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The DIFC Courts registered 883 wills in the first quarter of 2026, a 120 percent increase year on year. More of Dubai’s non-Muslim residents and investors are addressing UAE assets, probate and guardianship through a locally established succession framework.
The DIFC Courts Wills Service registered 883 wills in the first quarter of 2026, a 120 percent increase on the same period of 2025, alongside 10 probate orders. The pace held into the second quarter: 1,925 wills were registered across the first half of the year, taking total registrations since the service opened in 2015 past 14,300.
Nita Maru, managing partner of TWS Legal Consultants, has worked in UAE succession planning since before the DIFC Wills Service opened. TWS describes itself as one of the founding panel firms of the DIFC Wills Service and advises expatriate families on DIFC wills, probate and cross-border estate planning. The increase points to growing use of a UAE-based succession framework among non-Muslim residents and investors. The practical distinction is between registering a standalone will and coordinating an estate plan across the jurisdictions in which a family holds assets.
The Gap Behind the Growth
The context for the growth is scale. Dubai’s population reached 4.58 million by the end of 2025, while the Dubai Land Department recorded AED 917 billion in property transactions and around 129,500 new investors during the year. Set against Dubai’s large expatriate and investor base, the cumulative figure of 14,300 suggests considerable room for further uptake, although it cannot be used to calculate how many eligible people have made wills, since non-residents can also register, spouses register separately, and other UAE registration routes exist.
The deceased’s UAE assets generally cannot be distributed until the relevant succession and probate procedures have been completed. Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 permits non-Muslim foreign residents to seek the application of their home-country law to inheritance and wills, subject to the statutory framework. Reliance on foreign law may still require local court proceedings and evidence establishing the applicable law.
What Local Registration Changes
A will drafted abroad can be presented to a UAE court, but the route may involve legalisation, certified Arabic translation and local proceedings, with the exact requirements depending on where the will was issued, the assets involved and the court handling the estate. These requirements can add time and cost to the administration of the estate.
A DIFC will provides a local registration and probate route for covered UAE assets. It is drafted and registered in English under a common law framework. Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 reinforced the DIFC Courts’ jurisdiction over matters involving registered non-Muslim wills, and under the Wills Service framework the DIFC Courts issue the probate and guardianship orders required to administer registered wills. DIFC wills also provide a local mechanism for appointing interim and permanent guardians for eligible minor children residing in Dubai or Ras Al Khaimah, subject to UAE law and the court’s final authority. A guardianship clause contained in an overseas will should not be assumed to have the same effect without the relevant UAE procedures being completed. Since 2019, a specifically drafted DIFC Full Will may also include assets outside the UAE, although implementation remains subject to the law of the jurisdiction where those assets are situated.
A Will Is Not Yet an Estate Plan
One limitation belongs in any account of the trend. Registering a UAE will does not, by itself, complete a cross-border estate plan. A DIFC will still requires probate and implementation, and foreign jurisdictions may apply mandatory succession rules that restrict or alter the effect of a DIFC will. Residents with assets across several countries may need coordinated wills or other succession arrangements, and a newly drafted will can conflict with, or inadvertently revoke parts of, an earlier estate plan if the documents are not coordinated carefully.
That coordination is where the specialist end of the market works. Maru, a solicitor of England and Wales and TEP with more than 25 years in practice, was among the first lawyers to register DIFC wills and played a role in shaping the service’s rules, according to the firm’s Legal 500 profile. Founded in 2009, TWS pairs will drafting with estate administration, probate and DIFC foundations.
The 883 registrations recorded in the first quarter show that more wills are being registered through the UAE-based framework. The larger question is how many families with property, businesses and children in Dubai still rely on documents that were not prepared for their UAE assets, probate requirements or guardianship needs.
