A widow has failed at a Dubai court to prove the authenticity of her late husband's will, in which she was left the majority of his Dh734 million ($200m) estate.
The Lebanese woman, 75, asked Dubai Court of Personal Status to acknowledge the document, which she said was written in 2013.
She said the dead man, from Canada, who was a partner in a UAE-based construction company, had asked for Canadian inheritance law to be implemented during the will’s execution.
She sought to exclude her husband's siblings from the bulk of the inheritance, from which she was due to receive 29 apartments, including the couple's home in Dubai Marina, three villas, 10 land plots in different areas of Dubai and four luxury cars.
Judges heard the woman filed the case more than a year after the man’s death in Dubai in October 2020.
They were told she did so only after an inheritance inventory request was submitted to UAE courts by the childless man’s two sisters and brother, his closest relatives.
“The request for inventory was submitted with her knowledge and she filed for the case more than a year after her husband’s death,” lawyer Awatif Mohammed from Al Rowaad Advocates told the court.
The widow failed to prove the authenticity of the will in court and no evidence was found to prove the will had been registered in the UAE or Canada.
“A copy of the will, which the wife initially rejected to submit to court, was referred to the criminal laboratory in Dubai which compared the signature on it with his signature on the passport,” said the lawyer.
She presented evidence by experts who said the signature on the two documents was not identical.
Following several court hearings, judges ordered that the woman’s case be dismissed.
The ruling can be appealed within 30 days.
In similar verdicts where inheritance claims have been dismissed, the disputed inheritance has been divided according to UAE laws.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees (oats with chicken) is one of them
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Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results
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INFO
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When: November 21-24
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Sector: Finance / legal
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The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
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Fuel economy, combined 6.9L / 100km
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RESULT
Arsenal 2
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 45 4'
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Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
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