Your property in the UAE after death

What happens to your property, account and business when you die.

No delicate and poetic introduction will be appropriate, and it is impossible to approach the subject delicately.

If nobody does anything

If no one raises a concern, nothing will happen. It’s not like something automatically happens without proper documentation.

• A) The property will remain empty, unpaid service charges will pile up, and after a few years the apartment will be seized by the court and sold at auction. DEWA, Empower, and gas connection fees will pile up, and the account will ultimately be frozen.
• B) The company will lapse and penalties for non-renewal will pile up. Nothing dramatic happens to the company itself — it can always be renewed.
• C) The corporate account will first accumulate penalties for failure to provide a new license, they will be deducted from the account balance, then further fees will be charged for not having the minimum balance, and finally, if a renewed Emirates ID and license are not provided, the account will be inactive.
• D) The private account, like the corporate account, will be frozen until someone does something about it.

If there is a will registered in the UAE

If we are the sole heir, what do we have to do when there is a will drawn up in a UAE court? We take the death certificate, attested by the ministry of foreign affairs and the UAE embassy in the country of death, translate it into English and Arabic, and travel to the UAE. We attest the above at MOFA in the UAE and then deal with the following:

• A) Real estate. If we are the sole heir, then we are entitled to everything. With this will, we go to the land department and begin the process of transferring the property to us. No lawyer or residency is required. Pay a total of AED 1,300 for everything, and within a month, we will be the new owner of the property. With a new title deed, or Oqood if the property is in a payment plan, we transfer DEWA and Empower to ourselves. We transfer service charges to ourselves with the property manager. With the tenant, if there is one, we change the rent destination.
• B) Private account. We take the will to the bank’s headquarters and begin the process of transferring funds to our account or withdrawing the balance in cash.
• C) Company. If we want to continue running the company, we submit a will and death certificate to the DED and begin the process of transferring ownership of the company to us. Administrative costs, if the company is still valid, are approximately AED 6,000, depending on the company’s activity. We take over a business account similarly to a private account, or we change the beneficiary by submitting an updated company license.

Due to the emotional state the heir would be in, it will be difficult, but it is a relatively simple procedure and everything can be done over time.

What if there is no will from the UAE?

A death certificate and a notarial deed of inheritance from the deceased’s country of origin, with supporting documents, will be required, but they are not sufficient for real estate. A bank transfer and a business transfer will suffice.

Real estate is governed by the law of the country in which it is located. If there is no will, we must proceed through court proceedings and the property will be divided in accordance with Sharia law.

This is where things get very complicated. We need to hire a lawyer, be a resident, and be ready with funds for our stay in the UAE and several visits.

The court will divide the property among the heirs, with the wife or husband receiving a percentage share, the children receiving a percentage share, and the deceased’s parents and siblings entitled to the property. For a spouse to be the sole heir, a waiver procedure is required for all other heirs. These include notarial procedures in the home country and in the UAE, as well as flights to the UAE or online visits for certification. It’s important to remember that, with all favorable factors in place, such as family members’ compatibility and the employment of a competent lawyer, the procedure will take approximately two years and cost upwards of AED 150,000, including flight and hotel costs. This is traumatic for the heirs, as the process is tedious, laborious, and expensive.

What to do

A) The black book

Keep a notebook for emergencies with official and bank instructions. Write down card numbers and PIN codes, license numbers, where documents are located, where properties are located, which banks we have accounts with, and their IBAN and CIF numbers. Email passwords, UAE Pass passwords, Chrome passwords, or however your browser remembers passwords online.

Before the heir goes through all these procedures, they can withdraw your money from the account and approach the procedures with cash in hand, knowing what they are getting into.

It’s also a good idea to include an action plan. For example, “Write to XYZ, a potential person who will help them in the UAE.” This could be my name or your lawyer’s. The black book is useful in general — everyone should have one written.

B) Make a will in the UAE

Make a will in the UAE for the properties we have here. A locally notarised will for a foreigner will free the heir from having to go through Sharia inheritance procedures and shorten all the avenues.

In 10 years of doing what I do, six clients have died. There was never a will. There was weeping, gnashing of teeth, helplessness, and hardship.

It is better to write the black book today, and to bring me the documents so that the will can be drawn up today.