question. Britain charges inheritance tax on the estate, while America looks at the gross estate of a citizen wherever the assets sit.
Arrangements separate from the income tax treaty govern estates and gifts, and their application turns on domicile rather than on residence.
We will not summarise those rules here. The analysis turns on individual facts, and a loose general statement would be worse than none.
What we will say is that this is the question to get advice on early, before assets are distributed or sold.
What about a surviving spouse?
The position depends on the spouse's own status, and it is the first thing to check. Relief that is automatic between two US citizens works differently if the survivor is not one. Britain then applies its own spouse exemption, on its own terms.
Britain applies its own spouse exemption on its own terms, which are not the American terms.
Couples of mixed nationality should review their wills with both systems in mind rather than either alone.
In our practice, wills drafted competently in one country are the most common source of avoidable cost in the other.
When can beneficiaries actually receive anything?
Once the executors hold authority, have dealt with the tax, and have gathered the assets. That means months rather than weeks in either country. Interim payments are possible where the position is clear, though full distribution normally waits for the tax to be resolved.
Interim distributions are possible where the position is clear and the executors are comfortable.
For an American beneficiary, the date of receipt matters for reporting. A distribution made in December rather than January falls into a different tax year.
What do beneficiaries need to report?
Their own receipts, separately from anything the estate files. A US person receiving more than $100,000 from a non-US individual or estate reports it. The receipt itself is not income.
Inherited accounts also start counting towards reporting thresholds from the point they become theirs.
So the year of a distribution often brings a first FBAR alongside the reporting form.
Our comparison of Form 8938 and the FBAR sets out which applies when.
Executors living in the other country
An executor abroad can do the job. It just takes longer. Identity verification, sworn documents and original signatures all take longer across an ocean.
Some institutions insist on notarised or apostilled documents. Ask each one what it needs in writing, early.
Where an American is executor of a British estate, there can also be US reporting consequences for accounts they control.
Signature authority over a foreign account is reportable even without ownership, which surprises executors regularly.
Property, shares and the practical differences
Land moves slowest in either system. Title has to change formally. Shares and funds transfer faster once authority exists.
British funds inside an estate bring their own American problem, since they are passive foreign investment companies for US purposes.
A beneficiary inheriting those holdings inherits that regime too. Our article on ISAs and the PFIC problem explains what it involves.
Selling inside the estate, rather than distributing and selling later, sometimes produces a cleaner answer for everyone.
Keeping the two administrations aligned
One spreadsheet does most of the work. Columns: asset, location, value at death, currency, who is handling it, status.
Share it between the solicitor, the American adviser and the executors. Most delays we see come from two professionals waiting for each other.
Record dates of every distribution as they happen, in both currencies.
That single document has shortened more of these administrations than any amount of tax planning.
How long does probate take?
Months, and often more than a year where two countries are involved. The British grant is usually the faster half, once the tax account is settled and any tax is paid or secured.
The American side depends on the state and on the institutions holding the assets.
Plan on a year for anything with property in it. Then work backwards from that when telling beneficiaries what to expect.
What slows probate down most?
Three things, in our experience: missing valuations, missing authority documents, and funding the tax before any asset can be sold. The first two are simply admin done late. The third is structural, and it needs planning rather than chasing.
The first two are simply admin done late. The third is structural and needs planning rather than chasing.
So gather documents early and ask about instalment or loan options before the deadline. Both save weeks.
Probate rewards preparation more than any other tax process we deal with.
Digital assets and accounts nobody knew about
Modern estates hide things. Online accounts and app-based banks send no paper, so executors miss them.
Search the email archive for statements and the bank feed for regular transfers. Both reveal accounts no file mentions.
For an American beneficiary those accounts matter twice: once for the estate and again for their own reporting thresholds.
Who should you ask for probate help?
You need two people rather than one. A British solicitor handles the grant and the inheritance tax account here, while an American adviser deals with the estate return and the beneficiary reporting. Ask each to copy the other in, because probate stalls when two advisers wait on each other.
Ask each to copy the other in. Probate stalls when two advisers wait on each other.
Agree who owns the asset schedule on day one. One list, one owner, shared with both.
Our clients who set that up early finish months sooner. It costs nothing to arrange.
What if probate is not needed at all?
Small estates sometimes avoid it. Banks may release modest balances on sight of a death certificate and an indemnity, and jointly held assets can pass to the survivor without a grant.
That does not remove the tax questions. An American beneficiary still reports what they receive, and the valuation still fixes their cost basis.
So a simple estate can still need careful American work. The two questions are separate.
Probate in plain terms
Probate proves who is in charge. Each country wants its own proof.
Value everything on the day of death. Write it down. Share it with both advisers.
Pay or secure the tax. Then distribute, and tell each beneficiary the date.
That is probate, in four lines. The rest is paperwork and patience.
Handling probate across two countries, step by step
Take these in order, and start the valuation immediately.
- List every asset with its location, so you know which administration covers what.
- Commission written date-of-death valuations for everything, once.
- Begin the British application and any American authority process in parallel.
- Establish whether an American estate return is required, and diary its deadline.
- Work out the inheritance tax position and how it will be funded before the grant.
- Tell each beneficiary what they will need to report, including the dates.
- Keep one shared schedule of assets, values and distributions.
An illustrative example
Take an illustrative estate. A dual citizen dies leaving a house in Kent worth £600,000, a UK portfolio of £200,000 and an American retirement account.
Executors apply for a British grant, settle the inheritance tax account, and separately establish authority over the American account. The same valuation exercise serves both, plus the beneficiaries' future cost basis.
Each American beneficiary then reports what they receive. The figures are illustrative; the pattern of two administrations sharing one valuation is what makes it manageable.
Common mistakes we see
First, assuming a British grant unlocks American assets. Second, valuing assets late or informally, which weakens every later calculation.
Third, treating the estate's filings as covering the beneficiaries. Fourth, drafting wills in one country without reference to the other.
Fifth, distributing before the tax position is settled. Sixth, forgetting that an executor with signature authority over foreign accounts may have their own reporting.
Seventh, treating probate as one job. It is two jobs that share a valuation, and they run on their own clocks.
How US UK Tax Hub helps with probate
We work alongside the solicitor handling the British administration rather than duplicating it. Our part is the American side: whether a return is required, what beneficiaries must report, and how the valuations carry across.
Our US federal return service covers the beneficiary reporting, and we brief executors on what to gather before it is needed.
Send us the asset schedule and we will tell you what the American side requires.
