Just out: International Succession
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I recently worked with one of my partners on drafting the Florida Chapter of the newly released International Succession, published by Oxford University Press. The list of contributors is a "Who's Who" of prominent probate lawyers in the world today. Good place to start if you’re ever looking for expert local counsel in anyplace from Dubai to Brazil . . . and all points in between.
I'm proud of the final product and think it's the kind of resource more and more trusts and estates lawyers will need to turn to over the coming years as everyone's practice grows evermore multijurisdictional in nature. If your practice has an international flavor, this resource is a good investment. Here's how the publisher described it:
Increasing numbers of people have connections with one country, but live and work in another, frequently owning property or investments in several countries. As such, international aspects arise in an increasing number of estates. Different countries may have separate arrangements for ownership, taxation, and succession. International Succession equips practitioners with the information necessary to navigate problems involving these different systems.
Although lawyers would often advise only on the law of the jurisdictions in which they are based, seeking advice from lawyers in other countries, this book will save the practitioner the time - and expense - of ascertaining the basics concerning the inheritance systems in different countries, offering clear and easy to use information on the laws of inheritance and succession.
Each country's report is based on responses to a comprehensive questionnaire that considers the practical issues arising from the jurisdiction's individual laws, making it easy for users to make specific comparisons between the laws of one country and another. The book covers over fifty countries with entries written by experts from each country, making it an invaluable resource for the busy practitioner.
This title is an improved and expanded version of International Succession , edited by Louis Garb and published by Kluwer Law International, 2004. This edition, published in hardback form, will also be supplemented annually in between editions to update the individual country entries.
Features
Provides a comprehensive survey of succession laws in over fifty countries
Enables easy cross-referencing with a questionnaire format for each country
Considers the practical issues arising out of inheritance across multiple jurisdictions
Supplemented annually in between editions to keep existing country entries fully up-to-date and include a selection of new countries
Entries written by experienced practitioners in the relevant jurisdiction around the world
This is a review I have recently written for OUP in case you want to use it:
“WE ARE ALL INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS NOWADAYS!”
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE of Richmond Green Chambers
So say Louis Garb and John Wood in this excellent third edition in the OUP stable of international publications. This is a splendid resource, not only for the modern private client lawyer, but also for litigants and academic alike.
The authors make a bald statement at the beginning “we live in an increasingly globalized world”! Yes, and they have produced a book of relevance to this age which explores assets on death and what happens to them in the globalized world.
Cross-border trade between nations, intermingling and intermarriage between persons of different nationalities, living and working abroad and investing within multiple jurisdictions; these are only some of the complexities surrounding the deposition of assets in a globalized world. So when someone in possession of multiple assets in multiple jurisdictions dies, who succeeds to what assets on death where?
As the editors note in the preface, ‘to a significant extent, the rules of succession in any particular jurisdiction are unique to that jurisdiction.’ And as Paul Mathews of the School of Law, Kings College, London observes in the foreword, ‘It is not enough to know the basic differences between systems. We must have access to points of detail and quickly’ – a task which the useful and valuable ‘International Succession ‘ undertakes admirably.
In its more than 800 pages plus glossary, the relevant inheritance law and practice in fifty jurisdictions around the world are explained by professional lawyers from each of them. In order to compare like with like, the contributors have been asked by the editors to base their exposition on a common questionnaire (the full text of which is cited) to ensure exact comparison by covering exactly the same points. (Especially interesting in a UK context are the differences between English and Scots law, particularly on intestacy.) The book, in other words, is a joint venture between the general editors and the contributors, each of whom are listed individually with contact details.
If you are involved with international clients , either as a private lawyer, litigator, academic, or possibly an individual grappling with cross-border succession issues, which can be tortuously complex, this book will save you incalculable amounts of time. As mobility increases and business goes truly global, Garb & Wood’s meticulously researched work is an invaluable acquisition in any law library.
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