Nobody enjoys thinking about wills, incapacity, or dying abroad. It’s uncomfortable, it feels premature, and it’s the easiest item on any retirement checklist to keep pushing back. But living across two or more countries doesn’t make this less urgent — it makes it considerably more so. A will and power of attorney that worked perfectly well back home may simply not function the way you assume once you’re living permanently in Vietnam, Thailand, or elsewhere in the region.

Why Your Existing Will Might Not Be Enough

A will drafted under UK, US, or Australian law generally governs your estate under the assumptions of that legal system. Once you own assets — property, a local bank account, a vehicle — in a country with a different legal framework, your existing will may not smoothly cover them. Some countries recognise foreign wills reasonably well; others apply local inheritance law regardless of what your home-country will says, particularly for assets physically located within their borders.

The practical solution many cross-border retirees use is a second, local will — sometimes called a “situs will” — that specifically covers assets in your country of residence, carefully worded so it doesn’t accidentally conflict with or cancel out your home-country will. This is not a job for a DIY template. It genuinely requires a lawyer who understands both jurisdictions, or two lawyers who coordinate with each other.

Power of Attorney: The Document Nobody Thinks They’ll Need

A power of attorney lets someone you trust manage your affairs if you become unable to — through illness, an accident, or a medical event like a stroke. It’s very different from a will, which only takes effect after death. This is arguably the more urgent document for retirees living abroad, because incapacity, unlike death, requires someone to act on your behalf immediately, often while you’re still receiving medical care.

Here’s the complication: a power of attorney drafted under your home country’s law frequently isn’t recognised by local banks, hospitals, or authorities in your country of residence, simply because it doesn’t match their format or legal requirements. Most cross-border retirees benefit from two separate, properly drafted powers of attorney — one covering affairs back home, one covering local affairs where they live — rather than assuming one document does both jobs.

Medical Directives: A Separate but Related Issue

If you have specific wishes about medical treatment in a worst-case scenario — an advance directive or living will — it’s worth checking whether your country of residence recognises this kind of document at all. Some don’t, or only partially, which means the practical fallback is often simply ensuring your medical wishes are clearly known to whoever holds your local power of attorney and to the hospital you’d most likely be treated at.

Inheritance Tax Doesn’t Disappear Just Because You Left

This catches a lot of UK retirees specifically by surprise: simply living abroad, even for decades, does not automatically remove UK inheritance tax liability. Domicile — a distinct legal concept from residence — determines this, and many long-term UK expats remain UK-domiciled for inheritance tax purposes long after they’ve stopped living there, meaning their worldwide estate can still fall within the UK’s inheritance tax net. This is a genuinely complex area worth a proper conversation with a cross-border tax adviser, not an assumption based on how long you’ve been away.

A Practical Starting Checklist

• Have your existing home-country will reviewed by a lawyer familiar with your country of residence, to check whether it’s still fit for purpose.
• Consider a local will specifically covering assets in your country of residence, coordinated carefully with your home-country will.
• Set up a power of attorney covering your affairs back home, and a separate one for local affairs where you live.
• Confirm your domicile status and whether it exposes your estate to inheritance tax back home, regardless of where you’re now living.
• Keep copies of all documents accessible to the people who’d need them, and make sure those people actually know where to find them.

The Honest Bottom Line

This is uncomfortable admin, not urgent-feeling admin — which is exactly why it gets left undone for years. But the entire point of getting it right is that it protects the people you love from navigating an unfamiliar legal system, in an unfamiliar language, during the worst moment of their lives. That’s worth a few proper conversations with the right professionals now, while there’s no urgency at all.

If your will and power of attorney haven’t been reviewed since you started planning your move, it’s worth getting this properly sorted rather than assuming it’ll be fine. Book a free Discovery Call and we’ll talk through what needs attention for your situation.