Wills for Muslims in UAE Made Easy.

A Muslim Will is the most critical document forming part of the estate planning in the UAE. We have outlined below the most important issues that you need to understand while deciding to go ahead with writing your Muslim Will in the UAE:

1. Distribution of your assets

As a Muslim, the Sharia Law would apply to the distribution of your assets after your death. However, you may attempt to achieve the following objectives through a Will:

1. Give your entire assets to your spouse. This will be subject to you obtaining letters of consent from your legal heirs confirming your wishes. Your legal heirs will need to confirm this consent after your death for this option to be valid and binding at the relevant time.
2. Give up to 1/3 of your assets to someone who is not your legal heir (such as charity or distant relatives).

2. Guardianship of your minor children

If you have any children below the age of 21 years, you should note that your wife will not be the automatic guardian of your children upon your death. She will only keep custody of your minor children as per the UAE law. The legal guardianship of your children will be determined by the UAE courts keeping in view the circumstances at the time and it may be granted to a male in your side of the family. The legal guardian appointed by the court will have the authority to exercise legal rights over the minor children and their assets while the children may stay in the custody of your wife. This may not be a desirable situation given the potential practical and legal complications. To avoid this, you should write a Guardianship Will to appoint your wife as the legal guardian of your minor children.

You should also appoint alternate guardian(s) in your Will to cover a situation where you and your spouse both pass away together. This option may be available depending upon the place of registration of your Guardianship Will.

3. Appointment of Executor

Your Muslim Will should appoint your spouse as the executor of your will to ensure that he/she has full control over the process of obtaining inheritance certificate form the court.
You should also appoint alternate executor(s) in your Will to cover a situation where you and your spouse both pass away together.

If you wish to pass your assets to your spouse during your lifetime, you should consider the following:

1. Unregistered Assets

All of your personal and household items (everything you have at home) are your unregistered assets. These assets will be distributed to all of your legal heirs as they will remain your personal property and form part of your estate upon your death. Your wife will be entitled to 1/8 of these assets only. This can make things difficult for her as these items would be essential part of her and your children’s day-to-day use. She will be under a legal obligation to give away the shares of all other legal heirs (if any) determined under Sharia law. To avoid the situation, you should gift all these personal and household items to your wife through a Gift Deed during your lifetime.

2. Registered Assets

Your registered assets include your apartment, company shares, bank account and vehicle etc. You can also gift your apartment, company shares, vehicle and the cash in bank account to your wife. However, you have to transfer the ownership of the apartment, company shares and the vehicle to your wife in the relevant Government Departments during your lifetime to ensure the validity of this gift. Otherwise, such a gift may not be enforceable.

A power of attorney is an important part of estate planning exercise in the UAE. The power of attorney will allow your spouse to represent you before third parties including government departments, manage your assets and take other actions that you would want your wife to take in the event you are either outside the country or is unable to take action due to some illness/incapacitated. The power of attorney will however expire upon your death.