When someone dies in the UAE: what happens, and what to do
The bank restricts the accounts. Property, benefits and company shares each follow their own process. The law has changed three times since 2023, so much of what you read online is out of date. This site explains what applies now, in plain words, one step at a time.
Planning ahead
Start with whatever is closest to your situation. Each guide begins with the first few days.
If nothing has happened yet, a few decisions made now determine everything your family faces later.
Start here
Bank account frozen after a death in the UAE: what happens and what to do first
When a UAE bank learns of an account holder's death, accounts in the deceased's sole name are frozen. For joint accounts, the law suspends the deceased holder's share of the balance, and in practice banks often restrict the account more broadly until the position is clear. For most families this is the moment the legal process actually begins.
The flagship guide explains why this happens, what the bank can and cannot do, which documents unlock the process, and the sequence that leads to funds being released to the heirs.
Why so much online advice is out of date
Three changes in three years
Most pages you will find on UAE inheritance describe the framework as it stood before February 2023. Since then, three federal laws have reshaped who inherits, which law applies, and how the courts approach the estate of a foreign resident. Reading the old rules can lead families to the wrong court, the wrong documents, and the wrong expectations.
Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022
Civil Personal Status, in effect February 2023
A civil framework for non-Muslim residents covering marriage, divorce and inheritance, applied alongside the ability to elect the law of a person's home country. It changed the default position that older articles still describe.
Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024
Personal Status Law, in force 15 April 2025
The Personal Status Law replacing the 2005 regime. It restructured the rules on wills, inheritance and the courts' approach, including recognition of wills between people of different faiths and new protections around estates.
Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025
Civil Transactions Law, in force 1 June 2026
A new civil code replacing the 1985 law, including modernised rules on which country's law governs a cross-border estate and how foreign law is proved before UAE courts. Directly relevant to expatriate families.
The machinery that applies them
Courts and registries, emirate by emirate
Heirship confirmations, succession orders, probate and will registration run through each emirate's courts and registries, with separate routes for registered wills. Which door your family walks through depends on facts, not preference.
Knowledge hub
Guides written for the questions families actually ask
Every guide is written by a practitioner against the current law, in plain language, and updated when the framework moves. Start with the group that matches your situation.
The First Days
What happens immediately after a death touches a UAE bank account, home or employer, and the steps that follow.
- What a UAE estate includes, and what passes outside it Scope Property, end of service benefits, company shares and insurance: which assets form part of the estate, and which, like insurance payable to a named beneficiary, may pass outside it.
- The family home after a death: can the surviving spouse stay, sell or transfer? Property What happens to jointly owned and sole-name property, and the position of the surviving spouse under the current law.
- The joint account myth: what really happens to a joint account when one holder dies Essential reading There is no automatic survivorship: the law suspends the deceased holder's share, and bank practice is often broader still. What that means for the surviving holder.
- Bank account frozen after a death in the UAE: what happens and what to do first Flagship guide Why accounts are restricted, what the bank will ask for, and the sequence that releases funds to the heirs.
Heirs Overseas
For families abroad dealing with a UAE estate: documents, recognition, and getting funds home. Much of the process can run remotely, with assistance in English, Hindi and Malayalam.
- Repatriating an inheritance from the UAE: tax, exchange control and the bank’s paperwork Cross-border What the receiving country requires, what the UAE bank will ask for, and how the two sets of paperwork meet.
- Getting foreign heirship and succession documents recognised in UAE courts Documents Legalisation, translation and the common reasons foreign documents, including Indian succession and heirship certificates, are rejected, with the fixes for each.
- Your father died in Dubai and you are abroad: the heir’s step by step guide Step by step The full sequence from overseas: documents to gather, what can be done remotely, and when travel is actually necessary.
Wills, Routes & Disputes
The decisions that can be made in advance, and what happens when heirs do not agree.
- Inheritance disputes between heirs in the UAE: when the family does not agree Disputes How disagreements over UAE estates are resolved, from negotiated family settlements to proceedings before the courts.
- DIFC will or onshore probate: which route your family is actually in Compare routes An honest comparison of the routes, what each covers, and how to work out which one your family's facts put you in.
- Dying without a will in the UAE after the 2024 law: what actually applies now Current law The rules that apply today when there is no will, and why most articles on this subject are describing a repealed regime.
Practical tools
The documents, and the sequence
Inheritance work in the UAE is document-driven. Families lose weeks to a missing attestation or an untranslated certificate. These two references cover the documents most commonly requested and the stages most estates move through.
Documents you will usually be asked for
Requirements vary by emirate, by bank and by whether a will was registered. Use this as a starting inventory, not a final list.
- Official death certificate. If issued outside the UAE, with the applicable legalisation and Arabic translation
- Heirship confirmation, succession order or grant, as the procedure requires
- Passports and Emirates IDs of the deceased and all heirs
- Marriage certificate and birth certificates of children, legalised where issued abroad
- Any registered will and its registration certificate
- Title deeds, vehicle registrations and bank account details
- Trade licence and share details for any company interests
- Powers of attorney for heirs who are overseas
Each guide in the knowledge hub carries the specific list for its own procedure, including country-specific document requirements.
How a typical estate moves
Every estate is different and no stage has a guaranteed duration. This is the sequence, so you know where you are in it.
Notification and restriction
Banks and institutions restrict accounts on learning of the death. Immediate.
Documents gathered and legalised
Certificates obtained, and legalised and translated where they cross borders. Usually the longest stage for overseas heirs.
Heirship confirmed by the competent court
The court or registry confirms the heirs or admits the will. Route depends on the facts.
Execution
Banks release funds, property transfers are registered, shares are dealt with. Institution by institution.
Cross-border transfer
For overseas heirs, funds are remitted with the receiving country's paperwork in order. See the repatriation guide.
Timings depend on the emirate, the documents and the estate. The guides explain what tends to slow each stage down.
When you are ready
Request a consultation
Some estates can be handled by the family alone. Others cannot, and the difference is not always obvious at the start. A short conversation is usually enough to establish which route your family is in, what documents you will need, and whether you need professional help at all.
Consultations are with Abid Millath, Managing Partner of Millath and Associates, whose work covers UAE onshore succession procedure and cross-border estates, including succession certificates, recognition of foreign documents and repatriation, with particular depth on the UAE-India corridor. Where representation before the UAE courts is required, it is arranged through appropriately licensed UAE advocates. Consultations are available remotely for heirs overseas, in English, Hindi or Malayalam.
What happens when you write to us.
Your message goes to the people named on this page, not a call centre.
You get a personal reply, not an automated one.
Writing in commits you to nothing.
If you do need help, the fee is fixed and agreed before any work starts.
You will get a plain answer about your situation, including where you do not need a lawyer. Nothing on this page creates a lawyer-client relationship.
Common questions
Asked in almost every first conversation
Will the bank really freeze the accounts?
Accounts in the deceased's sole name are frozen once the bank learns of the death. Joint accounts work differently: the surviving holders must notify the bank within ten days, and the bank must then suspend withdrawals up to the deceased holder's share as it stood at the date of death, until the court confirms who succeeds to it. In practice, many banks restrict the account more broadly until the position is clear. What there is not, in any case, is automatic survivorship: the deceased's share belongs to the estate, not to the surviving holder.
Does Sharia automatically apply to non-Muslim expatriates?
Not in the way most older articles describe. Non-Muslim residents now have a civil personal status regime and the ability to elect the law of their home country, and the framework moved again with the 2024 Personal Status Law and the 2025 Civil Transactions Law. What applies to your family depends on the facts, which is exactly what the guides walk through.
Can we handle this from abroad without flying to the UAE?
A large part of the process can be handled remotely with properly legalised documents and powers of attorney, and remote handling is routine for overseas heirs. Some steps may still require presence depending on the emirate and the institutions involved. The heir's step by step guide covers what can and cannot be done from abroad.
What will it cost?
It depends on the emirate, whether there is a registered will, the state of the documents and the assets involved. Document legalisation is usually the longest stage for families abroad. There is no fixed number of weeks that applies to every estate, but the guides explain what tends to slow each stage down and how to avoid it.
Is a registered will still worth it after the law changed?
For many families, yes, because a registered will can simplify the process for the survivors, but which registration route fits depends on your assets, your family and your circumstances. The comparison guide sets out the routes without selling any of them.