DIFC will vs mainland will in Dubai: costs, timelines and what each one covers

Can a DIFC will include foreign assets and crypto?

Yes. A DIFC will can include international assets held in other countries, and Evgenia Konechnykh says clients regularly bring bank accounts in Switzerland or the United Kingdom, investment accounts in the United States, crypto accounts and other digital assets.

In her words, the DIFC will is geared towards international assets and towards properties still under construction. A mainland will, by contrast, lists the assets that are in the Emirates.

For an owner whose wealth is spread across several jurisdictions, that makes one document do the work that would otherwise be split between countries.

What does it cost to change a will later?

A DIFC will can be amended for an additional government fee of AED 570 (about USD 155). A mainland will cannot be amended: it has to be written again from scratch, with the fee and the legal work paid in full a second time.

The lawyer lists the usual reasons for a change: clients run businesses, buy and sell assets, switch bank accounts, have children or change their marital status.

A will is valid for 120 years, she says, so it can be written once. The task afterwards is to update it when new assets appear, by amendment in the DIFC or by a new will under UAE law.

What happens to bank accounts and powers of attorney after death?

Bank accounts are frozen and cannot be used until the inheritance is granted. A power of attorney stops working at the moment of death, even if it allowed the holder to sell or gift the property.

Some families think of withdrawing money before the bank learns of the death and blocks the account. The lawyer calls that very risky, because it can become a criminal case.

The same logic applies to property. Selling under a power of attorney issued by someone who has since died would be unlawful; from that moment it is the will that takes effect.

Who are the executors and witnesses of a will?

Executors are the people who technically carry out the transfer under the will. They settle the testator's debts first, if there are any, and only then do the remaining assets pass to the heirs named in the document.

A DIFC will also needs two witnesses. There can be two executors or more, and the lawyer advises that they be based in the Emirates and speak English, because they represent the estate before government bodies.

A testator who flies in alone and has nobody suitable to appoint is not stuck: the lawyer says executors and witnesses can be provided as part of the drafting.

Where is the will stored, and which language governs?

A DIFC will is drawn up in English and stored on the DIFC servers, so its text can be recovered if the family cannot find it. The lawyer who drafted it keeps a copy as well.

Mainland wills have no common storage system. With seven emirates, heirs may not know where the will was made, and it is released only to a person named in it, an executor or an heir.

Language is the other risk. Most expats cannot read the governing Arabic text of a mainland will and cannot check it for errors or typos, which is why the lawyer considers an English-language will clearer for the client.

Common mistakes when drafting a will in Dubai

The main mistake is treating a will as a form anyone can fill in. Evgenia Konechnykh mentions people who try to write it themselves or order one from a typing centre for about AED 300 (about USD 80).

Her point is that one will is not the same as another: what matters is that it can be enforced exactly as the testator intended. The DIFC keeps a register of lawyers who have the right to draft its wills.

The second mistake is postponing. People tell themselves they are young and nothing will happen, yet the cost of being wrong falls on the family, in months of court and frozen accounts.