Safety | Security | Peace of Mind
SGLegal Consultants is a specialized niche firm providing a bespoke service for clients requiring a DIFC Will.
Founding Partner, Soma (Sujata) Gardi, qualified in 1998 and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. She has worked at Freshfields Solicitors, London and Merriman White in Inner Temple before moving to Dubai.
DIFC Wills and Probate, Private Client work and Estate planning.
A member of the UK Law Society she was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors by the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1998.
Soma is also a Registered Wills Draftsman for the DIFC Wills and Probate Service Centre appearing
on their central register. She graduated with a BA (hons) degree in Modern Languages from
University College London which included studying for one year at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
She then completed the CPE and LPC at postgraduate level at The College of Law, London graduating
with a high commendation.
Soma has lived in Dubai for over eight years and has focussed on this area of law due to an incident
that occurred when she first moved here that fuelled her interest in this area. The death of a close friend’s husband who died without a Will leaving his family alone gave Soma a very personal
experience of seeing the serious consequences of the absence of a Will in the UAE and how it has
disrupted entire family’s lives.
She has discovered that the majority of expatriate residents in Dubai do not have a Will and are obviously concerned about what happens to their assets and more importantly their children if they were to die whilst living here.
As more and more people now have assets all over the world it is important to safe guard against any eventualities that may occur. As most of us are visitors here in the UAE we need to be mindful of the UAE Federal Laws and the Personal Status Law that governs succession in the UAE.
Guardianship is the legal process of establishing who will step in should you become unable to care for your children or any other person you care for.
If you wish to register a DIFC Will to govern the distribution of your assets or one which is to encompass both assets and guardianship provisions, then you should register a Full Will.
A Property Will relates to real estate property only and is limited to five real estate properties within the UAE.
A Business Owners Will relates to shareholdings in up to five Free Zone and UAE onshore companies. The company shares must be held within the UAE.
A Financial Assets Will relates to bank and brokerage accounts only and is limited to ten separate bank or brokerage accounts which must be held within the UAE.
Lack of information – Many expats believe that it is an undue expense to have a Will in the UAE. Unfortunately, local law is very clear, in the absence of a Will Shar’ia Law will be applied to all assets within the jurisdiction of the UAE and this is nine times out of ten not what you would desire.
Cost – The cost of registering a DIFC Will is not a small amount but it means that your family (especially children) and assets are looked after according to your wishes if the worse were to happen .
Assests – The thought that you do not possess enough assets to warrant a Will. Whilst you may not have many assets you definitely will have something: car, bank account, personal possessions and these can be dealt with much more easily with a Will. The most important issue is guardianship of minor children. Guardians need to be appointed and witness statements entered to reflect this.
Want to have a quick discussion with us? Book a free consultation today. We will get back to you ASAP.
soma@sglegalconsultants.com
+97152 9587111