Making a Will in Dubai
A will is the only way to decide for yourself what happens to your UAE assets. Without one, the estate is distributed under whichever statutory framework applies to you, and the family finds out what that means after the death rather than before.
For non-Muslims, Article 11 of the Civil Personal Status Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022) allows a will covering the entire property owned in the State, in favour of anyone chosen. For Muslims, and where at least one party is Muslim, succession follows the Personal Status Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024). And for real estate specifically, Article 17(5) of the Civil Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025) applies UAE law to a will made by a foreigner over immovable property located in the State — which is why a will drawn up abroad so often fails to do what its maker intended for a Dubai apartment.
This page is about making a will that works here: whether you need one, what it can cover, where it should be registered, and the defects that stop wills operating as intended.
Jurisdiction: Dubai, UAE.
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Overview
This page covers making a will in Dubai: who needs one, what a UAE will can and cannot deal with, the difference between registering at the Dubai Courts and at the DIFC Courts, which DIFC will type fits which estate, guardianship of minor children, appointing an executor, and the defects that most often stop a will working. It is written for property owners, expatriate residents, parents of minor children and non-resident owners of UAE assets. The framework is the Civil Personal Status Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022), the Personal Status Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024), the Civil Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025) and Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017. What suits a particular person depends on their status, what they own and where it is, so nothing here is advice on an individual estate.
Do You Need a UAE Will?
Not everyone does, and it is worth being direct about that. The people for whom a UAE will genuinely changes the outcome are:
- Owners of UAE real estate, because of the Article 17(5) rule. This is the strongest single reason and the one most often overlooked.
- Parents of minor children resident in the UAE, where guardianship needs to be addressed rather than left to be decided later.
- People whose intended distribution differs from the statutory default — an unmarried partner, a stepchild, a charity, unequal shares between children, or anything else the default rules would not produce.
- Business owners, where shares in a UAE company form part of the estate and continuity matters.
- People with assets in more than one country, where wills need to work alongside each other rather than revoke one another by accident.
Someone with no UAE property, no UAE company and no minor children here, whose intended distribution matches the statutory default, may reasonably conclude that a UAE will adds little. We will say so rather than sell one.
What a Will Can Cover, and What It Cannot
Under Article 11 of the Civil Personal Status Law, a non-Muslim covered by that law may leave a will over the entire property they own in the State, in favour of whomever they choose. That is broad, but it has edges worth understanding.
What it reaches
Assets the testator actually owns at death and that sit in the UAE — registered real estate, bank and investment accounts, shares in UAE companies, vehicles and personal assets.
What it does not reach
- Assets held by a company. If a company owns the apartment, the estate contains shares, not the apartment. A will drafted around “my property” may not touch it, and the company’s constitutional documents govern what happens to the shares.
- Assets outside the UAE. Those follow the law and procedure where they sit. A UAE will does not administer them automatically.
- Benefits payable under a scheme’s own rules, such as some end-of-service or insurance arrangements, which are dealt with under those rules alongside the estate.
- What the testator disposed of before death. A will is not a mechanism for undoing lifetime transfers.
A will also does not, by itself, transfer anything. It gives the court a document to implement; the transfer of real estate still has to be registered at the Dubai Land Department afterwards.
Where a Will Is Registered: Dubai Courts or DIFC Courts
Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 provides for registers of non-Muslim wills at both the Dubai Courts and the DIFC Courts. Which register the will sits in determines which court issues the order implementing it, so the choice is procedural rather than cosmetic.
The law also sets requirements for a will to be registered: it must name an executor, set out how the assets are to pass, be signed before two witnesses, be free of alteration, and have the fees paid.
The DIFC Courts publish their own eligibility requirements for their wills service: the testator must not be Muslim and must never have been Muslim, must be at least 18, and must own assets in the UAE or have minor children resident here. UAE residency is not required, which matters for overseas owners of Dubai property. Registration is electronic, with two witnesses aged 18 or over, and can be completed remotely or in person.
Choosing between the two registers is a practical question — where the assets are, who the beneficiaries are, where they are likely to be when the will is implemented, and what the estate will need the court to do. It is worth deciding deliberately rather than defaulting to whichever route was mentioned first.
Choosing the Right Will Type
The DIFC Courts publish five will types, and the wrong choice is one of the more common reasons an estate turns out not to be covered as the testator assumed.
| Type | Covers | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Full will | All movable and immovable property, and guardianship | Mixed estates: property plus company shares plus accounts |
| Property will | Up to five real estate properties | An owner whose UAE assets are essentially the property |
| Business owners’ will | Up to five shareholdings | Company interests, including property-holding companies |
| Financial assets will | Up to ten bank or brokerage accounts | Accounts only |
| Guardianship will | Guardianship of minor children | Parents whose asset position is dealt with elsewhere |
Two practical points. Template wills used side by side leave gaps between them — an asset that is neither one of the five properties nor one of the ten accounts is not covered by either. And a property will is a poor fit where the property is held through a company, because what passes is the shareholding.
Property Owners: The Point Most Wills Miss
Article 17 of the Civil Transactions Law — Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, which came into force on 1 June 2026 and repealed the 1985 Civil Code — sets the general rule that succession follows the law of the deceased’s nationality at death. Paragraph 5 then applies UAE law specifically to a will made by a foreigner concerning immovable property located in the State.
The practical consequence is that a will drawn up in another country, however carefully, is not by itself an answer for Dubai real estate. It may deal properly with everything else the owner has and still meet a different rule when it reaches the apartment.
Three things follow for property owners:
- Deal with the UAE property expressly, in a will that the relevant register will accept.
- Make sure the UAE will and any foreign will do not revoke each other. A standard “I revoke all previous wills” clause in a later foreign will can undo the UAE one.
- Check how the property is actually held. Owned personally, it passes under the will; owned through a company, it passes as shares governed by the constitutional documents.
What happens after death — the order, the registration, the heirs — is covered on our page about property inheritance in Dubai.
Guardianship of Minor Children
For parents of children resident in the UAE, guardianship is often the reason a will is made at all, and it is a separate question from who inherits.
A will can name who the testator wishes to care for their children, and can distinguish between an interim appointment — the person available immediately, usually someone already in the UAE — and a permanent appointment, who may be abroad. Naming only a permanent guardian who lives in another country leaves a practical gap in the period immediately after a death.
A guardianship appointment in a will is an expression of the parents’ wishes for the court to consider; it does not remove the court’s role. What a properly drafted appointment does is make those wishes clear, evidenced and available at the moment they are needed, rather than leaving the family to argue about them.
Executors, and What They Actually Do
Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 requires a registered will to name an executor. It is worth choosing that person deliberately rather than reflexively.
The executor collects and secures the assets, notifies banks and institutions, keeps property outgoings and mortgage instalments paid, settles liabilities, and then distributes what remains and arranges the transfers to be registered. In an estate containing a tenanted apartment or a running business, that means keeping something operating, not simply holding it.
Practical considerations: whether the person can realistically act from where they live, whether they can deal with UAE institutions, whether a substitute is named if they cannot or will not act, and whether naming a beneficiary as executor creates friction with the others. A professional executor is worth considering where the estate is complex or the family is not united.
Why Wills Fail in Practice
The defects that stop a will working are consistent and almost all avoidable:
- A foreign will assumed to cover UAE real estate. Article 17(5) is the reason it often does not.
- A later foreign will revoking the UAE one through a standard general revocation clause that nobody thought about.
- A template will that does not match the assets — a property will where the property is held by a company, or accounts falling outside a financial assets will.
- An unregistered will, which leaves the family relying on a court process that a registered will would have shortened.
- No executor, or an unreachable one, with no substitute named.
- A guardianship appointment naming only someone abroad, leaving a gap in the period immediately after a death.
- Assets acquired after the will that it was never drafted to reach.
- Beneficiaries who cannot be identified from the wording, or whose details have changed.
None of these are exotic. They are what a review catches in an hour and what an estate spends months untangling.
Official Legal Sources
- Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status — UAE Legislation; Articles 1, 11 and 13.
- Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 issuing the Personal Status Law — UAE Legislation; replaces Federal Law No. 28 of 2005.
- Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 promulgating the Civil Transactions Law — UAE Legislation; in force 1 June 2026, repealing Federal Law No. 5 of 1985. Article 17.
- Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 on administration of estates and implementation of wills of non-Muslims — Dubai Legislation.
- DIFC Courts Wills Service — eligibility, will types and registration requirements.
Succession legislation and court services in the UAE are updated from time to time. Where an eligibility requirement, a registration rule or a distribution rule matters to a decision, check it against the official source or ask us to confirm the current position.
Reviewing or Updating an Existing Will
Most of the wills we see are not wrong so much as out of date. The events that make a review worthwhile are specific:
- Buying or selling UAE property, or moving a property into a company.
- Forming, acquiring or exiting a UAE company.
- Marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child.
- A named executor or guardian who has died, moved away or fallen out with the family.
- A later will made in another country, which may have revoked the UAE one.
- A change in the testator’s own status or nationality.
A review is short: we read the will against what the person actually owns now, check whether it still reaches each asset, check the register position for any property, and check that it has not been revoked or contradicted by anything made since. Where it still works, we say so. Where it does not, the correction is nearly always simpler than the consequence of leaving it.
- Jurisdiction
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Who this is for
- Non-Muslims who own or intend to own property or other assets in Dubai, and who want succession to follow their own instructions
- Dubai-level law
- Dubai Law 15/2017 on the administration of estates and implementation of the wills of non-Muslims in the Emirate
- Federal law
- Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 on Civil Transactions, in force 1 June 2026, including Article 17(1) on the applicable law and Article 17(5) on a foreigner’s will over immovable property in the State
- Where a will can be registered
- Dubai Courts under Law 15/2017, or the DIFC Courts Wills Service for those who qualify as non-Muslim
- Common gap
- A foreign will does not automatically govern Dubai property. Registration, scope and asset coverage all have to be checked, not assumed
Related Pages
A will over Dubai property connects to title, succession and, where a company holds the asset, corporate documents.
How We Work on a Will
If you own UAE real estate, almost certainly. Article 17(5) of the Civil Transactions Law applies UAE law to a will made by a foreigner concerning immovable property located in the State, so a foreign will is not by itself an answer for a Dubai property. There is also a revocation risk: a later foreign will containing a general revocation clause can undo a UAE will without anyone intending it.
Under Article 11 of the Civil Personal Status Law, a non-Muslim covered by that law may leave a will over the entire property they own in the State in favour of anyone they choose. For Muslims, and where at least one party is Muslim, distribution follows the Personal Status Law. For real estate the Article 17(5) rule applies alongside, so the position for a specific property is worth confirming.
The DIFC Courts publish the requirements: not Muslim and never having been Muslim, at least 18 years old, and owning assets in the UAE or having minor children resident here. UAE residency is not required, which matters for overseas owners of Dubai property. Registration is electronic with two witnesses aged 18 or over.
Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 provides for registers at both, and the register where the will sits determines which court issues the order implementing it. The choice is procedural and depends on where the assets are, who the beneficiaries are and what the estate will need the court to do — it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default.
It depends on what you own. A property will covers up to five real estate properties; a business owners’ will up to five shareholdings; a financial assets will up to ten accounts; a guardianship will deals only with minor children; a full will covers movable and immovable property and guardianship. Mixed estates usually need the full will, because template wills used side by side leave gaps between them.
Not directly. What forms part of the estate is the shareholding, not the property, and the Land Department register does not change on a shareholder’s death. A will drafted around “my property” may not reach it at all. Where property is held this way, the company’s constitutional documents and any shareholder agreement matter as much as the will.
No. A registered will gives the court a document to implement and removes the need to establish the heirs from scratch, which shortens the process. It does not itself transfer anything: real estate still passes by registration at the Dubai Land Department once the order is issued.
Yes, and for parents of children resident here it is often the main reason to make one. A well-drafted appointment distinguishes an interim guardian who is available immediately — usually someone already in the UAE — from a permanent guardian who may live abroad. The appointment expresses the parents’ wishes for the court to consider; it does not remove the court’s role.
Someone who can realistically act: able to deal with UAE institutions, reachable, and willing. Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 requires a registered will to name an executor. It is worth naming a substitute in case the first cannot act, and worth thinking about whether appointing one beneficiary as executor will create friction with the others.
The estate is distributed under whichever framework applies to you and the heirs are established by the court. Under the Civil Personal Status Law, half passes to the surviving spouse and half is divided equally among the children regardless of gender, with parents and siblings inheriting in a defined order where there are no children. Assets are usually inherited in undivided shares, so a single apartment ends up owned in percentages.
Not on a schedule, but on events: buying or selling UAE property, moving a property into a company, forming or exiting a company, marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or a named executor or guardian becoming unavailable. Also whenever a will is made in another country, because of the revocation risk.
Not for the DIFC Courts route, where residency is not required and registration can be completed remotely. Where someone cannot attend for a particular step, a power of attorney drafted for that purpose may be used, but it must be notarised and legalised for use in the UAE and translated into Arabic.
Generally no. Assets outside the UAE are governed by the law and procedure where they sit, and usually need a separate process there. Where someone owns assets in more than one country, the wills should be drafted to work alongside each other — the common failure is one revoking the other by accident.
Disclaimer
The content provided here is for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments, verdicts, or settlements. DubaiPropertyLawyer.com disclaims all liability for any actions taken or not taken based on the content of this article. For legal advice specific to your situation, we encourage you to contact our expert legal consultants at DubaiPropertyLawyer.com.