СТА - ведущая юридическая компания в Дубае с офисами по всему мируhttps://www.stalawfirm.com/ru.htmlSTA Law Firm - Блоги - WillsruCopyright 2024 STA Law Firm All Rights Reserved<![CDATA[Inheritance Law in the UAE]]> Inheritance Law in the UAE

"A leader's lasting value is measured by succession."

                                                                          -John C. Maxwell

The afore-stated quote is apt for a while discussing the laws of inheritance as these laws help understand the nuances of devolution of property among the 'deserving' legal heirs of the testator/deceased. The Civil Transactions Code, often known as the Civil Law and the Personal Status or Personal Law, governs the law of inheritance in the UAE. Both were conceived from the Shariah Law, which is considered a grand norm for inheritance laws in the UAE. The said laws are applicable to all UAE Nationals, but the laws also provide cases where the devolution of property of a non-Muslim takes place. This will be discussed in detail in the following sections.

A non-Muslim foreign national has been given the option of avoiding Shariah Law application and the devolution of his property by his individual State Law. Accordingly, Article 17 of the Civil Law specifies that the testator's law shall govern his inheritance at the time of the testator's death. It is critical to comprehend the concept of inheritance, which is defined under Article 313 of the Personal Law as the transfer of financial and property rights to those deserving following the testator's death. It must be noted that UAE, being a common law country, does not provide for the 'right to survivorship,' i.e., suppose there is a property owned jointly by two people and one of them dies, then the right to decide the manner of disposal of the property shall pass on to the courts. It must be noted that the testator's death marks the beginning of the litigation over the estate, as was rightly quoted by Ambrose Bierce.

Devolution of Estate of the Deceased (Muslim)

Under the Shariah Law, the legal heirs and the descendants of the deceased have the right to claim the estate, and it is upon them that the property to the deceased shall devolve. If the said non-Muslim, the property shall devolve based on the community law they belongs. In case the said non-Muslim has created a will, then the property shall devolve based on the specifications provided under the same to the beneficiaries as mentioned in the will.

In the case of a deceased Muslim, the property devolution takes place only based on the principles enshrined under the Shariah Law. These principles require that the heirs of the deceased should be determined, and two male witnesses should confirm the same. The heirs are also required to show documents like marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc., and submit them as evidence. Once the testator dies, all his rights and liabilities pertaining to the estate are divided based on the Shariah law. These include all the rights and liabilities like debts of the deceased or usufructs in the property. The principles of Shariah law provide that the heirs of the estate of the deceased shall be the following:

  • Children
  • Spouse 
  • Siblings
  • Grandchildren
  • Grandparents
  • Aunts and Uncles
  • Cousins

The restrictions under Shariah law pertaining to the people to whom the estate shall not devolve on the death of a Muslim Testator includes a person murdering to get a share in the estate of the deceased, a divorced woman, provided she is not assuming iddah, an adopted child, an illegitimate child, a non-Muslim. There is a Yiddish Proverb that "the one who comes for inheritance has to pay for the funeral expenses as well." Similarly, as per the law, the property or the amount that shall be devolved upon the legal heirs would be the amount after excluding the funeral expenses of the testator.

Devolution of property through Will (Muslim)

Muslims can draft a will for bequeathing their properties under the Shariah laws. But the portion that can be devolved through a will is only 1/3 of the property. If he wishes to bequeath more than 1/3 of his property, then all the legal heirs' written consent is required. Further, if the testator bequeaths more than 1/3 of his property without the consent of his legal heirs and dies, then again for the execution of the excess property, a no objection is required from the legal heirs. If the heirs do not consent for the same, the property shall be devolved as per the laws of Shariah. Also, apart from the 1/3 property that can be bequeathed through will, the rest of the estate shall devolve only as per the Sharia laws.

Devolution of Estate of the Deceased (non-Muslim)

If a non-Muslim foreign national dies intestate (i.e., without any will), their property shall be divided among their legal heir as per the Shariah laws. Initially, we saw that Civil Law Article 17(1) provides that inheritance of such a person shall be based on the law of the deceased. Still, an extension to this provision is provided under Article 17(5) of the Civil Law, stating that if such a non-Muslim foreign national has his property located in UAE, then his property devolution shall be as per Shariah laws with respect to those properties located in the UAE. Now, there is another proviso as well. Personal law Article 1(2) states that if the non-Muslim wishes that his property be devolved based on his State's law with regard to the properties in UAE, the said person has to elect for the same. The legal heirs of the deceased can apply for an application for the same in court.

Once the Legal heirs apply for the property of the deceased non-Muslim to be devolved as per his state law, they are required to submit some documents, including the death certificate, will of the deceased non-Muslim, his last domicile, and the judgment for execution from a court of competent jurisdiction translated to Arabic, if any, as per Article 276 of Personal Law. Irrespective of these provisions, there remains ambiguity regarding the application of State law or Shariah law because both the Personal Law and the Civil Code are contradictory. The will of a non-Muslim can be created in UAE, and for this will to be recognized in the UAE courts, it is required that the will be notarized as well as registered in the Judicial Department of the Emirate. As stated previously, the personal law allows a non-Muslim to dispose of his UAE properties as per his wishes; the DIFC established the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) wills and probate registry.

Devolution in case of Joint accounts

In a case where a UAE account is held jointly by two people and one of the people dies, then the surviving partner is required to intimate the bank within ten days from the date of the death of the deceased, and once notified, the bank freezes the account till the successors are appointed, and the court has decided the portions of the shares of the heirs. This is governed by another law, namely the Commercial Transactions Law/ Commercial Law. The procedure of devolution shares of a joint account is provided under Article 379 of the said law.

Transfer of Shares on death

In such a case, if the company was established in the UAE, the transfer would be as per the Shariah Laws if no documents have been provided. If the company in question is a Limited Liability Company, then the shares of the company would be transferred to the heirs of the deceased provided that there is no specific clause under the MOA or shareholder's agreement and the deceased is a local. In other cases, like Joint venture or sole proprietorship, etc., the transfer of shares shall be as per the Shariah laws, i.e., the UAE laws. This is because there is no right to survivorship in UAE. Thus, the share in such a case shall not be directly transferred to the surviving partner or the family members. Usually, in such a case, it is better than the specifications regarding the transfer of shares in case of death of the shareholder has been specified under an agreement between the shareholders with their consent to prevent any ambiguity in the future. Therefore, these are the inheritance that is followed in the UAE.

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Mon, 07 Mar 2022 21:14:00 GMT
<![CDATA[DIFC Wills]]>Lord Krishna was asked by one of his disciples what was the most astounding thing in the Universe. His answer was that a man wakes up each morning and believes that he will live forever despite knowing that he will not. Death is a morbid subject and that is probably the number one reason why individuals do not like discussing the idea of creating a will as it inevitably brings up the topic of mortality. United Arab Emirates- a country where eighty percent of the population is made up of expatriates and is under the aegis of Shariah or Islamic law, it becomes all the more imperative to have a will in place. Court Uncourt has impressed upon the importance of having a will on several occasions.    To reiterate, in the event of death without a Will, one's assets will be distributed in accordance with Shariah law, regardless of the deceased's nationality or religion. Shariah law is the law as dictated by the Islamic Holy book, the Quran which specifically dictates conditions of inheritance. Generally speaking female heirs of the deceased are entitled to half the entitlement endowed upon the male heirs. The custody of children is not automatically granted to the mother but preference is given to the male descendant from the father's family. The deceased's bank accounts and assets are frozen and the matter has to be heard by Dubai Courts before a judgment can be pronounced. All in all, the matter of inheritance where a will is not present only adds to the woes of the members of the family that have just dealt with a grave loss.    It is a fact that UAE succession law can be complicated, difficult to get accustomed to and sometimes contradictory. For example the Civil Transactions Law in article 17 no.1 states that "Heritage shall be governed by the law of the testator upon the death thereof" but contradicting the same is article 17 section 5 where it is stated that "the law of the United Arab Emirates prevails regarding the will issued by a foreigner about the real-estates thereof in the State". Therefore, the first and second instance courts will preferably choose to apply the rules and principles of Shariah to inheritance cases relating to real estate. As these principles differ from what is written in the will and from what would be the wish of the testator, the case will have to reach the Cassation stage for the testator's law to be applied. In practice only the Supreme Court can decide the fulfillment of the will as per testator's wish and as per the rules suggested and provided by the will, if solutions that are not in accordance with the Shariah Law have been chosen by the testator. It is also important to note that during the time that the courts take to reach a final decision, the assets will be frozen, which means that the heirs won't have any possibility of economic exploitation. To overcome the complication related to the same, the government of Dubai relied upon the Dubai International Financial Center to draft and execute the new law on wills that would meet the expectations of the residents and foreign investors alike. The law comes into effect on April 30, 2015 and has been described as "The first Common Law, English wills and probate service for non-Muslims in the Middle-East."    The UAE has continually evolved within the legal gambit and imbibed the best from existing legal systems from across the globe.   Thus, in an innovative action in the region and following the example of existing systems in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, for the first time in the Middle East it will be possible to register wills in accordance with international principles of Common Law before the authority that will be known by DIFC Wills and Probate Registry. The establishment of this new service is an attempt of DIFC to encourage the investment in Dubai by residing expats, providing legal certainty for the inheritance, by the existence of a simple and efficient mechanism for non-Muslims to pass on their assets after their death.   In line with the Memorandum of Understanding on this matter that has been signed by the DIFC and the Dubai Courts, the matters of succession will now be expedited and taken care of by the DIFC Courts.   These new types of will be available to anyone above the age of maturity, non Muslim, whether a resident of Dubai or not, and it will regulate the succession of any property of the testator, provided that the testator has assets in Dubai. It is essential to point out that any movable asset of the testator including but not limited to shares in a business, personal property such as gold or jewelry, gifts that the testator would like to bestow upon his relatives and/or family upon his death. Stocks, bonds, bank accounts will all be regulated by this new system. Regarding the estate, the draft of the new law clearly states that "a Will may give or dispose of Real Estate or Personal Estate situated in the Emirate of Dubai, to which the Testator is entitled at the time of his death, whether the Testator became entitled to it before or after the registration of his Will, and shall not govern succession to any other Property", which means that it is assigned to DIFC Wills and Probate Registry regulative competence not only for property situated on the DIFC, but for those located in any area of Dubai. On the other hand, if the testator has real estate in any of the other Emirates, for now, the common procedure in court will have to be followed, to the extent that this new DIFC system only have power to regulate estate in Dubai.   Another situation that has been foreseen by the new DIFC law is the appointment of an interim Guardian for a Minor who is habitually a resident with the Testator in the Emirate of Dubai. At the outset, it is important to highlight that the Western and the Sharia concept of guardian are different: if to any Western the Guardian will be someone in whom the parents will trust in case of their death to take care of their child(ren), that person could a friend, a family member or someone that the parents trust. According to with Shariah Law the Guardian will always be a member of the family. Thus, keeping this in mind and the high number of expats in Dubai; it is essential for the parents to choose someone they trust and they find suitable for the mission and appoint a Guardian. The new Rules state that the Testator who has "parental responsibility for a child who ordinarily resides with the Testator in Dubai may appoint in accordance with the applicable law of the child a Guardian or Guardians of the child" . This parental responsibilities are also defined by the DIFC as "all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which under the law of the UAE a father has in relation to the child and his property and includes the right to remove the child from the UAE and the DIFC".    Finally, the system to register and probate the will is simple and straightforward. The interested has to make an appointment through the DIFC website. Along with the appointment confirmation, information on the requirements, the documents needed and the template for the Will would be sent forth by DIFC. Using a template is another step in the right direction as it will make the process less cumbersome. On the appointment date the testator needs to bring his/her documents, one witness, and the appointed guardian (if applicable), along with identification documents for each. The Will shall be reviewed by the DIFC and signed in their presence. A hard copy of the signed Will shall be provided to the Testator, if requested, while the original will remain under DIFC's custody to be scanned and turned into an electronic document. The same will be stored for 120 years from the date of birth of the Testator .   From a legal perspective and constant liaison with expats who reside and/or have invested in Dubai, this new system is a welcome change for those that have always been concerned about safeguarding their inheritance. It is always recommended that when partaking in succession and inheritance matters, it is highly advisable to consult legal representatives to ensure that all regulations and requirements are complied with to ensure that the Will remains valid and effective. Yes, the matter of Wills brings with it a thought of gloom but as rightly said by Benjamin Franklin that there is nothing in this world that is certain, except death and taxes.    ]]>Fri, 20 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMT<![CDATA[Семейные дела – преступления против семьи - ОАЭ]]> Принятие уголовных законов требует первоначального определения следующих пунктов: (1) те социальные и индивидуальные интересы, которые будут защищать эти законы и (2) виды поведения, которые должны быть запрещены

[i]. При определении, следует ли применить уголовное наказание для обвиняемого, суд должен принять во внимание несколько факторов, включая намерения обвиняемого, наличие преступного умысла, косвенных и прямых доказательств и показаний свидетелей. Исследования существующих уголовных законов в развитых и развивающихся странах привели к предположению, что новые формы преступности находятся в данный момент на подъеме, а суды продолжают применять проверку на преступный умысел. Хотя экономические и должностные преступления, преступления в сфере информационных технологий в настоящее время набирают оборот, одна сфера уголовного права остается без должного внимания – это преступления против семьи.

В данной статье я хочу обсудить закон, регулирующий подобные преступления в ОАЭ. Это была инициатива законодательства ОАЭ защитить интересы семьи от насилия и преступлений, имея в виду, что данные правонарушения, как правило, имеют длительный эффект как на сами семьи, так и на общество в целом. Данное утверждение основывается на факте, что хотя преступление совершается против жертвы, но в целом, это преступление против общества, чьи законы преступаются. Часть 6 (Статья 327-330) Уголовного Кодекса ОАЭ (Федеральный Закон №3 от 1987 г. с поправками (далее «Закон») охватывает преступления против семьи.

Статья 327 Закона защищает как интересы семьи, так и законных опекунов ребенка. В ней сказано, что лишением свободы караются:-

а)похищение ребенка; б) сокрытие ребенка от его/ее родителей или опекунов; в)подмена новорожденного; г)передача ребенка третьим лицам, не являющимся родителями или опекунами. Данная статья имеет в виду присутствие двух физических актов – а) наличие новорожденного б) сокрытие его от законных родителей или опекунов. В случае, если находится свидетель, утверждающий, что ребенок родился мертвым, то он подвергается штрафу 1000 дирхам, тюремному заключению на 2 месяца или обоим наказаниям

Случаи, когда опекун ребенка отказывается передать его лицам, законно обладающим родительскими правами, рассматриваются в Статье 328 Закона. Подобные действия могут грозить заключением под стражу или штрафом. Строгость наказания может быть смягчена, в случае, если опекун исполнял фидуциарные обязанности по отношению к ребенку, и в этом случае он может воспитывать ребенка, но обязан передать законным родителям или опекунам по решению суда или указанию соответствующего органа.

Споры по опеке над ребенком в основном рассматриваются судом как личные дела, но вопросы, носящие криминальный оттенок, могут рассматриваться как административные нарушения, но только в случае, если заявитель имеет решение суда требовать опеки над ребенком .

Похищение несовершеннолетних одним из родителей или бабушкой/дедушкой с или без обманных намерений, насилия будет иметь результатом заключение под стражу или штраф в соответствие со Статьей 329 Закона. Другими словами, если родитель или прародитель похищает ребенка или внука лично или через подставных лиц у законных родителей или лиц, ими являющимися по решению суда или компетентных органов, то он понесет указанное выше наказание. Это означает намерение похитителя прекратить существующие отношения между ребенком и его законным опекуном.

Статья 330 касается людей, против которых вынесено решение суда о выплате содержания или алиментов, и они не выполняют свои обязательства в течение трех месяцев после получения уведомления. Данная статья выносит наказание ответчику в виде заключения на срок, не превышающий один год, или штраф 1000 дирхам, или и то и другое. В случае, если ответчик погашает свой долг или обеспечивает гарантию, которую принимает заявитель, в этом случае штрафные санкции не накладываются.

Анализ Статьи 330 показывает, что следующие четыре элемента являются составными частями преступления.

 a.   Заявитель обладает имеющим силу решением суда на получение содержания или алиментов;

b.   Ответчик отказывается платить в течение трех месяцев после уведомления;

c.   Заявитель должен зарегистрировать жалобу;  

d.  Стороны представили свои претензии перед судом и выполнили все процедуры по закону.

В заключении, нужно заметить, что кроме положений, содержащихся в Статье 327, заявители должны зарегистрировать жалобу в соответствии со Статьей 10 Уголовно-Процессуального Кодекса ( 35 от 1992г.), которая устанавливает, что уголовное дело должно быть основано на письменной или устной жалобе жертвы или ее/его законного представителя и по истечению трех месяцев происходит а) отказ в возвращении ребенка его законным родителям/опекунам; б) отказ в выплате содержания, алиментов, оплате за жилье жене или иному лицу по решению суда.

 

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Mon, 26 May 2014 12:00:00 GMT