Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Domicile definition

What does Domicile mean? In practice, domicile identifies a person’s permanent home and chief legal connection, used in private international law to decide jurisdiction and the applicable law for matters such as divorce, succession and tax. Across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland the concept is principally developed in case law (notably Udny v Udny), with statutory adjustments including the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973 (which ended the dependent domicile of married women and uses domicile in family jurisdiction). In Ireland, the Domicile Act 1991 codifies and reforms the common‑law rules. Key features are broadly consistent across these jurisdictions: - Domicile of...

British Virgin Islands wills for non-BVI-domiciled testators: asset situs, formal and essential validity, forced heirship, executors, construction and revocation

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Practice notes

This Practice Note has been prepared in association with Josephine Howe, partner, and Grace Gao, counsel, both at Ogier.

Key points

Individuals who are not Domiciled in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), but who personally hold assets located in the BVI, may adopt a separate Will governed by BVI Law to deal with those assets and to ease the subsequent probate process.
Under BVI law, the law governing both the formal validity and the essential or material validity of a Will made by a person domiciled elsewhere turns on the nature of the property.
For immovable property in the BVI, the lex situs applies, meaning BVI law.
For movable property, such as cash in bank, shares in BVI companies or an interest in a BVI Partnership, the applicable law is that of the deceased’s last domicile...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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