3 Simple Steps – Wills in Dubai & Will Writing Services for Dubai, UAE

Here are the 4 main benefits of registering Wills in Dubai

Wills in Dubai allow non-Muslims to declare their beneficiaries, appoint guardians for children below 21 years of age and appoint executors for the execution of Will upon death. The Will registration also makes the process of probate simpler. Each of these benefits are outlined below in detail:

1. Declare your beneficiaries

If you are a non-Muslim either having assets or residing in Dubai, you have the following two (2) options in respect of the distribution of your estate upon your death:

Option 1 – Do not register a Will in Dubai

You can leave your estate behind without the registration of your Will in Dubai. If you choose this option, your estate will be distributed amongst your legal heirs in accordance with the Sharia Law. The probate process for the distribution of your estate would require the court to first establish the list of your legal heirs as per the Sharia Law. Once this is done, the court would issue the probate order outlining the share of each legal heir in view of the principles of Sharia. Typically, a wife gets 1/8 of the estate of a deceased husband. Other legal heirs usually include children, parents and possibly siblings and grand-children.

Option 2 – Register a Will in Dubai

The law allows non-Muslims to register their Wills in Dubai and choose their specific beneficiaries. The registered Wills confirm the non-application of Sharia Law to the estate of non-Muslims. Following this route, a Will would confirm the names and shares of each of the beneficiaries. The process of determining the legal heirs under Sharia Law does not apply in this case. Technically, you can choose anyone as your beneficiary who may inherit 100% of your estate. If you choose more than one (1) persons as your beneficiaries, you can assign the relevant percentage of shares of your estate to each of the beneficiaries. Alternate beneficiaries should be appointed to cover situations where the primary beneficiaries do not survive.

Typically, all married expat couples in the UAE choose each other as beneficiaries of 100% of each other’s estate and, if both spouses pass away together, children are chosen to be the alternate beneficiaries with the estate divided between them equally.

2. Appoint guardians for your minor children

In the absence of a duly registered Will in Dubai, the guardianship of your children below the age of 21 years may be determined by the court in view of the Sharia Law. The process may include the determination of the best candidate to play the role of a legal guardian even when the mother of the minor children is alive. To avoid this situation, it may be best for you to register your Will and declare your wife as the guardian of your minor children and appoint alternate guardians to cover a situation where you and your wife pass away together. The Will can also cover the appointment of temporary guardians where the alternate permanent guardians reside outside the UAE. Any guardian appointed in the Will must be over the age of 21 years.

3. Appoint your executors

An executor is a person who takes the Will to the relevant court and have it implemented. In the absence of a Will, it remains unclear as to who would pursue the probate proceedings at the relevant court. If you wish to register your Will, you may want to appoint your primary beneficiary (such as your spouse) as the executor of your Will. This would ensure that the beneficiary is in charge of the probate proceedings. An executor can also be someone who is not a primary beneficiary or is not a beneficiary in the Will. An executor is also required to be over the age of 21 years for the appointment to be valid in a Will.

4. Make the probate process easy for your family

As a Will provides clear instructions on the distribution of estate as well as the appointment of guardians and executors, the process of probate becomes simple. In the absence of a Will, the court needs to first establish the legal heirs which in itself could take longer time and prove logistically challenging for everyone. This part of the process is avoided through the Will which enables the court to simply issue the probate order based on the Will.

Given the benefits, registration of Wills in Dubai by non-Muslims is critical to any estate planning exercise and should be given due consideration by those non-Muslims either having assets or living in Dubai.