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Wills and Succession
Planning in the UAE

Four separate routes register a will in the UAE, and none of them recognises the others automatically. We set out what each route covers, who can use it and what it costs.

4Registration routes
AED 950ADJD single-will government fee
6DIFC will types
50 / 50Spouse and children split with no will
Ask a consultant Read the detail
01
The starting point

What a will actually decides

A registered will settles some things and leaves others untouched. Knowing which is which is the difference between a document that works and one that looks valid until it is needed.

✓ Who receives what — With no will, FDL 41/2022 Article 11 and Abu Dhabi Law 14/2021 Article 11 divide a non-Muslim estate half to the surviving spouse and half equally among the children, sons and daughters identically. Many expatriate clients assume the spouse takes everything.
✓ Revocation has to be territorial — A standard general revocation clause in a UAE will can revoke a home-country will, and a later home-country will can revoke the UAE one while it still sits in the register looking valid. Every revocation and dispositive clause needs limiting to the UAE estate.
✓ The residuary clause — A will disposes only of what it names. A forgotten account, an after-acquired asset or a lapsed legacy falls into residue, and with no valid residuary gift that property passes on intestacy, the exact outcome the will was written to change.
✓ Nomination forms sit outside the will — End-of-service gratuity, DEWS, pensions, brokerage accounts, employer group life and insurance policies pass under the nomination lodged with the provider. A stale nomination naming a former spouse operates in practice ahead of the will.
✓ There is no right of survivorship — Joint accounts freeze on death like any other. A jointly registered property leaves the survivor their own registered share only, and the deceased's share enters the estate.
✓ The freeze still happens — UAE accounts freeze on notification of death and stay frozen until a court order, while rent, school fees and living costs continue. A will changes who receives the money and speeds the process; it does not prevent the freeze, so liquidity is planned separately.
02
Route comparison

The four registration routes

There is no single UAE wills register, and the four mechanisms do not recognise each other automatically. Fees below are payable to the authority, not My Eloah professional fees. ADGM does not run a wills registry: it notarises, and the will then registers at ADJD. In Dubai, note that under Dubai Law 15/2017 Article 11 the first registered will prevails, so an earlier one is formally revoked on the register before a new one is registered.

RouteWho can use itWhat it coversRegistry or court fee
DIFC Wills ServiceNon-Muslim who has never been Muslim; UAE residency not requiredSix will types under DIFC common law, English only, two witnesses. Guardianship reach is Dubai and RAK only. Probate at the DIFC Courts, converted onshoreAED 10,000 single Full Will, AED 15,000 mirror. Amendment AED 550
Dubai Courts NotaryNon-MuslimOne document covering everything, Arabic or bilingual with MoJ sworn translation. Guardianship reach Dubai. Governed by Dubai Law 15/2017AED 2,000 statutory, around AED 2,170 in cash quotes, mirror around AED 4,340
ADJD Abu DhabiMuslim and non-MuslimOne bilingual document, Arabic binding, no witness blocks on the form, fully remote by video. Guardianship reach UAE-wide. Abu Dhabi Law 14/2021 with FDL 41/2022AED 950 single, AED 1,900 mirror. AED 2,500 is the expedited tier
ADGMNon-MuslimNotarisation only, bilingual, then registration at ADJD. Probate through ADJDUSD 155 notarisation plus the ADJD fee of AED 950
03
Children

Guardianship and the interim gap

Guardianship is the reason most expatriate parents in the UAE register a will at all, and it is also where routes differ most. No UAE will guarantees a guardianship outcome.

✓ Reach depends on the route — A DIFC guardianship appointment covers minors habitually resident with the testator in Dubai or RAK only, and is void for children resident elsewhere. An ADJD will reaches UAE-wide.
✓ The interim guardian clause — On both parents' death the children hold no citizenship and no right of abode independent of the deceased sponsor, so their visas become invalid. A permanent guardian abroad needs a flight, a visa and court recognition before having any authority, and somebody must hold lawful custody meanwhile.
✓ What the interim appointment authorises — A UAE-resident interim guardian is named with address, mobile and Emirates ID, and authorised to obtain medical treatment, maintain schooling, extend residence visas, hold passports and if necessary arrange the children's travel, with the executors directed to advance funds.
✓ Person and property kept apart — The person you want raising a child is appointed guardian, while the will's trustees hold the money with a direction to fund the child through the guardian. It avoids handing a capital sum to someone chosen for parenting rather than financial competence.
✓ A DIFC Guardianship Will is a standalone form — Form 2 covers minors only and no assets, at AED 5,000 single and AED 7,500 mirror, for a parent whose asset position is already dealt with elsewhere.
✓ Muslim clients: a preference only — On the father's death, guardianship of person and property passes to paternal male relatives under Sharia principles whatever the will records. A wasiyya states a wish; it does not secure guardianship for a spouse.
04
Business owners

Shares, licences and continuity

A will decides the economic entitlement to shares. It does not by itself solve governance continuity, bank signatory authority, licence renewal or the arrival of an unplanned partner.

✓ The DIFC Business Owners Will — Form 4 covers up to five shareholdings at AED 5,000 single and AED 7,500 mirror. The company must be incorporated in the UAE under federal law, free zone or onshore, with RAK ICC included. Companies incorporated offshore elsewhere do not qualify, and sole establishments and civil companies have no shares the form can transmit.
✓ Check the constitutional documents first — Where the shares are a DIFC company's, the articles or a shareholders' agreement may already govern transmission on death, which changes what the will needs to say.
✓ The MOA pre-emption route — Commercial Companies Law Article 14(4)(b) allows the MOA to give the other shareholders or the company priority in purchasing a deceased partner's shares at a price agreed with the heirs, with the court appointing an expert where price is disputed.
✓ Shares freeze on death — Free zone authorities freeze shares on a shareholder's death, so executor powers are drafted to carry on or wind up a business and to be registered as shareholder pending transfer. Of the free zones, only DMCC publishes a death-of-shareholder route.
✓ The full package — A will or foundation covering the shares, an MOA pre-emption clause, a shareholders' agreement with an agreed valuation mechanism reviewed annually, and shareholder protection insurance sized to the current valuation. The common failure is cover set once and never revalued.
✓ Foundations as the structural alternative — A DIFC foundation is USD 200 to establish and USD 500 a year, an ADGM foundation USD 1,000 and USD 500, and a RAK ICC foundation AED 1,500 plus AED 1,500 and a AED 750 licence annually. Assets held in a foundation leave the personal estate and so do not pass through probate.
05
DIFC menu

DIFC will types and caps

DIFC is the only route with a menu of forms; Dubai Courts and ADJD use one document that covers everything. The figures are DIFC registry fees in AED, not My Eloah fees, and DIFC registration fees are not subject to 5% VAT.

FormSingleMirrorCap and coverage
Full Will10,00015,000No cap. All asset classes, plus guardianship, with worldwide reach available
Property Will7,50010,000Five properties, or a share in up to five. A 25% share consumes a whole slot
Guardianship Will5,0007,500Minors habitually resident with the testator in Dubai or RAK only. No assets
Business Owners Will5,0007,500Five shareholdings, UAE-incorporated, free zone or onshore, RAK ICC included
Financial Assets Will5,0007,500Ten accounts at CBUAE-regulated banks or SCA-regulated brokers, where the testator is the exclusive beneficial owner
Digital Assets Will5,0007,500Assets in the DIFC Courts non-custodial wallet, by specific gift with no residuary catch-all
Amendment5501,100DIFC does not accept codicils, so a modification is a fresh registration
Grant of ProbateUSD 1,500n/aPayable after death by the executor
06
Fee guide

Our fee for this

ServiceFee (AED)
ADJD Abu Dhabi will: planning, structuring, draftingAED 1,830
Dubai Courts will: planning, structuring, draftingAED 1,830
DIFC will: planning, structuring, draftingAED 3,900
Legal translationAt actuals, budget AED 500 to AED 1,500

Professional fees only. Registry, notary and court fees are pass-through and quoted at actuals; DIFC registration fees are not subject to 5% VAT.

Government charges are separate and are paid to the authority, not to us.

07
FAQ

Common Questions.

The route follows the facts rather than preference. A testator who is or ever was Muslim registers at ADJD, because the DIFC and Dubai Courts non-Muslim registers are both closed to them. Minor children habitually resident outside Dubai and RAK point to ADJD, since a DIFC guardianship appointment is void for those children. Where the testator or a witness cannot work in English, DIFC is out, as there are no interpreters and no power of attorney at the signing appointment.
Not automatically. DIFC suits a client whose main asset is Dubai or RAK real estate, because the probate order transmits to the DLD through an established route with no translation step, and it suits significant assets outside the UAE alongside a home-country will. For a client with no Dubai property, no overseas estate and no guardianship constraint, an ADJD will at AED 950 does the same job for a fraction of the registry fee.
No. DIFC requires a testator who is non-Muslim and has never been a Muslim, and a convert is barred permanently even having since left the faith. A person born to a Muslim father is generally treated as having been Muslim, which catches non-practising clients who believe they qualify. ADJD registers wills for both Muslim and non-Muslim testators.
Under Federal Decree-Law 41 of 2024, in force 15 April 2025, a will operates within one third of the estate after funeral expenses and debts, and a bequest cannot favour an heir except with the other adult heirs' approval. The third genuinely delivers a bequest to non-heirs such as a charity, a nephew or an employee, drafted as a fraction so it scales. It also appoints an executor, which otherwise means a family application to the Personal Status Court for an administrator.
UAE residency is not a DIFC requirement, and non-residents register by video from anywhere with an electronic signature. ADJD is also fully remote: the application goes through the ADJD website rather than TAMM, an officer reviews it, an SMS confirms approval or sets out modifications, fees are paid and the notarisation happens by video call. The output is a digitally certified will with a QR code, emailed to the testator.
For ADJD, practitioners estimate seven to ten days end to end, though at least one credible source reports the notarisation slot itself running to roughly three months, so availability is confirmed before a date is promised. A DIFC Grant of Probate is USD 1,500, issued within a few weeks for straightforward estates, then filed with Dubai Courts for conversion into an enforceable judgment. A DLD inheritance transfer is AED 1,000 per property plus title deed and map fees.

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