By S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors · Published 30 September 2026 · Informational content, not legal advice: see our disclaimer
The Core Question: One Will, or Several?
An NRI who holds assets in more than one country, an Indian bank account and property alongside a home, retirement accounts and investments in the country where they now live, faces a genuine estate-planning decision that purely domestic testators don't have to make: should they execute a single Will intended to cover their entire worldwide estate, or separate Wills, each specifically covering assets located in one particular country? Both approaches are used in practice, and each carries real trade-offs.
The Case for Separate, Jurisdiction-Specific Wills
Many cross-border estate planners recommend separate Wills: one covering Indian assets, drafted to comply with Indian formalities and probate practice, and one (or more) covering assets in each other relevant country, each drafted to comply with that country's own formalities. The core advantage is practical: each Will can be probated or administered in its own jurisdiction using documents, formalities and language local courts and institutions are already set up to process quickly, without requiring foreign courts or authorities to interpret and give effect to a document drafted under an unfamiliar legal system's conventions. This generally speeds up administration in each jurisdiction and reduces the risk that one country's court raises technical objections to formalities that a foreign Will satisfied under its own country's rules but that look unfamiliar locally.
The Risk With Separate Wills: Unintended Revocation
The most serious risk with separate Wills is unintended revocation: many jurisdictions' Wills contain a standard revocation clause cancelling all previous Wills the testator made, and if an NRI executes a second, country-specific Will without carefully limiting its revocation clause to that country's assets only, the second Will can inadvertently revoke the first Will covering the other country's assets entirely. Every jurisdiction-specific Will in a multi-Will estate plan must therefore be drafted with an explicit, carefully worded limitation, typically stating that it applies only to assets located in that specific country and does not revoke any other Will covering assets elsewhere, and any earlier Will should be reviewed and, if necessary, updated to include the same kind of carve-out once a new jurisdiction-specific Will is added.
The Case for a Single Worldwide Will
A single Will covering the entire worldwide estate has the advantage of a single, internally consistent document expressing the testator's overall intentions, reducing the risk of the estate plan across countries becoming contradictory or fragmented over time as separate documents are updated at different times by different advisors who may not each have full visibility of the others. This approach tends to work better where the testator's assets or the complexity of their situation is more modest, or where the same or closely coordinated advisors are handling the estate plan across all relevant jurisdictions and can ensure genuine consistency. The trade-off is that a single Will, drafted under one country's formalities, sometimes needs to be separately re-sealed, resealed, or otherwise specifically recognised in each other jurisdiction where the testator holds assets, which can add its own delay and formality at the administration stage compared to a jurisdiction-specific Will drafted to be immediately recognisable locally.
Choosing Based on the Testator's Actual Situation
Testators with substantial, actively managed assets in multiple countries, or a genuinely complex family situation spanning jurisdictions, more often benefit from separate, carefully coordinated jurisdiction-specific Wills. Testators with more modest cross-border holdings, or a simpler overall estate, may find a single well-drafted worldwide Will, prepared with input from advisors familiar with each relevant jurisdiction's recognition requirements, sufficiently effective without the added complexity of managing multiple documents.
The One Non-Negotiable: Coordination
Whichever structure an NRI chooses, the single most important safeguard is genuine coordination: every Will covering part of the estate should be drafted with full awareness of every other Will covering the rest, each revocation clause should be carefully scoped, and the full set of documents should be periodically reviewed together, not independently, as circumstances change. An NRI who has separate Wills drafted by different advisors in different countries, without those advisors actually coordinating, is the single most common source of the unintended-revocation and inconsistency problems this kind of estate planning is specifically designed to avoid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should an NRI have one Will or separate Wills for different countries?
Both approaches are used, and the right choice depends on the complexity of the estate. Separate, jurisdiction-specific Wills generally speed up local administration; a single worldwide Will offers a simpler, more internally consistent document, particularly for more modest cross-border holdings.
What is the main risk of having separate Wills in different countries?
Unintended revocation: a standard revocation clause in a new country-specific Will can inadvertently cancel an earlier Will covering assets elsewhere unless it is carefully drafted to apply only to that specific country's assets.
Does a single worldwide Will work in every country automatically?
Not necessarily: a Will drafted under one country's formalities sometimes needs to be separately resealed or otherwise specifically recognised in each other jurisdiction where the testator holds assets, which can add delay at the administration stage.
What is the most important safeguard when using multiple Wills across countries?
Genuine coordination: each Will should be drafted with full awareness of every other Will covering the rest of the estate, with carefully scoped revocation clauses, and the full set should be reviewed together periodically.
Who tends to benefit most from separate, jurisdiction-specific Wills?
Testators with substantial, actively managed assets in multiple countries, or a genuinely complex family situation spanning jurisdictions, generally benefit most from separate, carefully coordinated Wills for each jurisdiction.
References & Further Reading
This guide provides a general introduction to cross-border Will structuring for NRIs. The right approach depends on the testator's specific assets, countries involved, and family circumstances, and should be planned with advisors coordinated across each relevant jurisdiction.
- Indian Succession Act, 1925: formalities for a valid Will under Indian law, relevant to any Will intended to cover Indian assets.
- Private international law principles on the recognition and resealing of foreign Wills and grants of probate.