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Things to know about Inheritance Law in the UAE

The UAE Personal Status Law defines the word “inheritance” as “the imperative devolution of the property and financial rights upon the death of their owner to those deserving” (Article 313). Inheritance conventionally means handing over one’s assets to his or her descendants, family, or other legally entitled beneficiaries. When the deceased does not leave a will, the process becomes more complicated. Therefore, the right process would be to have a registered will on hand to ensure that your property and assets are divided as per the provisions of the will, which in turn reflects your wishes.

What exactly is Inheritance?

Inheritance simply means handing over the assets of a deceased individual to legally entitled descendants and family members. When an expatriate dies without a will, then the provisions of Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 promulgating the personal status law and its amendments (“Personal Status Law”) and Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 concerning the Civil Transaction Law (“Civil Transaction Law”) and its amendments will be applied. It is advised to have a registered Will to avoid any of the following undesirable processes that may be applied by default, such as:

• The immediate freezing of the bank accounts, whether it be a joint bank account or an individual bank account
• The immediate freezing of investments made in the UAE in the form of shares and other investment options
• Prolonged and expensive litigation process, especially when assets are disputed among family members

The Requirements and Procedures to obtain a Legal Heir Certificate

If there is an absence of Will, the family members of the deceased will have to open an inheritance case in the Personal Status Court in Dubai.

For that certain documents are needed to be submitted before the court, The document required are,

1. A valid Power of Attorney
2. Copies of the Passport of the deceased
3. Passport copies of the family along with the visa page of the deceased
4. Death certificate which is attested and legalized
5. Presenting two male witnesses before the court to prove the relationship of the applicants with the deceased as a Legal Heirs for attaining the certificate.

After producing all the required documents, after the verification court will issue the Legal Heir Certificate. Basically, the issuance of the Inheritance certificate/Legal Heir Certificate won’t take more than 30 days from the court, while you provided all the required documents. Once you obtain the certificate, you shall open an inheritance file, upon which the court will issue a letter to the concerned authority to release the funds to the legal heirs mentioned in the certificate as per the allocation in it.