Property covered by the DIFC Wills

Which property is covered by the DIFC Wills?

According to the DIFC Wills & Probate Registry Rules (DIFC WPR Rules), a person signing the DIFC Will (Testator) is allowed to dispose of all types of property situated in the United Arab Emirates.

Any immovable and movable Property disposed of through a DIFC Will must be under the entitlement (ownership) of the Testator at the time of his/her death. It is important to understand that the property owned by the Testator at the time of signing the DIFC Will may no longer be owned by him/her at the time of his/her death or the Testator may have additional property at the time of his/her death.

It is therefore prudent not to list any specific property in the DIFC Will to ensure that the DIFC Will is not required to be amended to update the details of the property covered. This can be a time consuming affair and additional cost for the amendment to the DIFC Will shall apply at the time of amendment. To avoid this situation, you should have your DIFC Will drafted by a wills draftsman registered with the DIFC Courts Wills Service (Wills Service).

The details of any specific property may only be included if the Testator wishes to give such property as a gift to any specific person and such gift does not form part of the overall distribution of the Testator’s remaining UAE based property. It should also be noted that the gift will not remain valid if the gifted property is no longer under the ownership of the Testator at the time of his/her death.

Our wills draftsman is duly registered with the Wills Service and prepares the DIFC Wills in accordance with the DIFC WPR Rules to ensure that all your United Arab Emirates based property is protected.