Mixed-Nationality Marriages: Which Country’s Inheritance Law Applies to Your assets located in the UAE?

Marriages between spouses of different nationalities are commonplace in the United Arab Emirates. A British national married to an Indian citizen, a French resident married to a Filipino, or a Lebanese expatriate married to a Russian — such families are the norm rather than the exception in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Yet when one spouse dies, these families can confront a question of considerable legal complexity: which country’s law governs the inheritance of assets located in the UAE?

 

The answer is rarely intuitive. It can depend on the religion and nationality of the deceased, the nature and location of the assets, whether a will exists and where it was registered, and the interaction between UAE legislation and the conflict-of-laws rules of the relevant foreign jurisdictions. This article sets out the principal framework following the reforms introduced in recent years.

 

The Default Position Under UAE Law

 

Historically, inheritance in the UAE was governed primarily by the Personal Status Law, with succession based on Sharia principles in cases falling within that framework. Under the rules of fixed shares, an estate is distributed among prescribed heirs according to defined entitlements. A surviving wife, for example, may receive one-eighth where the deceased has an inheriting descendant, while parents, siblings and other relatives may receive defined shares depending on the circumstances. The current federal Personal Status Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024, retains detailed Sharia-based inheritance provisions, including fixed shares for spouses and other heirs.

 

For expatriate families accustomed to systems in which the surviving spouse may inherit most or all of an estate — as can occur under English intestacy rules or through different matrimonial-property regimes elsewhere — the operation of UAE succession rules can come as an unwelcome surprise, particularly if no effective estate-planning arrangements have been made. Bank accounts and other assets may also become subject to estate administration procedures after death, while questions concerning guardianship and the care of minor children may require separate consideration under the applicable legal framework.

 

The Choice Of Foreign Law

 

UAE law provides mechanisms under which non-UAE nationals can invoke their personal or home-country law in relevant family and succession matters. Under the current Personal Status Law, the federal framework applies to non-UAE citizens unless one of them insists on applying their own law, or another law has been agreed to be applied, where permitted by UAE legislation. This means that nationality and the applicable foreign law can be important factors in determining how a cross-border succession is handled.

 

At the same time, non-Muslim expatriates have access to separate civil-law mechanisms. Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status established civil rules for non-Muslims within its scope, including succession provisions under which, in the absence of a will, 50 per cent of the estate passes to the surviving spouse and the remainder is divided equally among the children. Abu Dhabi also operates a civil wills and inheritance framework for non-Muslim foreigners.

 

The result is that forced-heirship principles are not necessarily the only route available to expatriate families. However, the protection of a particular succession arrangement is not automatic. The precise legal regime, the deceased’s status, the wording and validity of any will, and the nature of the assets must all be considered.

 

Mixed Nationalities: Whose Law Governs?

 

Where spouses hold different nationalities, an essential principle must be understood: succession is considered in relation to the deceased, rather than simply to the nationality of the couple as a unit. Each spouse’s estate is a separate succession and may therefore be governed by a different legal framework. In a marriage between a German and an Indian national, for example, the German spouse’s estate and the Indian spouse’s estate may be subject to different rules, depending on the applicable UAE and foreign laws. Indian succession law itself may involve different statutory regimes, including the Hindu Succession Act and the Indian Succession Act, depending on the circumstances.

 

Complexity can increase where the deceased’s home country applies its own conflict-of-laws rules. Some jurisdictions connect succession to nationality, while others give greater weight to domicile or habitual residence. Some legal systems also distinguish between movable and immovable property. A renvoi — where the foreign law referred to by the UAE rules refers the matter back to UAE law, or onward to another legal system — can therefore arise in genuinely cross-border estates.

 

Real Estate: The Special Case

 

Immovable property occupies a special position in succession law worldwide, and UAE property is no exception. Land and buildings are closely connected to the law and jurisdiction of the place where they are situated, making the treatment of UAE real estate a particularly important issue in cross-border estate planning. The extent to which a foreign-law election affects UAE property must therefore be considered alongside the applicable UAE legislation, the relevant emirate’s procedures and the nature of the will.

 

The practical significance is obvious. For many expatriate couples, the family home or an investment property in Dubai or Abu Dhabi represents the largest asset in the estate. Whether that property ultimately passes to the surviving spouse or is distributed among a wider class of heirs may depend on the applicable succession regime, the deceased’s will and the legal treatment of the property. These issues are better addressed during the planning stage than left to be resolved after death.

 

Wills: DIFC, Abu Dhabi And Local Registration

 

The UAE offers several mechanisms through which expatriates can record testamentary wishes and establish a framework for the administration of their estates. The DIFC Wills Service provides a dedicated wills and probate regime for eligible non-Muslims, with rules governing the registration and enforcement of wills and the subsequent probate process. DIFC materials also confirm that the framework is used for succession planning involving Dubai and other UAE assets.

 

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department operates a civil wills system and provides procedures for registering wills for non-Muslims. Its official guidance states that a registered will can cover the distribution of the testator’s UAE estate and that wills may also address assets situated outside the UAE. The department also provides standard will forms in English and Arabic.

 

For mixed-nationality couples, mirror wills — separate wills for each spouse, coordinated with one another and with any wills made in their home countries — can be an important estate-planning instrument. Care is required, however, to ensure that a later will does not inadvertently revoke an earlier instrument covering assets in another jurisdiction, and that each will satisfies the applicable requirements concerning form, capacity, execution and registration.

 

Recognition And Administration Across Borders

 

A succession rarely ends at the UAE’s borders. Estates commonly comprise UAE bank accounts and property alongside assets in the spouses’ home countries, with each jurisdiction applying its own procedures to assets located within its territory. A foreign probate order or succession document may therefore require recognition or additional procedures before it can be relied upon in the UAE, while a UAE order may similarly need to satisfy the requirements of a foreign jurisdiction where assets are held.

 

This is why estate plans for mixed-nationality families are best designed as a coordinated whole rather than as a collection of unconnected national arrangements. A will prepared in one country should be reviewed against any UAE will, property arrangements, banking structures and succession documents in other jurisdictions. Particular attention should also be given to the possibility that different legal systems may apply different rules to the same family relationship or category of asset.

 

Concluding Observations

 

For mixed-nationality couples in the UAE, the governing inheritance law is not necessarily a single answer but a matrix of factors. It can vary according to the deceased’s nationality and religion, the applicable UAE legal framework, the character and location of each asset, and the choices made through valid estate-planning documents. Recent reforms have expanded the succession options available to non-Muslim residents and have established dedicated civil mechanisms for wills and inheritance in relevant circumstances.

 

For families with cross-border assets, the central lesson is that succession planning should be undertaken before a death occurs and reviewed periodically thereafter. Marriage, the birth or adoption of children, the acquisition of UAE real estate, a move to another country, or changes in the law can all affect the effectiveness of an existing estate plan. In mixed-nationality families in particular, coordinated advice covering the UAE and every relevant foreign jurisdiction can help ensure that the intended succession arrangements are legally coherent and capable of being administered when they are needed.

 

Anushka Rastogi  is a Legal Associate at UAE-based legal consultancy Kaden Boriss.