YOUR EXPAT WILL
Almost every Will has complicated tax consequences. This is the main reason why there is not a 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Talk with the expert Lady Hilda van der Tuin to learn what your options are (and how you can avoid the tax man taking a large chunck out of your legacy).
BUSINESS SET UP
You can have your business license within 5 minutes, fully digital. Before you sign up, ask yourself: what is the value of a company without a corporate bank account?
And that is the reason why we turn the business set up around. Everything we do is focussed on getting your company a multi currency corporate bank account as fast as reasonably possible. And very often, this has little or nothing to do with getting a business license quickly.
Don’t postpone the non-urgent important things in LIFE
As the daughter of Lady Hilda van der Tuin pointed out so sucsinct: "it's difficult to negotiate about a Will with the immortal." And we hate to bring it you, but you're not immortal.
Drafting a Will is not expensive. For a couple we charge 7.000 AED, and on top of that there will be registration fees with the authorities in the UAE, that can go as low as 950 AED per Will and up to 15.000 AED for that very same Will, depending on the registration you prefer.
What we need from you for drafting the Will
We need the following documents and data from you;
The Emirates ID’s of your family;
The visa of you and your spouse;
The passports of your family;
Your physical address in the UAE;
The list with your assets (you can remove the confidential information or information about the value)
The names, addresses, Passport copies, and EID’s of the temporary guardians of your children (if applicable). Usually, the temporary guardians are based in the UAE since they are the ones who take immediate care of a child in case something happens to the mother and father.
The names, addresses, Passport copies of the permanent guardians of your children (if applicable). If they have different last names than you and your wife have, it is easier for me if you explain to me how they are related to you.
The names, addresses, Passport copies of the second, third, and possibly fourth Executor (assuming you are the executor of your spouse and your spouse is yours). Their EID’s if they are based in the UAE.
List of your beneficiaries in case it’s anyone else than your spouse and children. (For example, you have a special watch, and you want your brother to inherit this from you).
The marriage contract in case you signed a contract when you married. If it is just a marriage certificate, and you and your wife didn’t sign prenuptials, I don’t need the document.
If you want to donate your organs after you passed away.
Funeral wishes. Do you want to be buried or cremated? Do you want to be cremated in the UAE or in your home country? Do you want a special ceremony? Should it be a religious ceremony? Do you like certain music? Do you like to wear certain clothes? What should happen with your wedding ring? Etc. etc.
What does not work
Translating a Will from any country in the world and expecting it to have any legal value in the United Arab Emirates.
Freezone or mainland?
Litterarly meters of bookshelves can be filled with answers for this question. We will not add too much to that bookshelf. If you have a mainland license, you'll have to pay 9% Corporate Income Tax over every profit higher than €100.000 per year. If that is OK with you, then very often a mainland license is the way to go. If you would like postponing paying taxes as long as in possible in the civilized world, a Freezone company is your best bet.
Do I need a local shareholder with a mainland company?
No, you don't. This rule has been abolished a while ago.
How long will it take?
Forget all the non-sense commercial talk; it will take 3 months before you have a multi currency corporate bank account connected to your new business.
You charge me for setting up a freezone company, while others do it for free. How come?
If you believe in 'free advice' your either naief or are OK with the fact that these 'advisors' are basically sales offices of one or two freezones. If these happen to be the most appropriate freezones for your business, you're lucky. We balance your financial and fiscal situation with the options the UAE has to offer and that balancing is time consuming and therefore it costs money.
How often do I have to be in the UAE?
At least once a year, to keep your visa valid, and in most cases every 180 days. But we don't see many entrepreneurs being succesful with less than three visits per year. Actually none. You can't run a succesful business without hardly ever visiting the country where that business is.
Can I have a branch company in the UAE?
Absolutely! That's possible too. It will take a bit more paperwork, since you'll need to translate more documents and you'll need to attest them to use them in the Emirates and getting a corporate bank account will be a little bit more difficult.
How long have you been in the business of setting up companies?
We are setting up companies for over 10 years straight now. That is, Paul Harts Msc. has been doing this for over 10 years. You can contact him here.