Private Clients
Estate planning for families and business owners in the UAE
01_introduction
Estate planning is the whole of how a person's assets are protected during life and passed on at death, of which a will is one part. For families and business owners in the UAE, particularly non-Muslim expats, the gap between what people assume happens to their assets and what the default law actually provides is wide, and estate planning is the work of closing it.
The common mistake is treating estate planning as a single document. A will directs personal assets, but a business, cross-border holdings, guardianship of children, and assets held in structures each need their own consideration. Estate planning is the coordination of all of them. This page covers the plan and the consequences of not having one; the mechanics of the will itself, registration, will types, fees, and guardianship, are covered on Wills.
02
How does UAE inheritance law affect non-Muslim expats without a will?
The Civil Default Formula
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022, non-Muslim estates without a will follow a statutory civil distribution: 50% to the surviving spouse and 50% split equally among children, regardless of gender. Sharia law does not apply by default.
Guardianship & Asset Freezes
Dying intestate automatically freezes UAE bank and joint accounts until probate concludes, while local courts decide minor child guardianship. A registered DIFC or Abu Dhabi civil will bypasses court delays, legally securing child custody and pre-determining asset distribution.
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The full scope of estate planning beyond writing a will
Estate planning covers several instruments that work together, and a will is only one:
A registered will directs personal UAE assets and can appoint guardians for minor children
A foundation or trust holds assets outside the personal estate, so they pass by the structure’s rules rather than through probate
Business succession provisions determine what happens to an operating company on death or incapacity
Coordination with home-country instruments ensures UAE and foreign assets do not conflict
A plan that uses only a will leaves the business, the structured assets, and the cross-border coordination unaddressed. The scope of a real estate plan is all of these together.
04
Do assets held abroad need separate estate planning from UAE assets?
Local Jurisdiction & Lex Situs
Generally yes. Foreign real estate and bank accounts are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where they physically sit (lex situs). While a UAE will protects domestic assets, it cannot directly execute foreign probate. Immovable assets abroad require dedicated, country-specific legal instruments to ensure enforceability.
Harmonisation & Revocation Risk
The critical risk is statutory contradiction. Standard wills often contain boilerplate revocation clauses that accidentally cancel foreign wills, causing probate freezes across borders. Comprehensive estate planning coordinates separate, concurrent wills alongside UAE foundations, ensuring multiple legal systems operate seamlessly without triggering conflicting forced-heirship claims.
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How GCG approaches this
Plan the whole estate, then choose the instruments. A will, a structure, and business provisions are components. We establish what a family holds and intends first, then assemble the instruments that deliver it.
Estate planning fails when it starts with a document instead of the picture. GCG maps the full estate, personal assets, business interests, structured holdings, and cross-border assets, before deciding which instruments are needed, so nothing is left unaddressed and no two instruments conflict.
The order:
- Map the full estate, personal, business, structured, and foreign assets
- Establish intent, who should receive what, and who cares for minor children
- Assemble the instruments, will, structure, business provisions, coordinated across jurisdictions
- Review on major life events, since an estate plan ages with the family
The pattern: a founder has a properly drafted DIFC will covering the apartment, the accounts, and the car, and believes his affairs are in order. His company shares are covered by it too, which is the problem, not the solution. On his death the shares pass to three heirs in equal parts under the will, and none of the three can sign for the company until probate concludes. There is no shareholders’ agreement, no successor manager named on the licence, and no provision for a business that has to keep trading, paying staff, and renewing a licence while the estate is settled. The will did exactly what a will does. It was the only instrument in the plan, and a business needs two more.
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Related private client services
07_faq
Does UAE inheritance law differ between the mainland and free zones like DIFC?
Yes, but the distinction is about which court enforces, not about two different inheritance laws. Federal Decree-Law 41/2022 sets the civil succession position for non-Muslims across the UAE. What DIFC provides is not a separate inheritance law but a common-law registration and enforcement route: the DIFC Courts Wills Service registers the will, and the DIFC Courts enforce it.
That route became materially stronger under Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025, which gives the DIFC Courts exclusive jurisdiction over the enforcement of registered non-Muslim wills, so a DIFC probate order can be presented directly to UAE banks, the Dubai Land Department, and the RTA without a separate ratification step. It is not the only route: a non-Muslim will can also be registered with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, bilingual and considerably cheaper, or through Dubai Courts. Which route is right depends on where the assets are and how complex the estate is.
Can estate planning include a business, not just personal assets?
Yes, and for a business owner it must. An operating company needs explicit provision for what happens to ownership and control on death or incapacity, which a personal will alone does not provide. This is one of the main reasons business owners need estate planning rather than just a will. See Succession.
Does UAE inheritance law depend on nationality or religion?
The distinction that matters is not nationality, it is whether the person is Muslim. For Muslims, whether UAE nationals or expatriates, succession is governed by Sharia principles under the UAE's personal status legislation, which sets fixed shares for defined classes of heir, and testamentary freedom is limited; a DIFC will is not available, since the DIFC Wills Service is open only to those who are non-Muslim and have never been Muslim. For non-Muslims, whether expatriate or UAE national, Federal Decree-Law 41/2022 applies, and its scope expressly covers non-Muslim UAE nationals as well as non-Muslim foreigners resident in the State, so a non-Muslim UAE national has the same civil regime and the same testamentary freedom as a non-Muslim expat.
Where estate planning genuinely differs for a national family is not the inheritance law but the asset mix: nationals more often hold assets that are restricted or specially treated, such as land in areas not open to foreign ownership and shareholdings subject to nationality requirements, and those constraints shape what a structure can hold. Planning for a Muslim family is a different discipline that must be led by advisers qualified in it, and GCG will introduce that rather than improvise.
Can a UAE will be updated after major life events like marriage or a new child?
Yes, and it should be. A will should be reviewed and updated on major life events, marriage, divorce, a new child, a significant change in assets, since an out-of-date will can direct assets in a way that no longer reflects the family. A new child in particular is a common trigger, since guardianship provisions may need adding.