Your estate plan assumes you still live at home
Most European expats in Southeast Asia have a will that was drafted before they moved, governed by their home country's law, and which makes no reference to assets in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, or elsewhere. That is not an estate plan. It is a liability.
Why estate planning is structurally different when you live abroad
Estate planning for someone who has spent their career in one country is essentially a domestic exercise. The assets are in one jurisdiction. The legal system is familiar. The process is well-understood.
For an expat who has lived in three countries over fifteen years, the situation is different in kind, not just in complexity. You may hold bank accounts and property in your home country, investment accounts in a third jurisdiction, employment income paid into a Singapore or Malaysian account, a pension governed by HMRC rules, and real estate in a country where foreigners cannot own land outright. Each of these assets sits under a different legal system, and those systems may conflict on the question of who inherits what.
The central problem is that succession law is not harmonised internationally. Different countries have different rules about which law governs an estate, whether forced heirship applies, how foreign wills are recognised, and what happens to locally-sited assets when the owner dies as a non-resident. Getting this wrong does not produce a minor administrative inconvenience. It produces contested estates, delayed asset transfers, assets frozen in probate for years, and in some cases, assets that cannot legally pass to the intended beneficiary.
Life insurance, properly structured, solves a specific part of this problem: providing immediate liquidity to your family during probate without waiting for the estate to be administered. It is not a substitute for a proper will structure, but it is an important parallel layer.
Succession law across Southeast Asia: what applies where
The rules below are a working guide for European expats. They are not legal advice and the position in each jurisdiction is subject to change. For assets of material value, local legal advice in each relevant jurisdiction is essential.
Distribution Act 1958 and faraid
Malaysia operates a dual system. Non-Muslim Malaysians and foreign nationals are governed by the Distribution Act 1958 on intestacy, which distributes assets among spouse, children, and parents in defined proportions. Testamentary freedom is broad: foreign nationals can make wills under Malaysian law with essentially no forced heirship constraints.
For Muslim Malaysians, faraid (Islamic inheritance law) applies and requires that assets be distributed according to prescribed shares regardless of the will. Foreign nationals who are not Muslim are not subject to faraid.
Practical consideration: Malaysia grants probate for foreign wills if the will is valid in the country of execution. However, having a separate Malaysian will for Malaysian assets generally simplifies administration and speeds up the process significantly.
Wills Act and Intestate Succession Act
Singapore has no forced heirship for non-Muslims. A valid will executed under the Wills Act gives broad testamentary freedom: you can leave assets to whoever you choose in whatever proportions. On intestacy, the Intestate Succession Act distributes assets among the closest surviving relatives in a defined hierarchy.
Foreign wills are recognised in Singapore provided they are valid under the law of the country of execution, or the country of domicile, or the country where the will was made. Singapore is generally straightforward for foreign nationals with Singapore-sited assets provided proper will structures are in place.
For Muslims in Singapore, the Administration of Muslim Law Act governs succession, applying faraid principles with some local adaptations.
Civil and Commercial Code: statutory heirs and land restrictions
Thailand's Civil and Commercial Code recognises testamentary freedom in principle, but statutory heirs (spouse, children, parents, siblings, in defined classes) have priority claims that cannot be entirely overridden. A Thai will is required for Thailand-sited assets to be distributed effectively.
The critical constraint for foreigners: Thai law prohibits foreign nationals from owning freehold land. Foreigners can hold condominiums (in buildings with no more than 49% foreign ownership), and they can hold land through long-term leases. On death, a foreign national cannot pass Thai land to a non-Thai beneficiary, and even condominiums must be handled carefully.
Life insurance with a named beneficiary is an effective tool in Thailand for providing liquidity outside the estate administration process.
Civil Code 2015 and foreign will recognition
Vietnam's Civil Code 2015 governs inheritance. Testamentary freedom exists but forced heirship applies to certain close relatives (minor children, disabled children, parents, and spouses) who are entitled to receive at least two-thirds of the intestate share regardless of the will's instructions.
Foreign wills are recognised in Vietnam if they comply with the Civil Code requirements or the law of the country where the will was made. In practice, having a separate Vietnamese will for Vietnam-sited assets is strongly advisable.
Foreign nationals can hold a 50-year renewable leasehold on residential property (with extensions available). On death, the leasehold interest can pass to heirs, but the rules around foreign beneficiaries are complex and subject to change.
Civil Code vs Islamic law and Hak Pakai
Indonesia operates a dual system similar to Malaysia. Non-Muslim Indonesians and foreign nationals follow the Civil Code on intestacy. Muslim Indonesians may be subject to Islamic inheritance law. Foreign nationals making wills in Indonesia must comply with Civil Code formalities.
Foreign nationals cannot own freehold land in Indonesia. The available property right for foreigners is Hak Pakai (Right of Use), which can be held for 30 years with extensions. On death, Hak Pakai rights can pass to heirs who are entitled to hold the right, but foreign beneficiaries may not qualify, creating a forced conversion or sale.
Indonesian probate for foreign nationals is administered through the local court system and can be significantly slower than in Singapore or Malaysia.
Sharia succession and registered wills for non-Muslims
The UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states apply Sharia succession law by default. For non-Muslim expatriates, the UAE specifically allows registration of a will with the DIFC Wills Service Centre or the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, which will be administered according to its own terms rather than Sharia.
Without a registered will, estate assets of a non-Muslim in the UAE may be distributed under Sharia, which could produce a very different outcome than the deceased intended. For European expats with current or past Gulf employment and bank accounts or assets remaining there, a DIFC will is worth considering.
Joint bank accounts in the Gulf may be frozen on death even where survivorship rights are assumed by the account holder.
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Brussels IV: the EU succession regulation and choice of law
EU Regulation 650/2012, known as Brussels IV, applies to the succession of EU nationals who die after 17 August 2015. It establishes a default rule: in the absence of a specific election, the succession is governed by the law of the country in which the deceased was habitually resident at the time of death.
For a French national living in Malaysia at the time of death, the default under Brussels IV points toward Malaysian law, not French law, for the estate as a whole. This has significant implications for forced heirship: France applies reserve hereditaire, which gives children a minimum share regardless of the will. Malaysia, for non-Muslims, does not apply forced heirship. The same assets, under different governing laws, can produce entirely different outcomes.
Brussels IV allows EU nationals to make a choice of law election: you can elect that your home country's law governs your estate, regardless of where you are resident at death. This election must be made explicitly in your will. For French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and other EU nationals living outside the EU, this election is a material planning decision with consequences for whether forced heirship applies and who is entitled to what.
The regulation is binding on EU member states. It does not bind third countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, or Thailand, where local courts will apply their own conflict of law rules. This is why the multiple wills strategy matters: your Brussels IV election governs how EU member state courts treat your estate, but local assets in non-EU jurisdictions still need to be addressed through local instruments.
Multiple wills, life insurance as liquidity, and what to do first
The multiple wills strategy is the standard approach for expats with assets across several jurisdictions. Rather than relying on a single will to govern assets in multiple countries, you draft separate wills in each jurisdiction where you hold material assets. Each will is valid in that jurisdiction, covers only assets in that jurisdiction, and is drafted to avoid revoking the others.
This approach has practical advantages: local courts administer local wills faster than foreign documents, local legal practitioners understand local requirements, and the risk of a single will being challenged in one jurisdiction affecting assets elsewhere is contained.
The key technical requirement when drafting multiple wills is that each will explicitly state that it covers only assets in a specific jurisdiction and does not revoke other wills covering other jurisdictions. Failing to include this clause can result in the last-executed will inadvertently revoking earlier ones, even where that was not the intention.
Life insurance with a named beneficiary sits outside the estate and bypasses probate entirely. A lump-sum policy with your spouse or children as named beneficiaries provides immediate liquidity, typically within weeks of claim, while the estate administration proceeds. For an expat with assets in three countries and an estate administration that may take two or more years to complete across all jurisdictions, this is not optional planning. It is a baseline.
The sequence for most European expats in Southeast Asia: start with the jurisdiction where you hold the largest asset. Draft a will there with local legal advice. Identify other jurisdictions where you hold material assets and repeat. Make a Brussels IV choice of law election if you are an EU national. Structure life insurance as a non-estate asset. Review all of this after any major life event.
Map your estate across all jurisdictions
Most European expats in Southeast Asia have not reviewed their estate plan since they moved. We map what you hold, where it sits legally, and what needs to be addressed before there is a problem.
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