Guide on Probate and Letters of Administration in British Virgin Islands (BVI)
Under BVI laws, a grant of probate, or letters of administration where the person did not leave a will or the person named in the will is unable or unwilling to apply for a grant of probate, will be required to allow any parson to take title to or possession of or to deal with the property of a deceased person situated in British Virgin Islands (BVI).
A grant of probate or letters of administration may be made in respect of real estate or personal estate situated in BVI whether the deceased was domiciled in or outside BVI. The estate of the deceased could comprise assets such as real estate in BVI, accounts at BVI banks, shares and other securities issued by BVI companies and tangible assets such as jewellery, paintings and cars physically situated in BVI.
The Process
Once we have received the required documents, we will be in a position to prepare the papers needed to make application to the Registrar for the grant. However, the applicant must first advertise the application in a newspaper circulating in the BVI once a week for not less than two consecutive weeks as required by law, announcing their intention to apply. After the ads are complete, we would then submit them to the Registry along with other documents like draft Order for the eventual signing by the Registrar. The process will be completed once we receive the signed Order and Grant or letters of administrator. On estimate the process takes about 6-8 weeks from the submission of the documents.
Documents Required
1.Applying for a grant in BVI
The application consists of a number of documents and affidavits including:
• An original or appropriately authenticated death certificate;
• Newspaper adverts;
• Affidavits of detailing the place of execution of the will, search, and so on;
• An oath sworn by the executor/administrator;
• A declaration and account of estate sworn by the executor/administrator providing an estimated value of the deceased’s estate;
• An affidavit of foreign law sworn by a lawyer practicing in the country where the deceased domiciled.
Where a grant of probate is being applied for, the following additional documents must be submitted:
• The original will
• An affidavit of due execution sworn by one of the witnesses to the will
2.Resealing grant in the BVI
Under the Probates (Resealing)Act 2021, grants of probate and letters of administration issued in qualifying jurisdictions can be resealed in the BVI. Resealing foreign grants gives them the same effect in the BVI as if they had been granted by the BVI Court itself, and is a much more streamlined process than having to obtain fresh grants in the BVI. The BVI Court can now reseal grants of probate and letters of administration from sixty-seven jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States.
3.Authentication of Affidavits and documents
All affidavits must be sworn or affirmed in the presence of a notary public or equivalent and apostilled.
4.Documents in a foreign language
Where documents which are not in English require to be submitted as part of the application, full translations of those documents must be submitted. A sworn affidavit from the translator is required.
5.Fees
There are no inheritance or capital gains taxes or death duties payable in BVI. The fees for a grant of probate or letters of administration comprises of professional fee, Court fee and other disbursements.
Professional fee we quote is on a case-by-case basis depending on the complexity of the application. For more information, please feel free to contact us.
The Court fee is payable based on the value of the BVI estate and ranges from hundreds to thousands of US dollars.
Disbursements are charged in addition and largely comprise newspaper publication costs and courier costs etc.
Summary
Our Private Wealth team has years of experience advising on and obtaining grants of probate and letters of administration and so we can be relied upon to ensure a smooth application process.
If you need assistance or wish to obtain more information, please visit our official website at www.kaizencpa.com or contact us through the following methods:
E: info@kaizencpa.com T: +852 2341 1444
M: +852 5616 4140, +86 1521 9434 614
WhatsApp/Line/WeChat: +852 5616 4140
Skype: kaizencpa
