Probate and wills in the UAE
A registered will can change everything about what your family faces: which court, which language, which sequence, and how long it takes. This section explains the routes, what each one covers, and how a will is actually executed after a death.
A note on words. Depending on the country, the court and the route, the document your family needs may be called an inheritance declaration, an heirship certificate, a succession order or a grant of probate. They are not interchangeable, and each guide uses the precise term for its procedure.
Guides in this section
Written by a practitioner against the current law, and updated when the framework moves.
- Compare routes DIFC will or onshore probate: which route your family is actually in An honest comparison of the routes, what each covers, and how to work out which one your family's facts put you in.
- Current law Dying without a will in the UAE after the 2024 law: what actually applies now The rules that apply today when there is no will, and why most articles on this subject are describing a repealed regime.
Related reading
Where the will, or its absence, matters most in practice.
- Property The family home after a death: can the surviving spouse stay, sell or transfer? What happens to jointly owned and sole-name property, and the position of the surviving spouse under the current law.
- Scope What a UAE estate includes, and what passes outside it Property, end of service benefits, company shares and insurance: which assets form part of the estate, and which may pass outside it.
Not sure which route fits your family?
A short conversation is usually enough to establish which route your family is in, whether a will would help, and what it would need to cover. The fee for any work is fixed and agreed before it starts.
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