The legal right share is obviously part and parcel of advice that we give to married couples or couples who are in a civil partnership. One question came up recently is whether the legal right share applies to all assets worldwide. The answer to this is yes in theory but practice may be more difficult. Yes the legal right share applies to all assets worldwide. However, Irish courts only have jurisdiction with respect to Irish assets. So enforcing the legal right share beyond the jurisdiction is problematic. Further, assets (particularly real property assets) in countries outside the State may be subject to similar legal right share rules in those countries (oftentimes called forced heirship rules).

Let me know if you have come across this in the past, as I would love to know.