Wills and inheritance in the UAE
Two Emirates registries accept a will from a foreign owner, on different terms and at different prices. We match the route to your status and assets, then draft to that registry's own form.
Full Will, single
Полное завещание
AED 10,000
10 000 AED
Guardianship Will
Завещание об опеке
AED 5,000
5 000 AED
Abu Dhabi, regular
Абу-Даби, обычное
AED 950
950 AED
No will, Abu Dhabi
Без завещания
half to the spouse
половина супругу
When you need a UAE will
Nobody has written down where it goes
Property, accounts, a shareholding and a car sit in the Emirates under one name. Without a registered document the order is decided by the local court rather than by the family.
The will from home may not be read
A document drafted and signed abroad still has to be recognised here, translated and proved. That takes time the estate rarely has to spare.
Your children are minors here
Guardianship is the part families most often leave unwritten. A registered will can name who takes it on, within the rules of the registry you chose.
The estate is shares rather than savings
A holding answers to its own constitution and shareholder agreement. Those documents and the will have to agree on what happens next.
Something has changed since you signed
A marriage, a birth, a sale, a move between emirates or a new company. A will describing assets you no longer own is worse than the family expects.
What you get
- The registry chosen against your status, assets and children
- An asset schedule that matches titles and account records
- A draft in the registry's own form, language and witness rules
- The appointment booked and the registration completed
- A written list of the events that should trigger a review
What is required to register a UAE will
A will here is a registration, not a private paper in a drawer. Two Emirates registries take one from a foreign owner, each with its own eligibility, forms and price list.
Moving an asset during your lifetime is a different job and lives at asset transfer; our UAE page carries the rest, and the wider practice sits in Corporate & Structuring.
What happens when nothing is registered
The DIFC Courts put it plainly: where no will is registered, the laws of the local courts in the emirate holding the assets apply by default. Which emirate the property sits in therefore decides the rule, and the answer is not the same across the country.
Abu Dhabi has written its answer down. Under article 11(2) of Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021, half the estate of a non-citizen who dies without a will goes to the surviving spouse and the other half is divided equally between the children, sons and daughters alike. With no children it passes to the parents; with no parents, between the siblings.
Where a foreign owner can register
DIFC Courts Wills Service
Open to a person who is not Muslim and has never been Muslim, is at least eighteen, and owns assets in the Emirates or has minor children living here. Residence is not a condition. Every type is registered and amended online by video call.
Abu Dhabi Civil Wills Office
Open to anyone who is not a citizen of the country, whatever their religion — the wider eligibility of the two. The court publishes a bilingual template, and registration is what makes a civil will valid.
What each registry charges
| Will | Single | Mirror |
|---|---|---|
| Full Will — movable and immovable property | AED 10,000 | AED 15,000 |
| Property Will — up to five properties | AED 7,500 | AED 10,000 |
| Guardianship, Business Owners, Financial Assets or Digital Assets Will | AED 5,000 | AED 7,500 |
| Abu Dhabi, regular registration | AED 950 | — |
| Abu Dhabi, special registration | AED 2,500 | — |
Each DIFC figure carries a booking fee of a tenth on top, and a later amendment costs AED 550. Drafting, translation, legalisation and evidence of title are quoted apart from every line above.
What a registration does not do
It moves nothing by itself. After a death the executor still opens the estate procedure, proves the death and the relationships, obtains the court's authority and deals with each bank, registrar and property authority.
Nor does it reach beyond its own scope. A Property Will covers up to five properties; a Financial Assets Will up to ten accounts; a Guardianship Will only the appointment of guardians. An asset abroad answers to the law of the place where it is held.
Sources: eligibility, will types, video registration and the default position — DIFC Courts Wills FAQ; registration charges — DIFC Courts fees; the Abu Dhabi route, its charges and the distribution without a will — Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, Law No. 14 of 2021, articles 1 and 11(2).
Stages of work
Establishing which registry can take you.
Citizenship, religion where the route makes it relevant, age, where the assets are and whether minor children live here decide the answer. The two registries admit different people, and the wrong choice surfaces at the appointment.
Listing the estate before drafting anything.
Title deeds, bank and brokerage accounts, shareholdings, vehicles, liabilities, existing nominations and anything jointly owned. Identity details are checked against the records that will later be produced: a mismatch slows administration more than an unclear wish.
Reconciling the shares with the company papers.
A holding is governed by the articles and any shareholders' agreement as well as by the will. Where those documents contain transfer restrictions or pre-emption rights, we say so before the will promises something they forbid.
Deciding the appointments.
Who receives what, who administers the estate, who substitutes if a beneficiary dies first, and who is proposed as guardian. Appointment in a will does not remove the later court, immigration or child-welfare steps, and we say so at the time.
Drafting to the registry's own form.
Wording, language, execution and witness rules belong to the registry that will accept the document. Its comments are answered, the charge is paid and the appointment is booked.
Registering and keeping it current.
The will is signed and registered under the route's procedure. You receive the record, a plain asset schedule for the future executor and the list of life events — marriage, birth, sale, relocation — that should bring the document back for review.
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