Dubai Courts announced the establishment of the first Department for the Legacy of Non-Muslims and the Execution of Their Wills, with the aim of enabling non-Muslims to implement their wills within a framework that guarantees the application of their own laws and the disposal and management of the estate.
The head of the Inheritance Court in Dubai Courts, Judge Mohammed Jassim Al Shamsi, confirmed that the decision to establish the first department for the inheritance of non-Muslims and the implementation of their wills in Dubai Courts contributes to facilitating and accelerating the procedures of customers.
He said that the Dubai courts pay great attention to the estates of non-Muslims in the emirate, organizing them in a way that guarantees the application of their own laws, and developing litigation procedures for their estates and making them enforceable.
Al Shamsi explained that the department will specialize in organizing cases related to inheritance for non-Muslims according to specific conditions and controls, as the file for the inheritance is opened at the request of one of the heirs, recommended to him, or one of the stakeholders, pointing to the need to have a set of documents available to open the file for the inheritance according to the request of the customer and the available documents. he have.
He added that in the first case, it must include a legal notification, a certificate of limitation of succession, a legal deed, or an official document specifying the heirs and shares, and in the second case, an official document proving a will issued by the Dubai courts or one of the state courts except for the International Financial Center Courts is presented, and the third case is The absence of the foregoing and the existence of a court ruling proving the death of the deceased and identifying the heirs. In the event that the verdict is issued from outside the country, the file is not opened until after confirmation of the ratifications of the verdict by the UAE Embassy – Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
And Al Shamsi indicated that in the event that a request to open the estate file is submitted based on a will not issued by the state courts, which is the fourth case, it is pursuant to the provisions of Article (18) of Law No. (15) of 2017 regarding managing the estates of non-Muslims and implementing their wills in force in the Emirate of Dubai. A lawsuit for executing a will is registered, and a certified copy of the law applicable to the will is attached, whether it is the nationality law of the testator or the law specified in the will, provided that the case manager verifies that the papers are completed and that the judicial fees are paid, and the nearest session is determined for it, and it is announced to all parties whose names are mentioned in the will. .
Al Shamsi stated that the First Instance Chamber will apply the one-session system, so that the target is to decide on the request in one session, and the ruling issued accepting the implementation of the will is submitted after its issuance with the list of requests for opening the estate file, and in the event that the procedure requires further clarification and inquiries, the request for a decision is submitted by the President of the Court. By agreeing to open the file by submitting the application through the “Weyak” system via the Dubai Courts website.
As for the cases in which the court refuses to open the inheritance file, it is – according to Al Shamsi – represented in the issuance of a will or its approval by the Dubai International Financial Center courts for the center’s competence to implement it, and the issuance of an affidavit specifying the heirs, whether from outside the country or the consulate, due to the insufficiency of this Data in determining all the heirs, indicating that in other than these cases, the applicant may submit a request to the President of the Court through the “Weyak” system for the purposes of review and issuance of an approval decision.
