Do British expats need a Cyprus will?

A British national with a house in Paphos or an apartment in Limassol often assumes that an English will covers everything, because for decades that was broadly true. Since 2015 it is not, and the assumption now decides estates by default rather than by anyone's intention.

The 2015 change most expats have not heard of

Until 2015, section 42 of the Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195, headed absolute freedom of disposition, gave certain foreign nationals, the British among them, a way around the Cyprus reserved portion. The Wills and Succession (Amendment) Law of 2015, Law 96(I)/2015, published in the Official Gazette at Issue 4518 of 3 July 2015, deleted section 42.

Since 17 August 2015 the governing framework has been Regulation (EU) No 650/2012. A will drafted before 2015 on the strength of section 42, or on advice that predates the change, is working from a rulebook that no longer exists.

What governs your estate now

Under Article 21 of the Regulation, the default is the law of the State in which you were habitually resident at the time of death, and it governs the succession as a whole rather than property by property. For a British expat living in Cyprus, the default is therefore Cyprus law, including the reserved portion in Cap. 195.

Article 22 allows a person to choose instead the law of a State whose nationality they hold, and that choice has to be made in the will. Brexit does not remove this: the United Kingdom never took part in the Regulation, but Cyprus is bound by it, and under Article 20 the law the Regulation points to applies whether or not it is the law of a Member State. A Cyprus court can therefore arrive at the law of a part of the United Kingdom, but only if the will actually makes the choice.

The choice of national law does not make itself. It exists only if it is written into a will.

What the reserved portion would do

If Cyprus law applies, part of the estate may be distributed by law whatever the will says. Under section 41 of Cap. 195, where the deceased leaves a child, the portion that can be freely disposed of by will is capped at one quarter of the net estate; with no child but a surviving parent, one half; with neither, the whole. Section 41(2) softens this for a spouse in defined circumstances. The exact fractions for a given family are worked out on our forced heirship calculator, and the regime is explained on wills in Cyprus.

One will or two

An English will can be admitted for Cyprus purposes, and how that works is covered in foreign wills and Cyprus property. In practice, an estate with assets in both countries is usually better served by one will per jurisdiction, drafted so that they do not revoke one another. That last point is where the damage usually happens: a later will with a general revocation clause can cancel an earlier one made elsewhere without anyone intending it.

What this means in practice

• A British national with property or accounts in Cyprus should have a will that
• deals with the Cyprus assets, and it should say expressly which law governs the
• succession.
• If you want English law rather than the Cyprus default, the choice under Article 22
• must be written into the will. Habitual residence is a factual question about where
• a life is centred, and for someone dividing the year between countries it can be
• arguable; an express choice removes the argument.
• A will made before 2015, or made on the assumption that British nationals are
• outside the Cyprus reserved portion, should be reviewed against the current law.
• If you already hold wills in two countries, check the revocation clauses before
• anything else.

How the two regimes interact on a particular estate, and whether a choice of law improves the position, is worked out on the facts before the will is signed. The starting points are wills in Cyprus and the EU Succession Regulation and Cyprus.

Sources

• Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195, consolidated text
• Regulation (EU) No 650/2012

This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

Klitos Platis

Advocate, Partner

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Published 17 August 2026