Wills and Probate Between Mexico and U.S.

It may depend on whether she is named as an executor of the will.
I don't know how it is in Mexico, but in the UK the executors of a will have to show up at the Probate office and swear an oath that the Probate application they have submitted is accurate.

You asked if it would take 'longer to probate because there are two countries involved' -

"Longer than what?"

Longer than a million dollar estate in one country? Depends on the country. In the US, probate varies from state to state as well.

There is no specific answer for you, in the sense of 'it will take six months to a year'. It will take as long as it takes. It will depend on how it was written, and if it is going to be contested. If it is contested, how much money does the person contesting it have?

What you have described is a complicated legal matter. It will take 'longer' than a simple will.


How long is a piece of string?

Where are the assets? That's more important than the nationality of the people involved.

heyjude said:

Can anyone help me with the following scenario? Man living in Mexico marries a US citizen. She moves home to the US just before he dies. He leaves her (nearly) everything, including his estate and millions of dollars.

My question is would the will take longer to probate because there are two countries involved

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Well, first you need to find out how estates are handled in Mexico-- probating might be a completely different process. Here's a little bit of info--this tells you more about what happens in Mexico if the person dies WITHOUT a will, but there is a little something on the Mexican equivalent of probate--apparently it's not done in court, and it's relatively speedy: http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/rrwalters/rrwxborder.html
Note that a "Notario" is a kind of lawyer that exists in civil law countries (e.g. Mexico, France...); Notarios do not go to court or handle litigation at all, they just handle things like property transfers, wills, etc. This site has lots of Mexican law info and may be handy in this and other parts of your story: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mexican-Law-1642/

A few more links:
http://www.osmx.com/pdfs/Mexican_will.pdf

http://www.solutionsabroad.com/en/legal/legal-category/mexican-will-and-estate-planning.html

http://www.sancarlosmexicoguide.com/chap11.html (scroll down to "Property Inheritance")

Are you kidding? We can't even seal the border. She ain't going to get squat.

heyjude said:

Can anyone help me with the following scenario? Man living in Mexico marries a US citizen. She moves home to the US just before he dies. He leaves her (nearly) everything, including his estate and millions of dollars.

My question is would the will take longer to probate because there are two countries involved, and if yes, how long? Also, would there be any reason for the wife to go back to Mexico to deal with it, or could she do her end over the phone or have a lawyer do it for her?

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Oh ...yes!!!!!! takes forever. She'll need her own lawyer, a Mexican lawyer to prevent the probate court from sucking the estate dry, and a USA lawyer to handle the tax questions in the USA, and maybe another to prevent fake family from appearing. Look up Mexican inheritance laws.

And she would probably have to go back to deal with things because Mexican courts don't deal well with cross-border legalities between their courts and non-Mexican citizens.

You need to look up Mexican wills ... they have to be filled out, in Spanish, notarized, and filed to be valid, none of this "found in the safe" sort of thing.