Why You Need a Will in the UAE?

This means that if a person dies without a Will, the local UAE courts will distribute the estate of the deceased and appoint guardians according to Sharia law principles. The distribution of the estate under Sharia law principles can often have some surprising and unexpected implications for non-Muslim expatriates.

For instance, all personal assets of the deceased person, including bank accounts, will be frozen until all liabilities have been discharged. Even jointly owned assets will be frozen until the issue of inheritance and succession is determined by the local courts. A widow who has children will qualify for only one-eighth of the estate, and without a proper Will, this distribution will be applied automatically. With regard to the guardianship of bereaved children, as per the Sharia law principles, upon the death of the children’s father, their mother has no automatic right to legal guardianship of her own children.

Unlike other jurisdictions, the UAE does not recognise the survivorship rules which eventually mean that there is no automatic transfer of jointly held assets to the joint survivor. If you own a real estate property or business in the UAE, whether this is a free zone or a mainland company, in the event of the death of one of the shareholders (joint owners), local probate laws apply. In this case, shares do not pass automatically to other shareholders by survivorship, nor can a family member take over the ownership in lieu.

Due to the open policy of the government, the UAE has the highest number of expats in the world (as a proportion of their population) doing business and living in the country. In order to accommodate residents who profess different religions, the Law of Personal Status (also known as Personal Affairs Law) permits non-Muslim expatriates living in the UAE to elect application of their home country law to matters of personal affairs. This can be done through the execution of a Will at Dubai Courts or DIFC Registry. Additionally, Clause 1 of Article 17 of the UAE Civil Code states: “Inheritance shall be governed by the law of the testator upon the death thereof”.

You may think: "If I do not have any assets in the UAE, then why I need a Will?" Still, you need, because you have to consider your future assets, like life insurance, gratuity, compensation or insurance on the ground of unexpected way of death...etc. Also, you have to secure your interest in the mode of burial, guardianship of children and so on.

Written by:

Abdul Raheem | Mohamed Aleghfeli Advocates & Legal Consultants​