Living between two countries is a source of richness, but it also involves an interaction between rules belonging to different legal systems. For international families, many legal problems do not arise from incorrect decisions, but from decisions that were never made: matters postponed, formalities ignored and assumptions taken for granted. Here is an overview of the most common mistakes, divided by area, and how to prevent them before they become costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyone whose life is divided between Italy and another country knows the feeling of moving between two worlds that do not always fit together. From a legal perspective, international families face risks concentrated in a few clearly identifiable areas, and it is useful to understand them together as a map before examining the individual issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first area concerns marriage and the matrimonial property regime: how the marriage is celebrated, which documents are required and, above all, which rules will govern the couple\u2019s assets. The second concerns children, custody and maintenance, meaning everything that happens when the parents live, or later come to live, in different countries. The third concerns inheritance and wills<\/a>, including the crucial question of which law governs the succession<\/a> and how assets located in several countries are transferred. The fourth, which affects all the others, is the protection of assets within a context that multiplies the relevant variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A common thread runs through all these areas: in almost every case, the outcome depends on which law applies, and this is rarely an obvious conclusion. The decisive criterion is often habitual residence, meaning the place where a person has the genuine centre of their life, which is less straightforward than it may appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding the map of risks is not intended to cause concern, but to provide direction. In the following sections, we examine each area, identifying the mistakes that occur most frequently and how they can be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mistakes in international family law have one characteristic that makes them particularly dangerous: they rarely become apparent immediately. A matrimonial property regime accepted without proper understanding, a will that does not take account of the applicable law, or a change of residence made without the necessary precautions may remain silent for years and only reveal their consequences at the worst possible moment, such as separation, a dispute between heirs or a death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a second reason. When two legal systems interact, they may provide different answers to the same question: who inherits, in what shares and under which law. A mistake in the initial legal framework does not merely cause harm, but often creates a conflict between legal systems, resulting in lengthy and expensive proceedings with an uncertain outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many situations are also difficult or impossible to reverse. After death, a will can no longer be amended. Once a foreign judgment has been issued, challenging it requires complex legal instruments. A child moved abroad without the necessary authorisations may trigger international proceedings that are difficult to manage. In almost every case, the matters at stake are personal relationships and the assets accumulated over a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why prevention is far more valuable than attempting to remedy the problem later. A few checks carried out in good time, while the available choices remain open, can prevent disputes which, once started, consume significantly greater energy and resources. Knowing where mistakes are likely to arise is already half of the work required to avoid them. This does not require legal expertise. It is enough to know which questions to ask and whom to consult before the available choices disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first area of mistakes concerns the moment when an international family is formed: the marriage. A common misunderstanding is to assume that the couple\u2019s property relations will automatically be governed by the law of their own country or by Italian law. In reality, the law applicable to an international couple is determined according to specific criteria, and the spouses may choose it rather than simply being subject to the default position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This leads to the most common mistake: failing to make a decision. Spouses who make no choice become subject to the statutory matrimonial property regime provided by the applicable legal system, which in Italy is community of property, without considering whether it is genuinely suitable for their circumstances, particularly where one spouse operates a business or each has personal assets they wish to keep separate. It is possible to change the arrangement later, but doing so is more complex than choosing in good time through a properly executed matrimonial agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As regards formalities, the typical risk is underestimating the documents required from the foreign spouse, beginning with the certificate of no impediment issued by their country and any required publication formalities. These steps may take several weeks, and starting them too late may result in the wedding being postponed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution is as simple as it is often overlooked: before the marriage, address the three questions that matter. Which law will govern the relationship between the spouses? Which matrimonial property regime should be chosen? Which documents must be obtained? Making these decisions consciously transforms a potential source of difficulties into a solid foundation. It is worth repeating that none of these checks is particularly difficult when carried out before the wedding, while all become more complicated once the couple is already married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second area, often the most painful, concerns children. The mistake with the most serious consequences is moving a child abroad without the other parent\u2019s consent or, where no agreement exists, without court authorisation. What may appear to be a natural decision, such as returning to one\u2019s country of origin with the child, may amount to international child abduction<\/a> and trigger complex proceedings seeking the child\u2019s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A second mistake is failing to identify which authority has jurisdiction over custody and parental responsibility. In cross border situations, the relevant criterion is generally the child\u2019s habitual residence, not the nationality of the parents. Assuming that the wrong court has jurisdiction means structuring every application incorrectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also the issue of maintenance. Many parents believe that a maintenance order made in Italy is difficult to enforce where the other parent lives abroad and therefore give up. This is a mistake. Cooperation mechanisms between countries, supported by dedicated authorities, make it possible to obtain and enforce maintenance across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The common assumption behind these mistakes is that distance removes rights or makes them impossible to enforce in family matters. The opposite is true. The rights of children and parents remain in place, but they must be exercised through the correct legal instruments. Knowing those instruments in advance prevents impulsive decisions with serious consequences. Before any important step involving a child and another country, the essential rule is to seek advice. Timely legal guidance is often more valuable than any decision made instinctively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third area concerns succession, where mistakes often arise from outdated assumptions. The most common is the belief that each asset is governed by the law of the country where it is located, with a house in Italy subject to Italian law and a property abroad governed by another legal system. Today, within the European Union, the opposite principle generally applies: one law governs the entire succession, usually determined by the deceased\u2019s habitual residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This leads to a series of related mistakes. Failing to identify which law will apply, and not using the possibility of choosing it through professio iuris, means leaving the destination of the estate to chance. Making a will abroad without checking whether it respects the reserved shares of close family members under the applicable law may expose the heirs to a reduction claim. Preparing several wills in different countries without coordinating them may cause one to revoke the other through a standard revocation clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also the frequently overlooked issue of taxation. An estate distributed across several countries may be subject to taxes in each of them, creating duplication that careful planning can often reduce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again, the solution is advance awareness. Clarifying during one\u2019s lifetime which law will govern the succession, how the rights of protected heirs will be respected and how documents in different countries should be coordinated prevents the heirs from facing an unnecessary legal tangle. A will designed for the person\u2019s international circumstances and coordinated across the countries involved is one of the most practical legacies that can be left to those who remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One lesson runs through all these areas: the legal mistakes made by international families almost always have the same cause, postponement, and the same remedy, acting in good time. Prevention in this field is not a luxury, but the most economical choice available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prevention begins with creating a map: which people, countries, assets and relationships are involved. On that basis, the law applicable to each issue is identified, from marriage and children to succession and asset protection. The available choices are then made and recorded in the correct form so that they are valid and effective against third parties. Finally, the two legal systems are coordinated so that they work together rather than contradict one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asset protection, the fourth area mentioned above, is where this ability to coordinate is particularly important. The mistakes are often hidden in the details: failing to protect exposed assets in good time, overlooking legal instruments that separate assets or dedicate them to a particular purpose, or creating protection that is effective in Italy but ineffective in the country where the assets are located. Prevention means choosing and coordinating the correct instruments before a risk materialises. Those instruments, from the segregation of assets to dedicated agreements, are as varied as the situations requiring them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a practical advantage that is often underestimated: relying on a single point of contact who understands the interaction between several legal systems instead of pursuing partial answers in different countries. This makes it possible to examine the situation from every angle without leaving blind spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your life, family or assets are divided between Italy and another country, the Family Law Boschetti team can help you organise matters in good time, with the expertise and discretion required by such a sensitive area, so that what matters most, your relationships and your assets, remains protected on both sides of the border. The first step, as always, creates no obligation. Its purpose is simply to understand which of these issues genuinely affect your circumstances and in what order they should be addressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Living between two countries is a source of richness, but it also involves an interaction between rules belonging to different legal systems. For international families, many legal problems do not arise from incorrect decisions, but from decisions that were never made: matters postponed, formalities ignored and assumptions taken for granted. Here is an overview of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2988,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions\/2988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>International family law: why mistakes are costly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Mistakes concerning marriage and the matrimonial property regime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Mistakes concerning children, custody and maintenance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Mistakes concerning inheritance and international wills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>How to prevent legal mistakes in an international family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n