Question: Can you clarify the proprietorship regulations assuming I am purchasing property (loft or a manor) in Dubai? Will the property and the land it is on be something I can grant to my kids, as I could with property back home in India? How does this function? What befalls the property in the event that I pass on?
Reaction: Pursuant to your inquiries, the arrangements of Law No. 7 of 2006 concerning Real Property Registration in the Emirate of Dubai (the ‘Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 on Real Property Registration’); Federal Law no. 28 of 2005 connected with Personal Status (the ‘Individual Status Law of UAE’); Law No. 15 of 2017 Concerning Administration of Estates and Implementation of Wills of Non-Muslims in the Emirate of Dubai (the ‘Dubai Wills Law’); and DIFC Wills and Probate Registry Rules (the ‘DIFC WPR Rules’) are appropriate.
In Dubai, an exile might buy freehold or leasehold property. This is as per Article 4 of the Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 on Real Property Registration, which expresses: “The option to possess Real Property in the Emirate will be limited to UAE nationals, nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council States, organizations completely claimed by these countries, and public business entities. Dependent upon the endorsement of the Ruler, non-UAE nationals might be allowed the accompanying privileges in the not set in stone by the Ruler:
a. Freehold responsibility for Property, without time limitations; and
b. Usufruct or rent privileges in Real Property for up to 99 (99) years.”
You might pass on the land property claimed by you in Dubai to your lawful beneficiaries.
In the UAE, a non-Muslim individual might apply his nation of origin’s very own regulation for individual matters like marriage, progression and circulation of his domain. This is as per Article 1(2) of the Personal Status Law of UAE, which expresses: “The arrangements of this Law will apply to residents of the United Arab Emirates State except if non-Muslims among them have exceptional arrangements appropriate to their local area or admission. They will similarly apply to non-residents except if one of them requests the use of his regulation.”
Further, in Dubai, a non-Muslim who claims a property, may grant something similar to his replacements by enrolling a Will with Dubai Court or with DIFC Wills Service Center. This is as per Article 6(a) of Dubai Wills Law, which expresses: “A register known as the ‘Register of Wills of non-Muslims’ has been made at the Dubai Courts and at the DIFC Courts to enlist Wills of non-Muslims.”
In light of the previously mentioned arrangement of regulation, you might enlist a Will wherein your kids are referenced as recipients, with the Dubai Court or DIFC Wills Service Center of DIFC Court under specific circumstances referenced in Article 8 of the Dubai Wills Law, which states:
“Enlisting a Will on the Register will be dependent upon the accompanying circumstances:
1. The departed benefactor should be non-Muslim.
2. The Will should fulfill the Will legitimacy conditions specified thus.
3. The Will should name an Executor and should state how the willed property will be discarded.
4. The deceased benefactor probably marked the Will or joined his seal or finger impression to it, within the sight of two (2) witnesses
5. The text of the Will should not have been changed by erasing or eradicating any part thereof, or by adding or embedding new text.
6. Every one of the expenses endorsed by the regulation in force in the Emirate probably been paid.”
In light of the Dubai Wills Law, the DIFC Court has planned DIFC WPR Rules. Article 5(2) of the DIFC WPR Rules deciphers (a) ‘Domain’ as ‘the Immovable and Movable Property of a Deceased and incorporates Property over which he practices an overall force of arrangement by his Will any place arranged’ and (b) ‘Home Property’ as ‘any Property contained in the Estate of a Deceased any place arranged.’ Therefore, the DIFC WPR Rules permits a person to remember for their Will the estate(s) claimed by that person which are arranged inside or outside the UAE.
In the occasion an individual is a Muslim, their resources will be dispersed to their lawful beneficiaries as per the Sharia.
