Top tips on how to ensure your estate is in order

For expatriates living in the UAE, it is also vital to establish whether Sharia law suits your family's needs, advises Caroline Dredge, a senior wealth manager at GlobalEye.

Having a will is essential to protect your family if the worst should happen, says Caroline Dredge, a senior wealth manager and assistant vice president at GlobalEye. For expatriates living in the UAE, Ms Dredge says it is also vital to establish if Sharia law suits your needs and that of your family. If not, there are measures you can take to ensure your wishes are met.

1 Keep all your documents in one safe place

Firstly, make sure all your documents are organised and in a safe place. Then make sure you tell someone you trust where that is. (Other than your spouse, in case something happens to both of you). Also, keep a list of all the key contacts - such as your bank manager, financial adviser and lawyer - with your documents. Consider using an electronic system to store your documents, too. Some of these are free of charge if you are a client of a financial advisory firm.

2 Is your family well-protected financially?

Sit down with a financial adviser to face head on the financial situation you will be leaving your loved ones in. You won't be here to sort it out after the event, so make sure you have done everything you can - while you still can. Recent research by Aviva, the British insurance company, found that 93 per cent of families in the United Kingdom felt they did not have adequate financial protection in place. It could be worse in the Emirates, where there are usually no company benefits in place.

3 Make sure you have a will for every jurisdiction that you have assets

Lawyers recommend that you have a will, the document that states to whom your assets are to be distributed to, in every jurisdiction that you have assets. This ensures that in the event of your death, your assets are distributed quickly and smoothly to the people that you wanted to have them.

4 Would your beneficiaries be stung with a nasty tax bill?

A number of countries tax your worldwide assets in the event of death. Typically, the taxes need to be paid even before your beneficiaries have access to their inheritance. Would your loved ones have the money to do this? There are simple ways of protecting your assets from taxes dependent on your country of domicile.

5 Does your spouse have access to funds?

In the event of death, potentially both your sole and joint accounts in the UAE will be frozen. Having a joint account is no protection. Your spouse should have an account in their own right or, better still, keep money aside offshore that is easily accessible if needed.

6 Establish whether Sharia law suits you for distribution of your assets in the UAE

Any assets held in the UAE, which includes bank accounts, your car, home contents, end-of-service gratuity, last month's salary and any life cover paid by your employer, will be split under Sharia law in the event of your death. This favours the male members of your family, which means your wife would only receive a fraction of your estate here.

7 Establish how you can get your UAE assets distributed in accordance with your wishes

If you do not want the potential beneficiaries under Sharia law to inherit, sit down with an independent adviser to look at your options. These include holding money offshore, ensuring you have adequate protection offshore, preparing a will written by licensed will providers in the UAE and preparing power of attorney documents, which aid in distribution of the money to the correct people.

8 Existing wills

It is important to review your will on a regular basis. It is also important to have a will that is written under the laws of the jurisdiction where the assets are held. It is, therefore, not appropriate to try to use a will from another country to distribute your assets in the UAE.

9 Guardianship of children

Documents can be prepared that allow you to establish temporary guardians for your children in the UAE until their permanent guardians arrive. This allows the authorities and family to know who should be responsible for your children if you are unable to do so due to death or injury.

10 Keeping it clear

Ensure that you have an open discussion with your family so they know what to do in the event of the worst happening. And if you have followed all the points above, your family should be well taken care of.