Continuing from our last article on inheritance and asset protection in UAE, in this article, we explore various aspects related to execution of a will in UAE. As stated in the previous article, Inheritance in UAE, is governed by Article 17 of the UAE Civil Transactions Code (“Civil Code”), which stipulates that: (1) Inheritance shall be governed by the Law of the deceased (dead person) at the time of his death. (2) Property rights located in the territory of the State (UAE) which belong to a foreigner having no heir shall revolve upon to and become vested in the State. (3) The substantive provisions governing testamentary dispositions (Wills) and other dispositions taking effect after death shall be governed by the law of the state of which the person making such disposition is a national at the time of his death. (4) The form of Wills and other dispositions taking effect after death shall be governed by the law of the state of which the person making such disposition is a national at the time the disposition is made, or the law of the state in which the disposition is made. (5) The Law of the United Arab Emirates shall apply to Wills made by foreigners disposing of their real property located in the UAE.

It is quite evident from the language of the above article of the Civil Code that the law makers intended that an individual should be free to decide the manner and procedure to will his assets and that the substantive provisions governing such a will shall be governed by the law of the state, of which the person making such will is a national at the time of his death. The article also provides that the form of such wills shall also be governed by the law of the state of which the person making such a will is a national at the time of his death. In short and simple words, a will made by an expatriate citizen in UAE shall be governed by the law of the expatriate citizen’s home country. However, the above article must be read in conjunction with Article 27 of the Civil Code, which clearly stipulates that “It shall not be possible to apply the provisions of a law specified by the preceding article if such provisions are contrary to the Islamic Sharia Law, public order, or morals in the State of the United Arab Emirates.” Therefore, if the courts and the national judge feels that the will is contradictory to the provisions of Sharia Law or morals of the UAE, they may not apply the provisions of such a will.

Therefore, while drafting a will, a testator must pay attention and must not include such provisions as might contradict or be against the basic rules of Sharia Law.

It is noteworthy that the above article also stipulates that a will may not be made with respect to immovable assets, which are attached to the land and that law of the UAE must apply to all such assets. Because of this specific exclusion, it is advisable to buy real estate assets under the name of an offshore company rather than buying them under individual names and then including such assets in a will.

While drafting a will, an individual must also include provisions with respect to the custody of minor children and all eventualities such as death of both the parents should be borne in mind while drafting such a document.

Once completed such a will must be notarized by a UAE court. The will may either be in Arabic or the same can also be in a bilingual format. The attestation is usually done by the notary public’s office for a nominal attestation charge. In the absence of attestation a will may not be admissible in the courts.