An NRI estate usually spans two legal systems that do not talk to each other. Indian immovable property is governed by Indian law regardless of where the owner lives; movable property generally follows the law of the domicile. Planning starts from that split.
One will or two?
Two wills — one covering Indian assets, one covering assets in the country of residence — is usually cleaner, because each can be probated locally in parallel instead of sequentially. The critical requirement is that each will expressly limits itself to that jurisdiction's assets and does not revoke the other. A careless 'I revoke all previous wills' clause in the second will can cancel the first.
Get both wills drafted with sight of each other, ideally by lawyers who are in contact. Independently drafted wills are how NRI estates end up in a multi-year dispute.
Accounts and repatriation
- NRE accounts hold foreign-earned income and are freely repatriable, principal and interest.
- NRO accounts hold Indian-sourced income such as rent, dividends and pension, and are repatriable up to USD 1 million per financial year, subject to tax clearance via Forms 15CA and 15CB.
- FCNR deposits are held in foreign currency and are freely repatriable.
- On death, an NRO balance passed to a resident heir stays in India; passed to a non-resident heir it moves under the same USD 1 million window.
Property
- An NRI may hold residential and commercial property in India, but not agricultural land, plantations or farmhouses, except by inheritance.
- Inherited agricultural land may be held but generally can only be sold to a resident Indian.
- Sale proceeds of inherited property are repatriable within the USD 1 million annual limit, with tax clearance.
- Keep a power of attorney in place with a trusted resident, specifically worded — Indian registrars reject general PoAs routinely.
Tax exposure to check
- India has no estate or inheritance tax at present; the country of residence may well have one.
- The UK charges inheritance tax on worldwide assets of a UK-domiciled person, which can include Indian property.
- The US applies estate tax to worldwide assets of citizens and residents; India has no estate tax treaty with the US.
- Capital gains on the later sale of inherited Indian property are taxed in India, with the original owner's holding period counted.
The practical layer
Most NRI estates stall on logistics, not law: an executor in India who has never seen the documents, a bank that needs wet-ink signatures, an OTP going to a deactivated Indian SIM. Name an Indian executor or attorney, keep an Indian mobile number active, and maintain a shared, current inventory that both sides of the family can reach.
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