For UAE residents, succession is rarely a single-jurisdiction question. Family wealth typically sits across UAE operating businesses, real estate, regulated assets and accounts back home, and family members are often spread across countries.
We build wills, trusts, foundations and governance structures that work under UAE federal law, the DIFC and ADGM regimes, and the home jurisdictions that matter to the family.
Instruments
Wills
Drafting with attention to asset location and the rules that apply on death: registering non-Muslim residents with the DIFC Wills Service Centre or Abu Dhabi Wills Register to opt out of forced heirship, and structuring the disposable estate with lifetime gifts, Hiba and foundation transfers for Muslim clients.
Foundations
Foundation Charters and By-laws across DIFC, ADGM and RAK ICC, sized to probate avoidance, asset consolidation or multi-generational governance, with advice on funding, council and guardian appointments, beneficiary class design and the interaction with UAE Corporate Tax.
Trusts
Trust Deeds under the DIFC and ADGM regimes: revocable, irrevocable, discretionary and purpose trusts: structured for asset protection, incapacity planning and cross-border succession where the family wants separation between legal and beneficial ownership.
Strategy and Governance
Succession Strategies for Diversified Asset Portfolios
A sequenced plan covering each asset class: business interests through shareholders’ agreements and buy-sell provisions, freehold real estate held by non-Muslims, financial assets mapped against each country’s probate rules, and frequently overlooked intellectual property and digital assets.
Family Governance
Family charters, shareholders’ agreements covering voting rights, board succession, ROFR, tag-along, drag-along and exit restrictions, and Deeds of Adherence for the next generation: a rulebook the family will actually use.
Cross-Border Succession and US Estate Tax
Mapping exposure to estate or inheritance tax in the UK, US, India or elsewhere through citizenship, residence or asset location, structuring around it and coordinating with local counsel: including planning around the US estate and gift tax regime for US-connected families.
How We Work
Engagements are partner-led and handled by professionals with hands-on experience across the DIFC and ADGM regimes, UAE federal succession law, the Civil Personal Status framework, and the principal home jurisdictions of UAE families.