Why a UAE Will Matters for Senior Expats
For the senior expatriate who has built a life in the United Arab Emirates, the question of what happens to one's estate is rarely abstract. Property in Dubai, a brokerage account in the DIFC, a shareholding in a free-zone company, the family home left behind in England or Switzerland: each carries its own succession profile, and each is governed by a different body of law.
The default position in the UAE is well known to those who have taken counsel, and a source of quiet anxiety to those who have not. In the absence of a Will registered in a recognised jurisdiction, the principles of Sharia inheritance may apply to assets held within the country. For non-Muslim expatriates, this is rarely the outcome anticipated, and almost never the one a spouse or adult child would have chosen.
A properly drafted UAE Will, registered with the DIFC Wills Service or its ADGM counterpart, restores certainty. It permits the testator to direct his or her estate in accordance with common-law principles familiar from home, to appoint executors of one's own choosing, and, crucially, to nominate guardians for any minor children resident in the country.
The instrument is not difficult to create. What it requires is considered drafting by a solicitor familiar with both the UAE regime and the wider international position. The cost of doing so is modest. The cost of not doing so, measured in months of frozen accounts and contested probate, is considerable.
Written by the solicitors of LEX Services for the senior expatriate reader.
DIFC vs ADGM: Which Wills Service Suits You?
Both regimes offer common-law treatment of your UAE assets. The right choice depends on the nature of your estate, your residence and your beneficiaries.
Read essay