Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Living overseas -- where is my will?

While I concur with John, the answer is more complicated. While you could have a valid Will under NY law, just having a good Will is not enough. To be probated, in any State, you must be domiciled in that State. Domicile is different than "residency" in that residency is your temporary location, while domicile is your permanent location. The latter is usually represented by a physical location, drivers license, voting registration, US tax return address, etc. It appears you are a resident of Brussels, but have no US "domicile". Thus, just having a good NY Will in and of itself might not allow for NY probate. Just having a bank account in a NY bank is not sufficient to claim NY as your domicile, as you state that your license is issued by another State. Where, if anywhere, do you file US returns from? Several unrelated questions. Who would be your estate beneficiaries? Who would be your Executor? Where do these people live? Are they convenient to NY to do the probate there? Maybe it is better to have your Will where these people are located. A valid Will, in any State, would allow them to access your NY account. All you need is a Will that is valid and meets the requirements of the State in which it is to be probated and where you can meet its domicile requirements. I can assist you in doing a document, that would meet most state's laws, but you need to decide where is the best place (State) for it to be used. You should have a physical address in the US to use.

Re: Living overseas -- where is my will?

If the Will is prepared and executed in accordance with NY law it will be a valid Will.

When you pass away the Will must be "probated." That is, it must be declared valid by a court. Once that happens, your executor will be permitted to carry out your directions in the Will.

If the Will has been probated in NY, any property you own in NY can be easily distributed. If you have any other property in another jurisdiction, your executor may be required to bring a separate proceeding (usually called ancillary probate) in that jurisdiction.