What happens to your Dubai property when you die, and what a registered will changes

Law No. (15) of 2017 governs the estates of non-Muslims in Dubai. Article 3: “This Law will apply to all Wills and Estates of non-Muslims in the Emirate, including in the Dubai International Financial Centre.” Article 4 starts from the general choice of law rules, then sets them aside in four cases, the first being “where the Estate or Will relates to Real Property located in the Emirate”. There, the legislation in force in Dubai applies, as it does where the testator chooses UAE legislation for his will. That legislation includes the federal law described below, which gives a foreigner’s heirs an option of their own.

The same law puts a will first. Article 5: “A Will takes precedence over intestate succession.” It is carried out, and the estate distributed, only after four liabilities are settled in order: the funeral expenses, the costs of administering the estate and carrying out the will, the executors’ and administrators’ remuneration, and the estate’s debts. Article 7 adds that “a Will may apply to the whole Estate or to any part thereof.”

The first consequence is a wait. Article 21 of the 2017 law says that, apart from funeral expenses and the necessary expenses of family members who depended on the deceased, “no disposition in respect of an Estate may be undertaken before an Estate administration judgment or order is issued by the Competent Court to appoint an Administrator.” The competent court is the Dubai Courts or the DIFC Courts.

The second is the federal default rule. Federal Decree-Law No. (41) of 2022 on Civil Personal Status, in force since 1 February 2023, applies, in our translation of the Arabic text the Ministry of Justice publishes, to non-Muslim UAE citizens and to non-Muslim foreigners resident in the UAE “unless one of them holds to the application of his own law”, in matters that include estates and wills (Article 1). Its Article 11 reads: “Where there is no will, half the inheritance goes to the husband or wife, and the other half is divided equally among the children, with no difference between male and female.” The article goes on to the cases where there are no children, with shares for parents and then siblings. Its third clause lets any heir of a foreigner ask for the law that the Civil Transactions Law makes applicable to the estate, “unless there is a registered will providing otherwise.”

That federal law describes itself as applying to non-Muslims resident in the UAE. For an owner who lives abroad, no official text we read says which default rules reach the Dubai property. A registered will is the way to take that question away from the heirs.

Article 6 of the 2017 law creates “a register known as the Register of Wills of non-Muslims” at both the Dubai Courts and the DIFC Courts. To be registered, a will must be made by a non-Muslim, name an executor, state how the property is to be disposed of, and be signed in the presence of two witnesses (Article 8).

The DIFC Courts Wills Service describes itself as a joint initiative of the Government of Dubai and the DIFC Courts for non-Muslims investing and living in the UAE. Its conditions: “You are not Muslim and have never been a Muslim”, you are at least 18, and you own assets in the UAE or have minor children living with you there. “You do not need to be a resident of the UAE”. For an owner whose UAE assets are property, the Property Will “can encompass up to five (5) real estate properties (or a share in up to five (5) real estate properties) that are situated in the UAE”, though property you have not yet acquired cannot be included, so a will made before a purchase needs updating after it. A Full Will covers all movable and immovable assets.

The DIFC Courts fee schedule lists a Property Will at AED 7,500, or AED 10,000 for mirror wills, and a Full Will at AED 10,000, or AED 15,000 for mirror wills, with a non-refundable booking fee against each. The DIFC Courts say the fees “are not subject to the 5% VAT”. One rule catches people out: under the DIFC rules “a Will is revoked by the Testator’s marriage unless the intent to marry an individual is clearly stated in the Will.”

The Dubai Courts register exists by the same Article 6. Their own service page could not be opened when we checked, so its conditions and fee are not given here.

The heirs start at the court. “In the event of a death, the DIFC Courts issue the required Probate Orders and Guardianship Orders”, and their FAQ gives USD 1,500 as the fee to apply for a grant of probate. Until a court has appointed an administrator, Article 21 bars any dealing with the estate.

The title then moves through the Land Department’s Inheritance Title Transfer service, which registers ownership for the heirs “based on the legal inheritance certificate and the heirs’ identification documents”. It asks for the legal notification of inheritance, Emirates ID copies of heirs who live in the UAE and passports of those who do not, and an official letter from the Dubai Courts, another UAE court or the Awqaf requesting the transfer. A mortgaged property also needs a no objection letter from the bank, and one bought off plan, on a preliminary sale agreement, a no objection letter from the developer. The fee is AED 1,000 per property, collected from the heirs, plus AED 250 for the title deed, a map fee of AED 250 for an apartment or a villa, and AED 130 plus VAT to the service partner.

Abu Dhabi has its own statute, Law No. (14) of 2021, which applies to the wills and inheritances of non-Muslims “as long as the inheritances or the bequeathed estates are present within the country” (Article 3). A testator may “bequeath by will all the assets they possess in the country to any beneficiaries of their choice”; without a will, “half of the estate shall devolve to the husband or wife and the other half shall be divided equally among the children, without distinction as to gender” (Article 11). As in the federal law, the heirs may ask for the law the Civil Transactions Law points to, unless a registered will stipulates otherwise.

Wills are registered with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, which says a civil will must be registered to be legally valid and publishes the fee: “The fee for regular will register is 950 AED and for special will registering 2500 AED.” Whether a DIFC Courts will is acted on for land in Abu Dhabi is something no official page we read addresses.

How your home country taxes an inheritance, and whether its own succession rules reach a Dubai property, are separate questions. Our country guides answer them from each country’s own published rules, for buyers from the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland among others. If you are still choosing the property, the Dubai off-plan hub lists the projects we track, and the cost of buying calculator adds the registration costs. The title you register at purchase is the one your heirs will inherit, and our Dubai and Abu Dhabi comparison sets out how registration differs between the two emirates.

Everything below was either not on an official page we could read on 1 October 2026 or would need a reading we did not do, so it is not stated above.

• The official English text of Federal Decree-Law No. (41) of 2022, which the federal legislation portal refused to serve, and its Executive Regulation, which sets the controls on how much of an estate a will may cover under that law.
• Article 17 of the Civil Transactions Law in its current wording, the rule both the federal and the Abu Dhabi law point heirs to.
• Which default rules apply to the Dubai property of a non-Muslim who does not live in the UAE.
• The Dubai Courts’ own conditions and fee for registering a will, which we could not open.
• Whether a DIFC Courts will is acted on for property in Abu Dhabi or in other emirates, and how long probate takes.
• What happens to a mortgage debt at death, and to a property held in joint names. The Land Department asks for the bank’s consent to the transfer; we found no official rule on either beyond that.
• The rules for an owner who is Muslim.
• Tax on an inheritance in your home country, which our country guides cover.