The Dubai Land Department and a Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) entity have recently reached an agreement on inheritance laws that apply to non-Muslim foreign nationals. According to the agreement a “will and probate registry” will be created “with the DIFC Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA) — through its ancillary body, the DIFC Wills and Probate Registry — being the other party.” This new agreement will permit probate court orders that will apply to the Dubai assets of individuals that have registered their wills through the Dubai registry. The hope is that this new registry will let people register their English language wills so that their Dubai based assets can be distributed according to their wishes. Dubai hopes that these new policies will attract more foreign investment into the country.
See Landmark agreement over inheritance laws in Dubai, Gulf News, September 14, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
