When Should You Update Your UAE Will?

A will is not a one-time task, but it does not work the way most people assume. Once a will is registered with the ADJD, you cannot simply log in and edit it. Understanding when your will still works and when it needs to be redone is essential to keeping your plan accurate.

A will is not a one-time task, but it does not work the way most people assume. Once a will is registered with the ADJD, you cannot simply log in and edit it. Understanding when your will still works and when it needs to be redone is essential to keeping your plan accurate.

The full residuary clause: built to cover the future

A properly drafted ADJD will is structured around what is called a full residuary clause. After any specific gifts, debts, and expenses are settled, everything else in your estate, your residuary estate, passes according to the general distribution you set out in the will.

The power of this clause is simple: it covers assets you acquire after the will is registered. A new bank account, a property bought next year, shares in a company you have not yet founded — they all flow through the residuary clause to your chosen beneficiaries without needing a new will every time your asset base grows.

This is one of the most underrated advantages of registering an ADJD will early.

When a new will IS required

The residuary clause covers new assets, not new people or new instructions. Your will needs to be rewritten and re-registered when the substance of your wishes changes, in particular when:

• The beneficiaries change (for example after a divorce, remarriage, or the birth of a child you want to include).
• The shares or allocations between beneficiaries change.
• The guardians named for your minor children need to be replaced.
• The executor is no longer the right person to administer the estate.
• You want to add or remove specific bequests (a named property, a specific account, a particular gift).

In these cases, the existing registered will cannot simply be amended. A fresh will is drafted and registered with the ADJD, and the new registration supersedes the old one.

The practical takeaway

If your wishes about who inherits, who looks after your children, and who acts as executor remain the same, your registered will continues to do its job, even as your wealth grows. If those wishes change, do not delay: a will that no longer reflects your intentions is as problematic as having none at all.