Federal Decree-Law No. (25) of 2025 promulgates a new UAE Civil Transactions Law, in force on 1 June 2026. It replaces the 1985 law in full. For family offices, private-client practitioners, and HNW founders with UAE-situs assets, the new law restates the rules on wills, death-illness dispositions, family ownership, gifts, Takhāruj, and life-insurance proceeds — and offers a clean civil-law vehicle for shared family assets.
Here are five succession-planning points worth addressing before the in-force date.
1. Conflict of laws — and the UAE-situs immovable carve-out
Article 17 fixes the conflict-of-laws framework for succession. Substantive succession follows the law of the country to which the decedent belonged at the time of death (Article 17(1)). The substantive provisions of a will follow the law designated by the will, or the testator's nationality at death where not designated (Article 17(3)). The form of a will follows the law designated, the law of nationality at making, or the law of the place of making (Article 17(4)).
Article 17(5) is the carve-out that matters most for cross-border practice: the law of the UAE applies to a will made by a foreigner concerning their immovable property located in the State.
For HNW families with UAE-situs immovable property, a separate UAE will to address that property — alongside the home-country will for movable and overseas-situs assets — is the safer structuring path.
2. Death-illness dispositions are will-equivalent — Article 1157
Article 1157 treats any legal act made by a person during a death illness with the intention of making a gift as a disposition effective after death — governed by the rules of wills. Article 1157(3) creates a presumption: once the heirs prove the disposition was made in death illness, the disposition is presumed to have been issued by way of donation, unless the transferee proves otherwise.
For private-client practice, this is the death-illness audit risk. Material lifetime gifts by elderly or ill clients should be accompanied by dated medical-fitness evidence. Article 1158 mirrors the rule for retained-interest dispositions: where the disposer retains, by any means, possession of the thing disposed of or right to benefit from it for life, the disposition is treated as effective after death and governed by the will rules.
3. Family ownership — a Civil Code vehicle for shared family assets
Articles 1084–1088 introduce family ownership as a Civil Code vehicle:
- Established in writing by members of the same family united by a common activity or interest, from an inherited estate or from any specific property they agree to include (Article 1084).
- Maximum duration 15 years; partner may seek court permission to withdraw for just cause before the term expires; indefinite-term arrangements allow withdrawal on six months' notice (Article 1085).
- No partition during family ownership; share-disposition to a non-family member requires consent of all partners; a non-family acquirer becomes a partner only with all-partner consent (Article 1086).
- Manager(s) appointed by owners holding a majority of shares; manager may introduce purpose-change improvements (Article 1087).
The 15-year cap is the main practical limit. For longer-horizon shared-asset structures, DIFC and ADGM foundation routes remain available. For onshore Civil Code structures with a defined term and a common family activity or interest, the family-ownership regime is a clean choice.
4. Takhāruj — the express vehicle for an heir to exit cleanly
Article 534 codifies Takhāruj: the sale by an heir of their share in the estate to another heir (or heirs) post-death, for a known consideration, even where the estate's component assets are unspecified.
Article 535 confirms the effect: transfer of the seller's share to the purchaser, who replaces the seller in the entitlement. The contract does not include assets discovered post-contract (with both parties' ignorance) or rights / obligations between heirs and the estate.
Article 537 imposes a per-right registration discipline: the purchaser must complete the relevant statutory transfer procedure for each right within the share, and Takhāruj is opposable to third parties only after those procedures are completed.
For estate planning where one heir wishes to exit while leaving the rest of the family in continuity of the estate, Takhāruj is the right vehicle. The contract should expressly carve out post-contract discoveries (Article 535(2)) and the per-right registration timeline should be diaried.
5. Life-insurance proceeds outside the estate — Article 985
Article 985 confirms that life-insurance proceeds payable on the insured's death do not form part of the insured's estate. This is a critical succession-planning fact. Together with Article 981's beneficiary-designation flexibility — including the right to designate spouse / children / descendants / heirs as a class, with heirs receiving statutory shares — life cover is the standard liquidity tool for HNW estate planning outside the probate / executor liquidation process.
Two further provisions to flag:
- Article 978 requires the written consent of the person whose life is insured before a third-party-life policy is concluded.
- Article 980 forfeits cover where the beneficiary intentionally causes the insured's death.
A note on the executor process
Articles 1118–1153 set the framework for the executor-led liquidation of an estate. The headline mechanics:
- Court confirmation of the appointed executor or court appointment where the decedent did not nominate (Articles 1118–1120).
- Registration of the appointment, which triggers a creditor stay-of-action (Article 1125).
- 90-day inventory window (Article 1130) and 30-day dispute window (Article 1131).
- Restriction on heir dispositions of estate assets pre-certificate of share (Article 1126).
- Public-auction sale of estate assets unless heirs and creditors agree otherwise (Article 1134).
Family-office documentation should anticipate this process — every adult client's will should appoint an executor, and the family-office data-room should be ready to populate the inventory list within the 90-day window.
Related Civil Code 2025 guides
Published 18 May 2026. General information only — not legal advice. Contact us for matter-specific advice.