When someone dies abroad leaving money, shares or a property in England and Wales, the grant of probate issued where they lived is often not enough on its own. UK banks and share registrars usually want to see an English grant, and HM Land Registry will not deal with property here without one. That is because a grant only gives authority in the country whose court issued it.
For some countries, you can ask the Probate Registry to reseal the grant you already have, instead of applying for a new English grant. That avoids a completely new application, but only certain countries’ grants qualify, and UK inheritance tax has to be dealt with first.
Written by Yi Ling Lio, Private Client Paralegal
What does resealing a grant of probate mean?
The Probate Registry stamps the foreign grant with the seal of the Family Division of the High Court. From then on, it works in England and Wales as if a court here had made it. For example, the deceased may have lived in Hong Kong and had an account with a UK bank. Once the Hong Kong grant is resealed, the executor named in it can close that account, sell or transfer property, and deal with shares in the usual way.
Which countries’ grants can be resealed in England and Wales?
Resealing is only possible for grants from countries and territories covered by the Colonial Probates Acts 1892 and 1927. Most are current or former Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Kenya. South African grants can also be resealed, although South Africa is not on the list itself. You will find the full list at the end of this article.
In Australia and Canada, the list goes state by state or province by province, so every Australian state is covered but Quebec is not. No US state is on the list. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not on it either.
Grants from Scotland and Northern Ireland do not need resealing at all. As long as the grant notes that the person died domiciled there, it is recognised in England and Wales as it is.
What if the country is not on the list?
Grants from mainland China, Taiwan, India, the United States and most of Europe cannot be resealed. If the grant came from one of those countries, you will need to apply for a new grant in England and Wales.
Where the person died domiciled abroad, the English grant can go to one of three people:
- the person put in charge of the estate by the court in the country of domicile
- the person entitled to the estate under that country’s law
- the executor named in the will, if the will is in English or Welsh
Depending on which of these applies, the registry may have to make an order first, and you may need evidence of the foreign law from a lawyer qualified in that country. All of this takes longer than a reseal, so check the list before you start.
Who can apply to reseal a grant?
The application is made by the person named on the foreign grant, or by someone they have authorised in writing. Executors living abroad often ask a solicitor here to apply for them, under a letter of authority or a power of attorney.
Unless a registrar agrees otherwise, the grant must have been made to one of the same three people listed above. That brings in domicile, which is a legal concept and not the same as nationality or where someone happened to be living. If there is any doubt about it, the registry may ask for evidence. Our article on Matyas v Daniel shows how closely the courts look at this.
If the grant was made to more than one person, the registry may ask about anyone who is not joining in the application, and a grant made to more than four people cannot be resealed. A grant that is limited, or only lasts for a set period, needs a registrar’s permission. And even where the country is on the list, the registrar can refuse a reseal and tell you to apply for a new English grant instead.
Inheritance tax comes first
The registry will not reseal a grant until UK inheritance tax has been reported and any tax due has been paid. This is usually the part that takes longest.
Which form you need depends on the person’s connection with the UK and what they owned here. For deaths on or after 6 April 2025, the test is long-term UK residence, which broadly means being UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. For earlier deaths, the test is domicile. If the person was neither, they are generally taxed only on what they owned in the UK, and that can still mean tax to pay.
IHT207, the short form. You can use this instead of a full account if all of the following apply:
- the person was not a long-term UK resident when they died (or, for deaths before 6 April 2025, was domiciled abroad)
- they had never been UK domiciled, deemed domiciled or long-term UK resident
- their UK assets were only cash and quoted shares, worth no more than £150,000 in total before debts
- they had not given away more than £3,000 a year of UK assets in the seven years before they died
- they did not hold an indirect interest in UK residential property, such as a UK home owned through a company
IHT400, the full account. Any other estate needs a full IHT400 sent to HMRC. That includes an estate with UK property, such as a London flat, or shares in a private company, even if the estate is below the tax threshold and nothing is payable. Once HMRC has processed the IHT400, it sends a letter with a probate code and the estate figures. The registry needs that code before it will look at the application. (The code replaced the old IHT421 form in January 2024.)
Deadlines. Any inheritance tax is due by the end of the sixth month after the month of death. After that, HMRC charges interest, even if the executors cannot yet access the estate’s money. The IHT400 must be filed within 12 months of the end of the month of death, and filing late can lead to penalties. So in an estate that owes tax, the payment deadline often arrives before the reseal does.
Tax on UK property can usually be paid in ten yearly instalments, so the full amount is not due at once. Many UK banks and building societies will also pay inheritance tax straight to HMRC from the deceased’s own accounts before any grant is issued, under HMRC’s Direct Payment Scheme.
What documents do you need?
The reseal application is made on paper, not online. You will usually need:
- the foreign grant: the original, a duplicate sealed by the court that issued it, a copy certified by that court, or an exemplification
- the will, if the grant does not already include a copy, certified by the court that issued the grant, plus plain copies of both the grant and the will
- form PA1P if there is a will, or PA1A if there is not
- the IHT207, or HMRC’s letter with the probate code if you sent an IHT400
- the letter of authority or power of attorney, if someone is applying on the grantee’s behalf
- an English translation of the will, if it is not in English
- the court fee
What if the grant or will is not in English?
Only grants issued in English, or in English alongside another language, can be resealed. If the grant is only in another language, resealing is not available and you will need to apply for a new grant in England and Wales.
A will that is not in English needs an English translation. The registry accepts a translation by an English notary under seal, or by a British consular official. A translation by anyone else, however fluent, is only acceptable if a district judge or registrar gives directions first.
How long does it take and what does it cost?
The registry fee is £526 if the estate in England and Wales is worth more than £5,000. It went up from £300 in July 2026. If the estate is £5,000 or less, there is no fee.
Extra sealed copies cost £2 each if you order them with the application, or £16 each if you order them later. Each bank or share registrar will usually want its own copy, so decide how many you need before you apply.
Most of the waiting is on the tax side, because HMRC has to process any IHT400 before the registry will look at the papers. Once that is done, allow around four to five months for the reseal itself. When the registry is satisfied, it reseals the grant, sends it back to you and tells the court abroad.
A reseal is not always quicker, though. The registry can be slower with reseals than with new English grants, and some banks see them less often and come back with more questions. For some estates, a new English grant ends up being the easier route. Take advice on which route suits the estate.
In summary
If someone has died abroad leaving assets here, two questions decide the route. Did the grant come from a country on the list, and is it in English? If both answers are yes, a reseal may work. If not, you will need a new English grant, and it is better to know that early.
Either way, inheritance tax comes first. The HMRC deadlines run from the month of death, whether or not your paperwork is ready.
How we can help
We act for executors abroad who need to deal with UK assets. We can check whether the grant can be resealed, deal with HMRC and the Probate Registry, and work alongside your lawyer abroad, in English, Mandarin or Cantonese. If there is UK property in the estate, get in touch early.
The list is in Schedule 1 to the Colonial Probates Act Application Order 1965, which still uses many old colonial names. Using today’s names, it includes:
- Asia: Hong Kong (still covered after the 1997 handover), Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Sri Lanka
- Australia and New Zealand: New Zealand, and in Australia all six states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia), the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island
- Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories
- Africa: Botswana, Eswatini (Swaziland), The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
- The Caribbean and Atlantic: Anguilla, Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands
- The Pacific: Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu
- Europe and elsewhere: Gibraltar, the Republic of Cyprus, the British Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, and the British Antarctic Territory (grants from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus cannot be resealed)
South Africa is not on the list, but South African grants can still be resealed.
Need legal advice? We’re here to help.
If you have questions about your situation or need advice on your next steps, our experienced legal team can help.
Call us on 020 7928 0276 between 9:30am and 6:00pm, or email [email protected].
You can also contact us online by completing our short enquiry form. Tell us a little about your situation and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Not sure which service you need? Get in touch and we’ll help you identify the right team.
