Does my foreign will cover my New York apartment?

It may, if it was properly executed under the law New York recognizes (for example, New York law, the law of the place it was signed, or the law of your domicile, EPTL 3-5.1(c)) and if it actually gives away that property. Families often still need a New York proceeding to transfer title. A coordinated New York will is often easier to prove. Counsel abroad should confirm what the home will does.

Should I put the property in a company or a trust?

Sometimes a trust or an entity changes the later court path, and sometimes it creates tax and reporting issues of its own. The fit depends on title, the building's rules, and your tax picture. Your tax adviser should review any structure before you retitle.

Can New York tax my estate if I live abroad?

Living abroad does not by itself make you a nonresident. If you are a New York nonresident, New York may impose estate tax on real property and tangible personal property with an actual New York situs (Tax Law 960), depending on the facts. Intangibles are generally excluded, and how cooperative shares are classified should be checked with your tax adviser. If you remain domiciled in New York, resident rules may reach further. Federal estate tax may also apply, and it is not limited to property in the United States for every person who lives abroad. Exemptions differ. Ask your tax adviser to apply the current figures.

I Live Abroad and Own New York Property

If you live outside the United States and own a house, condominium, or cooperative in New York, your family may need a New York court proceeding before anyone can sell or transfer that property. How the property is titled, what your will says, and the tax rules often work together. This page is a short checklist. It is general information, not legal advice.

How the property is titled

Deeds, stock certificates, and leases control who owns the property while you are alive. If your name alone is on a deed or on cooperative shares, the property is generally a probate asset in New York. A joint owner with right of survivorship, a trust, or an entity may change that result, and each choice has tradeoffs. Retitling can also affect taxes. Talk with us and with your tax adviser before you change title. A worksheet is at asset inventory worksheet.

If the property is only in your name

If you die owning New York real estate or cooperative shares in your name alone, your family generally cannot transfer them with only a foreign probate order. A New York proceeding is often required. If you were domiciled abroad and a court there has acted, the New York case is often ancillary under SCPA Article 16. In many cases a will already probated or established in that domicile may be admitted to ancillary probate limited to New York property (SCPA 1602). Domicile, the will, and title all matter. See foreign estate new york assets process.

Estate tax, in plain words

If you are not a U.S. citizen and not domiciled in the United States, federal estate tax often applies only to property situated in the United States. That federal exemption is generally much smaller than the exemption for U.S. citizens and for people domiciled in the United States. New York may also tax a nonresident's New York real and tangible personal property (Tax Law 960), depending on the facts. Intangibles are generally excluded, and how cooperative shares are classified for this tax should be checked with your tax adviser. Treaties may change the result. Ask your tax adviser to review it with estate planning non citizens new york.

A will that can sit beside your home will

Many people keep a will where they live and a separate New York will for New York property. That often works if the documents are coordinated. A broad revocation clause in one will may cancel the other. Say which assets each will covers, and name people who can act where the property sits. We do not advise on foreign law. Counsel abroad should review the home will, and your tax adviser should review the tax effects.

Selling, cooperatives, and condominiums

A sale of United States real property by a foreign person often triggers withholding under FIRPTA. Living abroad does not by itself make an owner a foreign person. Your tax adviser handles the amount, any exception, and the filing. Cooperative boards often require consent for a sale, a death transfer, or a foreign fiduciary, and condominium documents may impose their own conditions, such as a right of first refusal. A proprietary lease may be stricter than a deed. Keep the stock certificate and lease where your family can find them. For a Free Consultation, call (212) 518-3868.

What to do while you are abroad

A practical order of work. You do not need every item on day one. What matters first depends on title, family, and where you are domiciled.

List the New York assetsWrite down each apartment, house, bank account, and brokerage account, and how it is titled. Use asset inventory worksheet so the list is not only in your memory.
Read the deed, shares, and leaseConfirm whether you own alone, with someone else, or through a trust or a company. Title often decides whether a New York court must be involved later.
Match your willsAsk counsel abroad to read your home-country will beside any New York will. Check revocation clauses so one document does not accidentally cancel the other.
Name people who can act hereConsider executors and agents who can deal with a New York building, bank, and court. A U.S. citizen living abroad may often serve as executor. A noncitizen who is not domiciled in New York is generally ineligible for letters, unless the court allows a foreign guardian in the limited case the statute describes, or allows that person to serve with co-fiduciaries of whom at least one is a New York resident (SCPA 707(1)(c)). That rule is about letters. It does not by itself decide who may act as an agent.
Ask your tax adviser about death and a saleAsk whether United States estate tax may apply only to property situated in the United States or to a broader estate, and whether a sale could require withholding. The answer depends on citizenship, domicile, and the facts. Do not rely on a guessed exemption.
Tell your family where the papers areOriginal wills, the stock certificate, the lease, and the keys should be findable. A death record from abroad will often need an apostille and a translation later.
Talk with a New York attorneyBring your questions to a Free Consultation. Call (212) 518-3868 or go to free consultation. We practice New York law only and coordinate with counsel abroad.
The one most people forget The revocation sentencePeople often sign a new will abroad that revokes all prior wills, and later learn it revoked the New York will too. Have both sets of counsel read both documents before anyone signs.

Country notes: questions to raise in a consultation

Which other country is in the picture often changes the plan. These are questions to bring to a Free Consultation, not answers for every family. Schwartsman Law Group practices New York law only. Where another country's law may matter, we coordinate with counsel abroad. Call (212) 518-3868.

Is there a U.S. estate or gift tax treaty? Most countries have none. As of the IRS list reviewed on November 8, 2026, the United States has estate and/or gift tax treaty provisions with Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Canada's estate provisions sit in Article XXIX B of the U.S.–Canada income tax treaty. Each treaty works differently. Check the current IRS estate and gift tax treaties page before relying on any country.
Does a document need an apostille or consular legalization? That depends on whether both the country that issued the paper and the country that will use it are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, with the Convention in force between them and without a relevant objection. Membership alone is not enough. Check the HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention. An apostille authenticates the origin, signature, capacity, and seal of a public document. It does not prove the contents are true, that the document is valid under local law, or that a New York court or clerk will accept it.
Does the other country reserve fixed shares for family (forced heirship) or treat trusts differently? Many civil-law countries do. For property situated in New York, a will made by someone not domiciled in New York may, in some cases, elect New York law under EPTL 3-5.1(h). New York's highest court has applied such an election to reject a foreign forced-heirship claim to New York assets (Matter of Renard, 56 NY2d 973 (1982)). Results depend on the facts, and the election does not control property abroad. Foreign counsel should review the home-country side.
Will an heir or beneficiary living abroad receive a New York share without court conditions? Under SCPA 2218, if a noncitizen beneficiary lives in a country to which U.S. government checks cannot be sent under federal rules, the court directs that the share be paid into court until a later court order. The court may also do so in some other cases, such as where a beneficiary would not have the benefit, use, or control of the money, or where a foreign country's laws effectively deny New York residents that benefit. Where it appears a noncitizen beneficiary may not have the benefit, use, or control of the share, that person generally has the burden of showing that they will. These questions turn on facts, not on nationality alone. The U.S. Supreme Court held an Oregon reciprocity statute unconstitutional as applied, because probing foreign regimes intruded on the federal foreign-affairs power (Zschernig v. Miller, 389 U.S. 429 (1968)).