• Home
• /
• UAE
• /
• Crime

UAE expat wants ownership of dead husband's house, court says no

Ras Al Khaimah - She has also requested to divide the inheritance between her and seven sons of her late Emirati husband.

The ownership of a plot of land granted to an Emirati national cannot be transferred to his foreign wife after his death, the Ras Al Khaimah Civil Court has ruled. The expat widow of an Emirati national cannot also sell the granted land of her late husband, the court added.

“The ownership of a granted land cannot be transferred or sold unless it is done before the death of the Emirati national.”

Court records show that an African woman filed a lawsuit requesting the court to affirm her ownership of a house she inherited from her late Emirati husband.

She has also requested the court to divide the inheritance between her and seven sons of her late Emirati husband as per the Sharia law.

In her plea, the woman said that she was married to the Emirati national, and they had a daughter.

“He had written me an (unofficial) paper in which he declared that the house I stayed in was part of my dowry, and that the ownership of the house shall be transferred to me if our marriage remained for one to three years.”

The court assigned an expert to look into the case. He stated that the house was granted to the late Emirati husband, and he did not have a title deed issued in his name by the bodies concerned.

The court turned down the woman’s request, stating that the ownership of properties may not be transferred only by registration.

“There must be a valid ownership transfer contract and then registration,” the court said.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com