UAE Property Inheritance for Expats: What Happens Without a Will?

Almost every foreign buyer asks me at some point: "If something happens to me, who gets the apartment?" Many have heard that in the UAE everything automatically goes to a brother or a father under Sharia rules. For non-Muslim expats in Abu Dhabi that has not been the default position since the civil family law framework of 2021, but the details matter — and a will remains the cleanest answer.

There is more than one legal regime

The outcome depends on who you are and which rules apply:

• Muslims are generally subject to Islamic inheritance rules under federal law.
• Non-Muslim foreigners in Abu Dhabi can fall under the civil family law framework administered by the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court.
• Federal civil personal status rules and the possibility of applying the law of your home country also exist and can be relevant, especially outside Abu Dhabi.
• DIFC Wills in Dubai are a separate, common-law based registry with its own procedures and fees.

So "the UAE rule" is not one rule. It is a question of which framework your case falls into.

Abu Dhabi: what happens without a will

According to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, where a non-UAE national within the court's scope dies without a will:

• the surviving spouse receives half of the estate;
• the other half is shared equally among the children, with no difference between sons and daughters;
• if there are no children, the remaining half goes to the deceased's parents equally;
• if one parent has died, the surviving parent keeps their share and the other part is divided among siblings; if both parents have died, siblings share it.

That is very different from the "it all goes to the male relatives" story. But it may still not be what you want — for example, if you want your spouse to keep the whole home, or if you have children from different relationships.

What a will can do

A registered will lets you decide, within the law, who receives what. In practice it can cover:

• Property in the UAE, including which heir receives which unit.
• Guardianship of minor children — often the most important clause for young families.
• Bank accounts, which can otherwise be frozen while the estate is settled.
• Company shares, including free zone companies, where the articles of association may have their own rules.
• An executor who can act quickly.

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department lists fees of AED 950 for a regular will and AED 2,500 for a special will (checked 27 October 2026). The standard template is available in English and Arabic. DIFC wills have their own tariff schedule.

Points property owners often miss

• Mortgages do not disappear. The bank's charge stays on the property; the heirs or the estate deal with it, sometimes through life insurance assigned to the bank.
• Jointly owned property is not automatically transferred to the co-owner; ownership share and the will both matter.
• Assets abroad may be governed by that country's rules and taxes. British owners, for example, should read our note on UK inheritance tax and UAE property.
• Update the will after marriage, divorce, a new child or a significant purchase.

My take

I now suggest every client who buys in Abu Dhabi sees a lawyer about a will in the same month they get the title deed. It costs a small fraction of the purchase, takes very little time, and spares a family months of uncertainty, frozen accounts and court applications at the worst possible moment. The default rules are fairer than most people assume — but "fairer than expected" is not the same as "what I would have chosen".