Deemed Domicile and share portfolio

Trusts Discussion
1

I hope members can assist

I have a client who was born in Germany. She has a share portfolio in Germany valued at approximately £400,000 and she owns her property in the UK which is valued at £320,000. She is divorced. She has lived in the UK for a long time so she will be deemed domicile in the uk.

Ideally she would like to move back to Germany and live the rest of her life in Germany. However one of her children has schizophrenia and she may never get the opportunity to move back.

Her will leaves one child half of her estate and the other half is left in a discretionary trust for the son with mental health problems but It isn’t a disabled person trust.

I wonder what members would advise in this situation

Many thanks

Collette

2

Unless she is definitely going to return to Germany in the foreseeable future, she should transfer her German portfolio to a UK brokerage. Otherwise the risk is that her estate will be probated both in the UK and in Germany. In Germany her estate will be distributed in accordance with forced heirship provisions. The German government will also look for estate tax on her entire estate (UK and Germany combined), especially if she remains a German citizen.