Why It Is Important to Make a Will in Dubai

Buying a home, opening a company or moving your savings to a Dubai bank is the part of the plan everyone does; deciding what happens to all of it if you are not here tomorrow is the part almost nobody does. And in the UAE that omission weighs more than in other countries: without a registered will, a non-Muslim’s estate is subject to the local laws of the emirate where the assets are located — a distribution by predetermined rules that may look nothing like what you would have wanted, including the guardianship of your children.

The good news is that the Emirati system has an exit expressly designed for this: the non-Muslim will, with registration at the DIFC in Dubai and attestation before the ADGM or the ADJD in Abu Dhabi. This guide explains why it is worth doing, which route and which type of will fits each estate and what it costs; the guided service is at wills in the UAE.

What happens without a will

The underlying reason fits in one sentence: without a will, the local laws decide, not you. The assets located in each emirate are distributed according to its succession regime, with shares predetermined by kinship; the appointment of guardians for minor children is not settled in advance either. For a foreign family with a home, accounts and a company in Dubai, that means a process in local courts, in Arabic, with an outcome that does not depend on the wishes of the deceased. The non-Muslim will exists precisely to reverse that situation: with your wishes registered, the distribution is set by the document and by the executor you appointed.

The three routes of the non-Muslim will

The practical difference lies in the nature of the document: the DIFC registers the will in an electronic Registry — it is kept for 120 years from the Testator’s birth or 10 years from the Grant of Probate, whichever comes first — and its Court Orders, including the Grant, are enforced before the Dubai Courts under Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017. The Abu Dhabi routes attest the will (they do not enter it in a registry like the DIFC’s) and require an Arabic translation by a UAE Ministry of Justice translator; in return, they cover assets inside and outside the UAE and the whole process can be done online.

The five types of DIFC Will

Each type exists in a single or mirror version (crossed wills between spouses). The personal requirements are the same: non-Muslim — and never having been Muslim —, 21 years of age when executing, and assets in the UAE or minor children resident in the country. Neither residency nor a visa is required: the appointment can be in person at the DIFC or by video conference of about 20 minutes, with electronic signature by the Testator and two witnesses — over 21, with official identification and who are neither beneficiaries nor guardians nor their spouses — and with no translator or powers of attorney: Testator and witnesses need basic English.

Guardianship of the children: the most forgotten reason

The will is not only about assets. For families with minor children resident in the country, the Guardianship Will — or the guardianship section of the Full Will — appoints interim and permanent guardians in Dubai or Ras Al Khaimah, the piece that prevents that decision from ending up in the hands of a court applying rules the family did not choose. It is, in practice, the reason many families register their first will even before buying a home.

A document that must be kept alive

Registering the will is not the end: life changes alter it by law. A subsequent marriage revokes the will in its entirety — unless there is an express clause stating the intention to marry that person — and forces you to register a new one. Divorce only invalidates the bequest to the ex-spouse, who is deemed to have died on the date of dissolution; the rest remains in force. Voluntary withdrawal is free and cancellation costs AED 1,000. And if a will exists in your home country, they are separate instruments that should be coordinated in writing to avoid cross-invalidations — the UAE will covers what is here, the home-country one what is there, and the hierarchy is documented.

The will within the estate plan

The will is one piece of a larger design. Those who concentrate real estate and shareholdings in a holding or foundation arrange the succession in the by-laws and coordinate that structure with the will; the property transfer between family members — with a reduced 0.125% fee before the DLD — makes it possible to reorder ownership during your lifetime; and real estate investment from two million dirhams opens the 10-year Golden Visa, which stabilises the family’s residency. Will, ownership and residency work better decided together than improvised separately.

Conclusion

Making a will in Dubai is important for what it avoids: local law deciding the distribution of your assets and the guardianship of your children instead of you. The system makes it reasonably easy — electronic registration at the DIFC from AED 7,500 with no need to reside in the country, or attestation in Abu Dhabi from AED 950 also covering foreign assets — and the validity rules are clear: review it after every marriage, divorce or significant purchase. Choosing the type of will, validating witnesses and documents and coordinating the whole with the will in your home country is the work of wills in the UAE.