How is Dubai property inherited, and why do foreigners register a DIFC Will?

Dubai real estate held by a foreigner is a UAE-situs asset. When the owner dies, jurisdiction over its transfer sits with the Dubai courts, not the courts of the owner's home country. By default the courts apply UAE Personal Status Law, which for movable and immovable assets follows Sharia succession shares. For a non-Muslim foreigner, that default rarely produces the outcome assumed in a London, Berlin, or Mumbai estate plan.

What Sharia default produces

• A surviving wife receives 1/8 of the estate when there are children
• Sons receive twice the share of daughters
• Parents of the deceased receive fixed shares ahead of the spouse
• There is no automatic right of survivorship between spouses

The DIFC Wills route

Since 2015 the DIFC Wills Service Centre, a common-law jurisdiction inside the UAE, has allowed non-Muslims to register a will electing their home-country law of distribution. The Dubai courts will then enforce the will directly, bypassing the Sharia default. Registration is in person or by video at the DIFC Courts, takes 30–45 days, and costs AED 10,000–15,000 for a full will covering global assets, or AED 5,000 for a property-only will.

What a DIFC Will controls

• Distribution of UAE real estate, bank accounts, and shares in UAE companies
• Guardianship of minor children resident in the UAE
• Appointment of an executor with direct access to Dubai Land Department

Practical sequence

1. 01Buy the property in the chosen ownership structure
2. 02Within 6 months, instruct a DIFC-registered will draftsperson
3. 03Attend a 45-minute virtual or in-person registration at DIFC
4. 04Store the original at DIFC and provide a notarised copy to your home-country executor