Expat Inheritance
The Sharia Laws concerning (i) Inheritance and (ii) Legal Guardianship of children under the age of 21 years that are applicable to both Muslim and non-Muslim residents have fundamental differences compared to what you may be following in your home country. Non-Muslim residents of this country, however, could deviate from these, by having a Sharia-compliant WILL in place, defining the distribution of assets in this country, be it movable or immovable, including bank accounts and end of service benefits etc and who should take guardianship of minor children, the legal age being 21 years unlike 18 in other countries.
Wills were in practice in this country as early as 2010 for non-Muslim expatriates. However, the Law No. 15 of 2017 introduced in October 2017 by the Dubai Government make it simple for an expatriate non-Muslim to have a fully executable Will, like what is possible under the English or Common Law, to protect the proper distribution of one’s estate in this country and for the lawful guardianship of children under the age of 21 years.
The absence of a Sharia complaint WILL leaves uncertainty on ‘who inherit what’ and on ‘who take care’ of the children under the age of 21 years at the time one’s death. Possibilities are high that the estate may be distributed under the Sharia Law, in a way other than what the deceased may have wished for.
True, when a non-Muslim expat with assets in the UAE dies without leaving a WILL, the repercussions his family must go through are lengthy and may last for years in the absence of proper documentation that is necessarily required to complete the procedure.
