Wills and Estate Planning
Will Drafting Services in Dubai
Overview
A will drafted for Dubai has to do three things at once: express what you actually want, fit the law that will govern your estate, and be capable of being registered and later implemented by the body that will handle it. A document that satisfies the first but not the other two creates work for your family rather than removing it.
Our drafting process therefore begins with facts rather than templates. We establish your nationality, your religion where it is legally relevant, where you are resident, what you own, where each asset sits, and who depends on you. Only then do we identify the applicable framework, agree the registration route, and draft. We record the reasoning as we go, so that if the law or your circumstances change the will can be revisited without starting again.
This page is about the drafting process. If you want the legal framework for making a will in the UAE, see our wills lawyer in Dubai page. If you are an expatriate property owner and want the position explained in those terms, see wills for expatriate property owners. If a death has already occurred, start with our inheritance lawyer page.
Jurisdiction: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Discuss Your Legal Matter
Tell us what has happened, the documents you hold and the dates involved. Our Dubai legal team will review the details and explain the options that may be open to you.
Step 1 — Reviewing Your Assets, Your Family and Your Personal Status
The first meeting is a fact-finding exercise, not a drafting exercise. Before anything can be written we need an accurate picture of what you own, where it sits and who is connected to you.
- Personal status: nationality or nationalities, religion where it is legally relevant to which succession regime applies, marital status, and whether any earlier will exists anywhere in the world.
- Residence and presence in the UAE: whether you hold a UAE residence visa, where you are habitually resident, and whether your family is resident here.
- Immovable property: each unit or plot, the emirate it sits in, whether it is freehold or leasehold, whether it is held in a designated area, whether it is registered in the Real Property Register or the Interim Real Property Register, and whether it is mortgaged.
- Companies and shareholdings: mainland companies, free zone entities, offshore holding companies, and whether any property is held through a company rather than in your personal name.
- Financial assets: UAE bank accounts, investment accounts, end-of-service entitlements and insurance policies, distinguishing those with a nominated beneficiary from those without.
- Dependants: children and their ages, anyone financially dependent on you, and whether guardianship arrangements are needed.
- Assets outside the UAE: identified but not assumed to be covered, because a UAE-registered will is not automatically effective over foreign assets and a foreign will is not automatically effective here.
Where a fact is unclear we verify it rather than assume it. Whether a property is held personally or through a company, for example, changes what the will can dispose of and how.
Step 2 — Establishing Which Law Applies to Your Estate
This is the step that determines everything that follows, and it is the step most commonly skipped. The applicable regime is a question of law, not of preference, and it turns on the facts gathered in Step 1.
The framework we work within currently includes:
- Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 promulgating the Civil Transactions Law, which came into force on 1 June 2026 and repealed Federal Law No. 5 of 1985. Article 17(1) provides that succession is governed by the law of the deceased's nationality at the time of death. Article 17(5) provides that the law of the United Arab Emirates applies to a will made by a foreigner concerning their immovable property located in the State.
- Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status, in force since 1 February 2023, which applies to non-Muslim UAE citizens and to non-Muslim foreigners in the State unless a party elects the application of the law of their own country. Article 11 addresses wills and the position where no will has been made.
- Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 on Personal Status, which replaced Federal Law No. 28 of 2005.
- Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017, which established registers of non-Muslim wills in Dubai and links the court that will later deal with the will to the register in which it was recorded.
Two points are worth stating plainly because they are frequently misrepresented online. First, the position of a foreign national who owns immovable property in the UAE is not settled by simply naming a preferred foreign law in the document; Article 17(5) is expressly directed at wills made by foreigners over immovable property in the State. Second, registering a will with a particular court does not by itself extend that will to every asset you own, in the UAE or abroad. What a will covers is determined by what the will says, what the applicable law permits, and what the registering body accepts.
We give you the analysis in writing before drafting begins, so the choice of route is a decision you make on advice rather than one made for you by a template.
Step 3 — Choosing the Registration Route
Once the applicable framework is identified, the next decision is where the will will be registered. In Dubai the routes that arise most often are the register maintained by the Dubai Courts and the register maintained by the DIFC Courts, both recognised under Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017. The court that will later deal with the will follows the register in which it was recorded, which is why this decision is taken deliberately rather than by default.
The DIFC Courts Wills Service is open to a person who is not Muslim and has never been Muslim, who is at least 18 years old, and who either owns assets in the UAE or has minor children resident here. Residency in the UAE is not a condition. The service covers movable and immovable property in the UAE and offers five distinct will types:
- Full Will — the broadest form, covering assets and, where relevant, guardianship.
- Guardianship Will — directed at the appointment of guardians for minor children.
- Property Will — limited to a defined number of properties, currently up to five.
- Business Owners Will — limited to a defined number of shareholdings, currently up to five.
- Financial Assets Will — limited to a defined number of accounts, currently up to ten.
The narrower will types exist because they are quicker and cheaper to register, not because they are inferior. Where a client owns two apartments and nothing else in the UAE, a Property Will may be the proportionate answer. Where the estate is mixed, or guardianship is in issue, the narrower forms will not carry the whole arrangement and we say so.
The Dubai Courts register is the alternative route for non-Muslim wills under the same Dubai law. Which register suits a particular client depends on the composition of the estate, the language and translation requirements, where the beneficiaries are, and how the will is expected to be implemented.
We do not quote registration fees on this page. Published fees change, and a figure that is out of date is worse than no figure. We confirm the current fee for your chosen route in writing before you commit to it.
Step 4 — Taking Instructions on Beneficiaries and Shares
With the framework and route settled, we take detailed instructions on distribution. The aim is a document that leaves no room for competing readings.
- Identifying beneficiaries precisely: full legal names as they appear on passports, dates of birth, nationality and relationship to you. Names that appear in different forms across documents are a common cause of delay later.
- Fixed shares or specific gifts: whether a beneficiary receives a percentage of the estate, a named asset, or a combination, and what happens to the balance.
- Substitute beneficiaries: what is to happen if a beneficiary dies before you. A will without substitutes can leave part of an estate undirected.
- Beneficiaries who are minors: how a share is to be held until a child reaches majority, and who is to hold it.
- Liabilities: how mortgages and other debts secured on property are to be dealt with, since a beneficiary who inherits a mortgaged property inherits the encumbrance with it.
- Assets with a nominated beneficiary: insurance policies and similar arrangements may pass outside the will. We identify these so the will and the nominations do not contradict each other.
Where instructions would produce an outcome the applicable law does not permit, we tell you before drafting rather than after registration.
Step 5 — Appointing Executors
Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 requires a will registered under it to name an executor. This is not a formality. The executor is the person who will deal with the court, the Dubai Land Department, banks and any company registrar after your death, and the practical quality of the appointment often matters more to your family than the drafting of the distribution clauses.
- Who to appoint: someone who can realistically act, who is contactable, and who is willing. We ask you to confirm willingness before the appointment is drafted.
- Substitute executors: at least one reserve appointment, so the estate is not left without an executor if the first appointee cannot act.
- Executors resident outside the UAE: workable, but the practical burden is higher. We explain what that involves before you decide.
- Powers: what the executor may do — sell, transfer, hold, distribute — expressed clearly enough that a bank or registry can act on it without further application.
- Conflicts: where an executor is also a substantial beneficiary, we identify the tension and address it in the drafting.
Step 6 — Guardianship of Minor Children
For parents of children resident in the UAE, guardianship is frequently the most urgent reason to make a will at all. The DIFC Courts Wills Service offers a dedicated Guardianship Will, and guardianship can also be dealt with within a Full Will.
- Permanent guardians: who is to have long-term care of your children.
- Interim guardians: who is to care for them in the period immediately after a death, before a permanent arrangement takes effect. Parents often overlook this, and it is the period in which practical difficulty is most likely.
- Guardians outside the UAE: where the intended guardian lives abroad, the arrangement has to anticipate the child leaving the country.
- Financial provision: how the children are to be maintained, and whether the person caring for them is also to control the funds.
- Consent: we ask that intended guardians are approached before they are named.
We do not present guardianship provisions as producing a guaranteed outcome. A court retains its role in matters concerning children. A properly drafted and registered guardianship provision is evidence of your wishes, recorded in a form the court can consider, which is materially better than leaving no record at all.
Step 7 — Defining Which Assets the Will Covers
A large proportion of the problems we see in existing wills come from imprecise asset description. A clause that reads "my property in Dubai" is an invitation to argument. A clause that identifies the unit, the plot, the project and the registration details is not.
- Immovable property: described by reference to the title deed or, for off-plan units, the Initial Sale Contract and the entry in the Interim Real Property Register.
- Off-plan units: treated on their own terms. Rights under an off-plan purchase are not the same as a completed registered title, and the drafting has to reflect that.
- Mortgaged property: the encumbrance identified, and the intention as to who bears it recorded.
- Property held through a company: where the registered owner is a company, what passes under the will are the shares, not the property. The will has to be drafted accordingly.
- Bank and investment accounts: identified by institution, with the limits of the chosen will type in mind where a narrower DIFC will form is used.
- Assets abroad: expressly addressed, so that the interaction between this will and any foreign will is deliberate rather than accidental. Two wills drafted independently in two countries can revoke or contradict one another.
Where the estate includes property whose ownership or registration status is unclear, we resolve that first. See our property due diligence and Dubai Land Department pages for how that verification is carried out.
Step 8 — Drafting, Review and Translation
Only at this point is a document written. Drafting is done against the instructions recorded in the earlier steps, not against a precedent selected at the outset.
- First draft with commentary: you receive the draft together with a note explaining why each significant provision is expressed as it is, so you can review the substance rather than the wording alone.
- Consistency checks: names, shares that must total correctly, definitions used consistently, and no clause that contradicts another.
- Registration requirements: the draft is checked against what the chosen register requires before submission, rather than after a rejection.
- Language and translation: where a register or a later implementation step requires an Arabic version, legal translation is arranged and the two versions are checked against each other. Terminology matters here; an inexact translation of a distribution clause can change its effect.
- Revision: we expect at least one round of amendment. A will that has not been questioned by the person making it has usually not been read properly.
Step 9 — Signing and Registration Formalities
Execution formalities are where otherwise sound wills fail. Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 requires a will registered under it to be signed by the testator before two witnesses, to name an executor, and to set out the disposition of assets. The DIFC Courts Wills Service registers wills electronically and requires two witnesses aged 18 or over.
- Witnesses: identified and confirmed in advance. A witness who also benefits under the will is a risk we design out rather than discover later.
- Identification: original passports, Emirates ID where held, and any other documents the register requires, checked before the appointment rather than at it.
- Attendance: we confirm what the register requires in your case and prepare you for it, including where an appointment can be conducted remotely and where it cannot.
- The registration act itself: a will that has been drafted and signed but not registered in the intended register does not have the standing the client believed it had. Completion of registration is treated as part of the engagement, not as an optional last step.
You receive confirmation of registration and a record of what was registered.
Step 10 — Records, Storage and Periodic Review
A will only helps if it can be found and relied upon. The closing stage of the engagement is about making that true.
- Where the will is held: confirmation of the register in which it is recorded and how it is later retrieved.
- Telling the right people: your executor and, where appropriate, your intended guardians should know a will exists and where it is registered. They do not need to know its contents.
- Your own file: a copy, the asset schedule, and the note of advice, kept together so that a future review does not start from nothing.
- Review triggers: marriage or divorce; the birth of a child; buying or selling property; acquiring or disposing of a company; a change of nationality; a beneficiary or executor dying; a move to or from the UAE; and any material change in the governing law.
The last of these is not theoretical. The Civil Transactions Law was replaced with effect from 1 June 2026, and the personal status legislation has been replaced within the last few years. Wills drafted against superseded legislation should be reviewed rather than assumed to be still fit for purpose.
Amending and Revoking a Registered Will
A will is not a fixed object. It can be changed while you have capacity, and there are two routes to doing so.
- Amendment: altering specific provisions while keeping the existing will in place. Whether this is available, and in what form, depends on the register in which the will is recorded.
- Replacement: making a fresh will that revokes the earlier one. Where changes are numerous or structural, replacement is usually cleaner than repeated amendment.
Two practical points. First, an amendment made informally — a marked-up copy, an email, a note left with the document — does not alter a registered will. The change has to be made in the form the register requires. Second, revocation has to be deliberate. Making a new will abroad without addressing your UAE will, or a UAE will without addressing a foreign one, can revoke more than you intended or leave two inconsistent documents in existence.
We deal with amendment and revocation on the same basis as original drafting: establish the position, advise, then implement.
How a Registered Will Is Implemented After Death
Clients reasonably want to know what the document they are signing will actually do. In outline, and without treating any estate as routine:
- The death is registered and the required certification obtained.
- The executor named in the will approaches the court connected to the register in which the will was recorded. Under Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 the register determines which court deals with the will.
- The court considers the will and issues the orders needed to give effect to it.
- Those orders are then used with the institutions holding the assets — the Dubai Land Department for immovable property, banks for accounts, and company registrars for shareholdings — to effect the transfers.
We do not publish estimated timescales for this process. Duration depends on the composition of the estate, whether the will is contested, whether documents from outside the UAE need legalisation, and the workload of the institutions involved. Any firm quoting a standard completion time is quoting a marketing figure rather than a legal one.
Where a death has already occurred and there is no will, or the will is disputed, that is a different piece of work. See our inheritance lawyer in Dubai and property inheritance pages.
Documents We Normally Ask You to Provide
Having these ready shortens the process considerably. Not every item applies to every client.
- Passport for you and, where relevant, your spouse, including any second nationality.
- Emirates ID and residence visa page, if held.
- Birth certificates for any children, and passports where they hold them.
- Marriage certificate, or divorce documentation where relevant.
- Title deeds for each property, or the Initial Sale Contract and Interim Real Property Register entry for off-plan units.
- Mortgage documentation for any encumbered property.
- Trade licence, memorandum of association and share certificates for any company you hold an interest in.
- A list of UAE bank and investment accounts, by institution.
- Details of insurance policies and end-of-service entitlements, noting any nominated beneficiary.
- Any existing will, in the UAE or abroad, and details of where it is held.
- Full names, dates of birth, nationalities and contact details for intended beneficiaries, executors and guardians.
Where a document is missing we tell you whether it is genuinely needed or whether the drafting can proceed without it.
Issues We Commonly Correct at the Drafting Stage
These are the recurring problems we find in wills clients bring to us for review, and the reasons the process above is structured as it is.
- A foreign will assumed to cover UAE property. A will made abroad is not automatically effective over immovable property in the UAE, and Article 17(5) of the Civil Transactions Law addresses wills made by foreigners over immovable property located in the State.
- Property described too loosely to be transferred. Registries act on identifiable assets, not on general descriptions.
- Company-held property treated as personally owned. Where a company is the registered owner, the will disposes of shares.
- No substitute beneficiary or executor. A single point of failure in a document intended to last decades.
- Guardianship omitted by parents of young children. Often the most consequential omission of all.
- Two wills in two countries that were never read against each other.
- A will drafted against legislation that has since been replaced, and never revisited.
- A will drafted but never registered, leaving the family with a document and no route to use it.
- A narrower will type used for an estate it cannot carry, because it was chosen on price rather than fit.
How Long Will Drafting Takes, and What Affects It
We do not publish a fixed turnaround, because the variables are real rather than presentational. What we do is tell you, after Step 1, what your particular matter is likely to involve and what would delay it.
The factors that most often affect duration are: whether the applicable law question is straightforward on your facts or requires analysis; whether title and ownership records are clear or need verification with the Dubai Land Department; whether property is held personally or through one or more companies; whether documents from outside the UAE need legalisation or attestation; whether legal translation is required; whether guardianship is in issue; how many rounds of amendment you want; and the appointment and processing times of the chosen register, which are outside our control.
A single-property, single-beneficiary will with clear title and no guardianship is a materially shorter piece of work than a mixed estate with corporate structures and dependants in more than one country. We would rather set that expectation accurately at the start than meet a headline figure by cutting the analysis.
Where This Page Fits Alongside Our Other Wills and Inheritance Pages
Each page in this group answers a different question, and we keep them distinct rather than repeating the same material.
- This page — will drafting services. How the drafting and registration process is run, step by step, and what we need from you.
- Wills lawyer in Dubai. The legal framework for making a will in the UAE and the choices it presents.
- Wills for expatriate property owners. The same subject approached from the position of a foreign national who owns property here.
- Inheritance lawyer in Dubai. Succession advice and disputes, including where a death has already occurred.
- Property inheritance in Dubai. How real property specifically passes on death and what the Dubai Land Department requires.
- Real estate lawyer in Dubai. Transactional and advisory property work, including the ownership structures that affect what a will can dispose of.
Official Legal Sources
The legal statements on this page are taken from official sources. Where a proposition could not be verified against one, it is not stated. Legislation is reviewed periodically and this page records when it was last checked.
| Instrument or body | Relevance to this page | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 promulgating the Civil Transactions Law (in force 1 June 2026) | Article 17 — law applicable to succession and to a will made by a foreigner over immovable property in the State; repeal of Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 | UAE Legislation portal |
| Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status (in force 1 February 2023) | Scope of application to non-Muslims; wills and the position where no will exists | UAE Legislation portal |
| Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 on Personal Status | Current personal status legislation, replacing Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 | UAE Legislation portal |
| Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 | Registers of wills of non-Muslims in Dubai; executor, disposition and witnessing requirements; court that deals with the will | Dubai Legislation |
| DIFC Courts Wills Service | Eligibility criteria, the five will types and their limits, and registration and witnessing requirements | DIFC Courts |
| Dubai Courts | Registration of non-Muslim wills through the Dubai Courts register and subsequent implementation | Dubai Courts |
| Dubai Land Department | Property registration records and transfer of registered immovable property | Dubai Land Department |
Legislation last checked against official sources: 28 August 2026. Jurisdiction: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
FAQs
Will Drafting in Dubai — Frequently Asked Questions
You are not legally compelled to make one, but without a will your estate is distributed according to whichever succession regime applies to you under UAE law, rather than according to your wishes. For a foreign national who owns immovable property here, a registered will is the mechanism by which your own choices are recorded in a form the competent authorities can act on. It is also the only practical way to appoint guardians for minor children resident in the UAE.
That is determined by law, not by preference. Article 17(1) of the Civil Transactions Law, promulgated by Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 and in force since 1 June 2026, provides that succession is governed by the law of the deceased's nationality at the time of death. Article 17(5) provides that UAE law applies to a will made by a foreigner concerning immovable property located in the State. Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status applies to non-Muslim citizens and to non-Muslim foreigners in the State unless a party elects the law of their own country. Which of these bears on your position depends on your nationality, your religion where legally relevant, and where your assets sit. We establish that before drafting.
Do not assume so. A foreign will is not automatically effective over immovable property located in the UAE, and Article 17(5) of the Civil Transactions Law is expressly directed at wills made by foreigners over immovable property in the State. There is also a practical dimension: even where a foreign will can be relied on, using it here typically requires legalisation, translation and a court process that a locally registered will is designed to avoid. We review any existing foreign will as part of Step 1 so that the two documents work together rather than against each other.
Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 provides for registers of wills of non-Muslims maintained at the Dubai Courts and at the DIFC Courts. The court that later deals with the will follows the register in which it was recorded, so the choice of register is a substantive decision rather than an administrative one. Which route suits you depends on the composition of your estate, language and translation requirements, and how the will is expected to be implemented.
The DIFC Courts Wills Service is open to a person who is not Muslim and has never been Muslim, who is at least 18 years old, and who either owns assets in the UAE or has minor children resident here. UAE residency is not a requirement. The service covers movable and immovable property in the UAE.
Five. A Full Will, which is the broadest form; a Guardianship Will, directed at the appointment of guardians for minor children; a Property Will, limited to a defined number of properties, currently up to five; a Business Owners Will, limited to a defined number of shareholdings, currently up to five; and a Financial Assets Will, limited to a defined number of accounts, currently up to ten. The narrower forms are quicker and cheaper to register but will not carry an estate they were not designed for, which is why the choice is made after the asset review rather than before it.
Not automatically. What a will covers is determined by what the will says, what the applicable law permits, and what the registering body accepts. Where you hold assets in more than one country, the usual approach is to ensure that your UAE will and any foreign will are drafted with knowledge of each other, so that neither unintentionally revokes or contradicts the other. That coordination is part of the drafting work, not an afterthought.
Yes. Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 requires a will registered under it to name an executor, together with the disposition of the assets, and to be signed before two witnesses. We also recommend naming at least one substitute executor, because the appointment has to survive the years between signature and death.
Yes. Guardianship can be dealt with within a Full Will, and the DIFC Courts Wills Service also offers a dedicated Guardianship Will. We advise appointing both permanent and interim guardians, since the period immediately after a death is when practical difficulty is most likely. A guardianship provision records your wishes in a form the court can consider; it does not remove the court's role in matters concerning children, and we do not present it as guaranteeing a particular outcome.
Your estate is distributed according to the succession regime that applies to you under UAE law rather than according to your intentions. For non-Muslims, Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status addresses the position where no will has been made. The distribution that results may not match what you would have chosen, and the absence of a named executor and of guardianship provisions creates additional work for your family at the worst possible time. If a death has already occurred, our inheritance lawyer page is the relevant starting point.
Yes, materially. Where a company is the registered owner of the property, what passes under your will is your shareholding in that company, not the property itself. The will has to be drafted to dispose of shares, and the corporate documents have to be consistent with it. This is one of the most common defects we find in wills prepared without an asset review, and it is why Step 1 asks specifically how each property is held.
Yes, while you have capacity. Depending on the register, you can either amend specific provisions or make a fresh will that revokes the earlier one. Where the changes are numerous or structural, replacement is usually cleaner. What does not work is informal amendment: a marked-up copy, an email or a note left with the document does not alter a registered will. The change has to be made in the form the register requires.
We quote in writing after the initial review, once we know what the matter actually involves, and we confirm the current registration fee for your chosen route at the same time. We deliberately do not publish standard prices or turnaround times on this page. Published registration fees change, and the work involved in a single-property will with one beneficiary is not comparable to a mixed estate held partly through companies with dependants in more than one country. A headline figure that ignores that difference is a marketing number rather than an accurate one.
On marriage or divorce, on the birth of a child, when you buy or sell property, when you acquire or dispose of a company interest, on a change of nationality, if a beneficiary or executor dies, if you move to or from the UAE, and whenever the governing law changes. The last of these is live: the Civil Transactions Law was replaced with effect from 1 June 2026, and the personal status legislation has been replaced within the last few years. A will drafted against superseded legislation should be reviewed rather than assumed to be still fit for purpose.
Disclaimer
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or relied upon as a substitute for professional legal guidance. Visiting this website or contacting Dubai Property Lawyer does not establish a client-lawyer relationship. While we strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information, we make no warranties or representations regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the content herein. For personalized legal advice and solutions tailored to your specific circumstances, please consult with one of our qualified real estate financing lawyers