How the new UAE law on wills and inheritance affects you – Pocketful of Dirhams


Alice Haine
  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE government has embarked on one of the biggest overhauls of the legal system in years.

Among the changes are amendments to family and personal law with new regulations covering divorce, couples living together and other areas affecting people’s daily lives.

From a personal finance perspective, however, one of the most interesting changes centres on wills and inheritance.

Until now, when someone died, family members may have had the assets of their loved ones divided according to Sharia - something expatriates living in the Emirates were not always familiar with.

Now, a person's citizenship will dictate how their assets are divided among their next of kin, unless they have written a will.

So how significant is this change? When will it take effect? And what does it mean for people looking to write a will now?

Host Alice Haine is joined by Siri Hashem, senior counsel at UAE law firm Fichte and Co, and Devanand Mahadeva, head of the inheritance and personal law practice of the Goodwins Group in the UAE.

Listen to last week's episode on whether we are saving enough to fund a 100-year life.

MATCH INFO

Everton 0

Manchester City 2 (Laporte 45 2', Jesus 90 7')

Paltan

Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1
Bayern:
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Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)

Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)

The biog

Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus

Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India

Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes

Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island

Country-size land deals

US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:

Louisiana Purchase

If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.

Florida Purchase Treaty

The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty. 

Alaska purchase

America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of  Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".

The Philippines

At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million. 

US Virgin Islands

It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.

Gwadar

The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees. 

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Power: 727hp

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Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

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ENGLAND SQUAD

Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.

Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.

Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.

Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.