Settling an estate that spans China and the United Kingdom

The position in one paragraph

UK probate and the Chinese succession procedure are independent, and neither institution recognises the other's grant.

The English will deals with the UK assets through probate, while the Chinese apartment is dealt with under Chinese succession rules. A Chinese court will consider whether the will is valid and applicable to the China-situated asset, which may require evidence about how the will was made.

A typical situation

A deceased had a UK bank account and a Chinese apartment, with heirs in both countries and an English will.

Relying on the English grant to release the Chinese asset. It will not, and the Chinese procedure has its own requirements about the will and about the heirs' relationship to the deceased.

What distinguishes this from a purely domestic case

England and Wales apply the Matrimonial Causes Act framework, with wide discretion in financial remedy orders; Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.

On the China side, the connecting factor has to be established on the documents: A Chinese court deals with China-situated estate assets. Assets abroad are governed by the law of the place where they sit, with China's conflict rules determining which law applies to succession.

The practical sequence in a United Kingdom-connected matter

1. Separate the question of who inherits from the question of how the assets are actually transferred
2. Establish the applicable law for succession, which can differ between movables and immovables
3. Authenticate the death certificate, the will and the relationship documents
4. Address the practical release of each asset with the institution holding it

FCDO legalisation is comparatively quick; translation and any certified copying usually take longer than the Apostille itself.

How United Kingdom documents are handled

Apostille issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). No Chinese consular legalisation is then required.

The Apostille certifies the signature and capacity of the official, not the content of the document; a certified copy may be needed if the original must be kept.

A decree absolute needs to be the final version — a conditional order is not sufficient for a Chinese filing.

What has to be decided before filing

Open both procedures in parallel and assemble the relationship evidence for the Chinese side early, because that is usually the limiting factor.

The boundary to plan around is this: Agreeing the shares and realising the assets are two separate problems; both need to be planned, and the second is usually harder. Where value sits in United Kingdom — typically London property, company equity, joint accounts, pensions — it is handled by agreement or by a separate route there, not by an order the Chinese court could enforce directly.

If your situation has a United Kingdom element

Inheritance cases stall when the evidence of the family relationship is incomplete. Send us the family tree and where each asset is held, and we will set out the route.

In UK-connected matters it is worth establishing at the outset which jurisdiction within the UK would deal with the finances, because English, Scottish and Northern Irish law produce materially different outcomes on the same facts.

Frequently asked questions