WILL

WILLS

SUCCESSION PLANING

The UAE Laws & how they are applied to Expatriates

INTRODUCTION

• ¬ Every Expatriate has a bank account in the UAE and many also won property
• ¬ Some hold the majority of their savings in their UAE bank account.
• ¬ This presentation looks at the laws in place, how these would affect you and your family and what you can do to ensure your family are secure.

UAE Succession Laws

Foreign Nationals:

Article 17.1 of the Civil Transactions Law states that the law of the country of the nationality testator on his death will be applied to his estate. Therefore, the estate of a non-Muslim who is not UAE national who dies in the UAE will be subject to law of the country of his nationality, unless all the beneficiaries agree to apply Islamic Sharia, in which case the court will apply the latter.

How do I Protect My Assets?

• ¬ The first thing you should do is have a Will written that clearly states that it is written under the laws of your home country.
• ¬ The will ensure that foreign (your home country) law will apply to your estate.
• ¬ On your death, your original signed Will (translated into Arabic), together with the Death Certificate will be provided by the name Executor to the UAE court for issuance of a Succession Certificate.

Drafting a Will

• ¬ It is strongly recommended that all expatriates draft a valid Will under the laws of their Home Country.
• ¬ This should be written by a professional as mistakes could make it invalid to a UAE Court.
• ¬ The Will should be printed and signed by 2 witnesses.
• ¬ Wills Direct offer a professional Will writing service, which is accompanied by a seal of a UAE law firm competent to provide advice and assistance on UAE law.

Process of drafting a Will

1. a) Complete a Wills Questionnaire;
2. b) Provide the completed Questionnaire together with your payment for the Wills to Elite Capital Solutions
3. c) You are then provided with a draft Will
4. d) Once you are happy with the same, a final Will is provided
5. e) The final Will is signed and witnessed
6. f) Ali Habib & Assoc. then provides a sign-off (by way of a seal) on the all UAE Wills
7. g) Your original Wills are returned to you for safe-keeping

Notarization of a Will

The Dubai Notary Public Department announced the introduction of a formal attestation process by Notary Publics of wills with effect from 1^st October 2010.

HOWEVER:

• ¬ Notarizing a Will does not affect its validity or its implementation by the courts (legally speaking, the only effect that a notarization process has, is to remove any doubt that it was in fact the Testator/Testatrix who signed the will- a similar effect as that of signing before witnesses);
• ¬ In order to have the will notarized an Applicant must provide and Arabic legally translated copy of the Will and must provide proof of ownership of the assets mentioned in the Will.