From Wiki

If your husband who sponsors your visa dies in an accident all your accounts (single and joint) in UAE will be frozen. This is a legal ruling.

Your visa will be cancelled within 30 days and you will have to leave the country and come back as a tourist.

In principle the government will freeze those assets until all liabilities of your husband are cleared: loans, credit cards, business debts etc. (in UAE of course). Single accounts of your husband in home country may be frozen too untill all cleared. From an accident to the Government action it may take less than 60 min before the accounts are frozen.

Sharia Law will affect the assets of expats resident in muslim countries. Having a valid will does not get around this as Sharia takes precedence. Under Sharia law an individual has free will over one third of their assets only. The remainder can be subject to distribution according to court rulings. Husbands will usually receive all the assets of their spouse but this does not work the other way around. Women should make provision for the worst case scenario and assume that they will not receive all jointly owned assets, no matter what a will says.

Therefore,

1. Wills should be written in accordance with the rules of your home country. They can then be translated into Arabic and attested in the courts, but this can be done post-mortem. Your wishes are far more likely to be taken into consideration if you can provide formal documents. 2. Have all / any of your properties covered with Life Assurance. If you have a loan the bank gets paid in case of your death. All policies should be written with offshore insurers, not local ones. 3. If you do not have a mortgage, the property should be put in the wife's name. 4. Open an offshore account where the Insurance Company or whoever will pay the money in case of your husband death, or have your own accounts separate to his. 5. Get a visa from RAK or some other free zone if you cannot be sponsored by your husband's company as an employee. In this case you remain in the country even if your husband dies so you can take care of all affairs. (?? - Assuming this is possible!)

Remember even if you have rented properties here and get a cheque for them unless you have your own account here in UAE you may not be able to cash it in ... the accounts in both your husband's name and held jointly are frozen.

I would like to point out that the assets and wills of deceased expats are still something of a grey area under UAE law. There have not been many cases of property owning expats dying and court rulings being made so there is not yet any legal precedent. According to UAE Federal Law No. 2 of 1987, Article 17(5) on disposal of property: "The law of the UAE shall apply to wills made by aliens disposing off their property located in the UAE." This has not been rescinded. The final decision rests with the court judge and it is still anyone's bet as to how he apportions assets. You may have a more liberal judge, or one that insists on applying Sharia to the letter.

General information about wills can be found on these links:

• What happens if you don't have a will
  

• Where there's a will
  

Information about Sharia law here