Estate planning sounds complex. In practice, it comes down to a series of concrete steps, most of which can be completed in a few hours spread across a couple of weeks. This checklist covers the ten most important things every UAE expat should have in order.
1. Register a UAE Will
This is the foundation. Without a registered UAE will, your assets will be distributed under Sharia inheritance defaults, regardless of your wishes or what your home-country will says. A registered will (ADJD or DIFC) takes your estate out of that default framework and puts it under your control.
Action: Complete and register your UAE will. If you have a spouse with UAE assets, consider mirror wills. OwnX prepares the draft and certified translation from AED 749.
2. Update Your Home-Country Will
Your UAE will covers UAE assets. Your home-country will (UK, US, Australia, etc.) covers assets there. Both are needed, and both should be drafted with awareness of each other to avoid unintended interactions (e.g. one revoking the other).
Action: Confirm your home-country will is current and that it explicitly does not revoke your UAE will.
3. Review All Beneficiary Designations
Life insurance policies, pensions, and some investment accounts pass outside the estate directly to named beneficiaries. These designations override your will, so they need to be current.
- Life insurance: confirm the named beneficiary is who you want
- Pension or DEWS account: check the nomination form is current
- UAE investment accounts: check beneficiary/next-of-kin designations
Action: Request a copy of all active beneficiary nomination forms and update where needed.
4. Make a List of All Your UAE Assets
Your executor needs to know what exists and where. Create a simple document listing your UAE bank accounts (with institution and account type), investments, property (with DLD registration details), vehicles, and significant personal property.
Action: Create and securely store an asset inventory, update it annually or after major changes.
5. Plan for Digital Assets
Cryptocurrency, online investment accounts, digital business assets, and valuable online accounts need to be addressed. If your executor cannot access them, they may be lost permanently.
Action: Create a secure document with access information for all significant digital assets. Brief your executor on where to find it. Update it whenever access credentials change.
6. Appoint the Right Executor
Your executor is the person who carries out your will, dealing with banks, courts, employers, and beneficiaries. They should be trustworthy, organised, and, ideally, able to operate in the UAE after your death (or willing to travel for it).
Action: Choose an executor who understands the responsibilities. Brief them about their role and where to find your will. Consider naming a backup executor in case your primary choice is unable to act.
7. Review Your Life Insurance Coverage
Does your life insurance cover your outstanding UAE commitments, mortgage, school fees, your family's living expenses for a year or more? Many expats are either uninsured or significantly underinsured.
Action: Calculate what your family would need for 12–24 months if you died tomorrow. Compare that to your current life insurance payout. Bridge the gap if needed.
8. Document Your UAE Gratuity Entitlement
Your end-of-service gratuity is part of your estate and is often worth a significant amount. Make sure your executor knows it exists, knows how to calculate the entitlement, and knows who to contact at your employer to claim it.
Action: Note your employer's HR contact for estate matters. Keep a copy of your employment contract which details gratuity entitlements.
9. Express Your Guardianship Wishes
If you have minor children, your will should include your expressed preference for who would care for them. UAE courts are not bound by this preference, but they take it into account. Without any expressed preference, the court decides entirely on its own assessment.
Action: Discuss guardianship with your chosen guardian before naming them in your will. Confirm they are willing to accept.
10. Set a Review Date
Estate plans become outdated. A will written before a child was born, before you bought property, or before a divorce may no longer reflect your wishes, or may create unintended outcomes.
Action: Review your will and the rest of this checklist every 2–3 years, and immediately after any major life event: marriage, divorce, new child, property purchase, or significant change in assets.
Start with the most important item on this list. Register your UAE will with OwnX from AED 749, fully online, enforceable in all seven Emirates. We cover ADJD, DIFC, and Dubai Courts.
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Aanchal Adhikari (Advocate, LL.B., LL.M. (Cand.))
Senior Specialist & UAE Estate Planning Advocate
Aanchal Adhikari is a Nepal-licensed Advocate with 4+ years of legal practice, specialized in ADJD Wills, DIFC wills, and UAE inheritance. She has drafted and overseen 800+ ADJD Wills in the UAE and is currently pursuing an LL.M. at Middlesex University Dubai.
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