A will is a legal document, which describes a person’s wishes about his assets distribution between his family members, friends or other people upon his death. He can even include his dog into a will if he wants to. Another option is to keep some funds for charity also.
A will has exact details of all the asses the person owns and the names of the people with the shares of the assets they are getting. You can read more on terminology and history of wills here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_and_testament
Any person who acknowledges his mortality thinks about making a will at some point of his life. It is especially important if you are living abroad and have some immovable assets out of your home country.
In such case a solution seems to be only one make a will and be sure your wealth gets to the right hands.
If your answer is yes, then Shariah law will be applicable to this wealth in case you have no will.
As per the Shariah the following relatives can be considered as heirs: parents, brothers/sisters, spouse, children, grandchildren, grandparents, uncles/aunts, nephews/nieces.
In case your close relative wants to inherit your assets, he or she will need to hire lawyers and open a case in the court in order to become eligible for receiving your funds or other assets. This process is long and expensive in comparison to having an attested will in advance.
These are some of the consequences of not having a will:
One of our clients was Christian. He thought that if he is non Muslim, the Shariah law will not be applicable to him or his family. His father had substantial wealth and real estate in Dubai. At the age of 71 he had a stroke and shortly passed away without leaving any will. It happened 2 years ago and his family is still struggling with the courts.
If you are an expatriate and have any wealth in the UAE, you should definitely sit down and think about succession of this wealth.
UAE laws of succession for non-Muslims are not certain. They contradict each other in a way. It is hard for expatriates to rely on them.
In the absence of a will, the case goes to court. And in each case everything depends on a particular judge, who has to take into consideration both contradicting laws which govern inheritance:
One of the easiest ways of succession planning for any foreigner in a Muslim country is making a local non-Muslim will. Expat wills Dubai were introduced by UAE government very recently and already became popular among expatriates.
A will can normally cover all the assets that you wish to include into it. The main mostly demanded subjects are:
Also, any will could be:
If the owner of a UAE company passes away, the shares of that company will be distributed according to Shariah law. It applies to any company: Mainland, Free Zone and Offshore.
The shares will not be automatically passes to the other partners or even family members. They will be distributed according to Shariah the majority will go to the eldest male family member.
Want to protect your company think of a will registration.
If you have a Mainland company with local UAE citizen as a shareholder, upon his death, his shares will be inherited by his heirs according to Shariah law. To avoid it, it is better to have a specific clause in the Memorandum or the agreement between the shareholders to appoint the person who will take over the shares.
A will of an expatriate can be registered in a few places in the UAE:
The costs of UAE wills depend on the authority where the will is going to be attested.
Registrar | Preparation and Translation, AED | PRO Services, AED | Registration, AED | Total, AED |
---|---|---|---|---|
DIFC wills service centre | AED 3,150 | AED 535 | Single: AED 10,000 Mirror: AED 15,000 | Single: AED 13,685 Mirror: AED 18,685 |
Dubai Court | AED 4,150 | AED 535 | Single: AED 3,000 Mirror: AED 3,000 | Single: AED 7,685 Mirror: AED 7,685 |
Abu Dhabi Cort | AED 4,150 | AED 1575 | Single: AED 950 Mirror: AED 950 | Single: AED 6,675 Mirror: AED 6,675 |
Preparation of a will includes drafting, legal translation into Arabic and actual attestation. Usually 2-3 days’ time is enough for all the procedures.
Unfortunately not. A will must be registered personally, because it requires attestation and authentication of your signature.
No, that would not be possible. In case a will was not registered before death, the assets will be distributed according to Shariah and expatriates will need to go to a court in order to enforce foreign rules on wealth distribution.
No, it is not mandatory, but will registration in Dubai is advisable. It will help you to avoid future expenses on lawyers and waste of time in the courts.