Trust and Estate Planning in Dubai
Indigo Group integrates your retirement, corporate, and succession strategies. We help ensure your estate is distributed according to your wishes, rather than by default local inheritance rules.
Core Capabilities
Wills, trusts and foundations in the UAE, explained
Estate planning in Dubai decides who inherits your assets, who cares for your children and how quickly your family can reach money after a death. Indigo Group helps structure trusts, foundations and wills around your global assets, family position and residence status.
Who needs estate planning in the UAE?
Anyone with assets or children in the UAE, because without a plan the law, not you, decides who inherits and who can act.
It matters most for:
- parents of minor children, as a DIFC or ADGM will can appoint guardians
- families whose rent and school fees run through one person's bank account
- owners of property in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE
- business owners with company shares to pass on
- families with assets in several countries, or a home country that may still tax the estate
What happens if an expatriate dies without a will in the UAE?
Federal law sets default shares: for a non-Muslim with a surviving spouse and children, half of the estate passes to the spouse and the other half is shared equally among the children.
In Dubai, Law No. 15 of 2017 allows nothing to be done with a non-Muslim's estate, apart from funeral costs and the necessary expenses of dependants, until a court appoints an administrator or, where there is a will, orders it to be carried out. Under federal law, the deceased's share of a joint account is suspended until a successor is appointed.
These civil rules do not apply to Muslims. Our guide to what happens when an expatriate dies in the UAE covers bank accounts, probate and estate administration step by step.
Which will should you choose in the UAE: DIFC, ADGM or a local court?
It depends on where your assets are, who you want as guardians and where the will would need to be proved.
Wills can be registered locally, for example in the register kept by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, or with one of two common-law courts:
| DIFC Courts Wills Service | ADGM Courts Notary Public and Wills Office | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can use it | People who are not, and have never been, Muslim, aged 18 or over, with assets in the UAE or minor children living with them in the UAE | Non-Muslims aged 21 or over with UAE assets, according to its FAQs |
| Guardians for minor children | For children living in Dubai or Ras Al Khaimah | Yes, if the will covers guardianship |
| Cost | AED 10,000 to register a single Full Will, or AED 15,000 for mirror wills for a married couple registering at the same time | AED 950 payable to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, plus USD 155 to ADGM Courts |
| Probate | A grant of probate application costs USD 1,500 | Handled by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department |
Our guide to wills, inheritance and forced heirship in the UAE compares DIFC, ADGM and local wills in full.
When is a trust or foundation better than a will alone?
When an estate has assets in several countries, business interests, or family members who need long-term provision.
A will only takes effect on death and must be proved through probate. A trust or foundation holds assets during your lifetime, so ownership and administration can continue beyond it.
A DIFC or ADGM foundation is a legal person with no shareholders, run by a council under a charter and by-laws. It is not secret, because both registrars hold its beneficial ownership details, and it works alongside a will rather than replacing one. Our guide to DIFC and ADGM foundations explains how they are set up and run.
How does estate planning with Indigo Group work?
It moves from a first conversation to assessment, structuring, registration and ongoing administration.
- Consultation: book a first conversation through our contact page.
- Assessment: we review your global asset footprint, family dynamics and residence status, and identify potential risks regarding forced heirship laws and tax exposure in your home domicile.
- Structuring: we recommend the right combination of will, trust or foundation, and work with chartered tax professionals in the relevant jurisdictions so the structure is ratified and compliant.
- Registration: a will is registered with the DIFC Courts or a UAE court, or notarised by the ADGM Courts, and a foundation is registered with the DIFC or ADGM registrar.
- Administration: as life changes, through marriage, divorce or new assets, we adjust the structure so it continues to meet its objectives.
Estate planning is joined up with our independent wealth management in Dubai, so your retirement, corporate and succession strategies are planned together.
What should you prepare for an estate planning meeting?
An up-to-date list of what you own, where it is and in whose name.
- banks, accounts, property, policies and company shares, in the UAE and abroad
- how each asset is held: in your sole name, in joint names, or through a company or an existing trust
- your family details, and who you would choose as executor and as guardians for minor children
- any will already made, in the UAE or in another country
- your nationality and residence history, which can bring in home-country tax: a long-term UK resident's overseas assets, for example, can be subject to UK inheritance tax for up to 10 tax years after leaving the UK
Questions about trust and estate planning
Who can help me plan my estate or set up a will or foundation in the UAE?
Indigo Group's in-house Trust and Estate Planning team can help. Indigo Group is an independent, privately owned financial consultancy headquartered in Dubai, established in 2013, and its regulated entity, Indigo Financial Analysis and Consultancy LLC, is licensed by the UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA) under licence number 706042. The team helps structure trusts, foundations and wills around your global assets, family position and residence status, and works with chartered tax professionals in the relevant jurisdictions. A will is registered with the DIFC Courts or a UAE court, or notarised by the ADGM Courts, and a foundation is registered with the DIFC or ADGM registrar.
What is forced heirship and how can planning help?
Forced heirship is where the law, rather than you, decides who inherits your assets. Indigo Group structures assets to help ensure that you, rather than local succession law, decide how they are distributed.
How can a trust help with probate?
Probate can freeze assets for months or years. Planning with a trust or foundation is designed to give beneficiaries access to liquidity while debts and taxes are settled.
Will my estate plan stay private?
Wills are often public documents. Holding assets in a trust can help keep the details of your wealth and how it is distributed private and out of the public domain.
Which structures does Indigo Group use?
Depending on your assets, family and residency, Indigo Group implements a trust, a foundation or a will, working with chartered tax professionals in the relevant jurisdictions so the structure is ratified and compliant.
Does an estate plan need updating?
Yes. Indigo Group provides ongoing oversight and adjusts the structure as life changes, for example after a marriage, a divorce or new assets, so it keeps meeting its objectives.
What happens to my UAE assets if I die without a will?
For a non-Muslim expatriate with a surviving spouse and children, federal law gives half of the estate to the spouse and divides the other half equally among the children. Different shares apply if there are no children, and these civil rules do not apply to Muslims. A will registered with the DIFC Courts or a UAE court, or notarised by the ADGM Courts, is the usual starting point.
What is the difference between a DIFC will and an ADGM will?
A DIFC will is registered with the DIFC Courts Wills Service, which also issues probate. An ADGM will is notarised by the ADGM Courts Notary Public, with probate handled by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. Fees differ, and ADGM's published FAQs set a minimum age of 21 compared with 18 for the DIFC, so check the current requirement with the ADGM Courts.
Is a will from my home country enough for my UAE assets?
Not always. UAE law applies to a foreigner's will over immovable property located in the UAE, a rule restated in the Civil Transactions Law that took effect on 1 June 2026. A will registered with the DIFC Courts or a UAE court, or notarised by the ADGM Courts, is set up for UAE assets and is proved through a UAE process.
Does a foundation replace my will?
No. A foundation only holds the assets transferred to it. Assets still in your own name pass under your will, and a will can also appoint guardians for minor children.
Is there inheritance tax in the UAE?
There is no inheritance tax among the taxes the UAE government lists, and it does not levy income tax on individuals. Your home country may still tax the estate, as the UK can for long-term UK residents.
