Do not start from the total shown on a compensation statement. Start by identifying which entries have settled and which remain inside the award arrangement. Issued estate property follows succession and custody procedures. For everything else, the employee's records and administrator are the evidence.
The rest of this guide stays inside those limits and gives you one working file to build.
One package, four assets
Break the package into four records before anyone assigns it an estate value.
Shares already issued and delivered. First establish that shares have actually been issued and identify where they are recorded. Do not assume that vesting or exercise always produces a brokerage account opened by the employer. Use the grant records, settlement statement and account statement to identify the settlement method, account provider and custodian. Once an account containing issued shares is identified, check the custodian's deceased-client rules and the succession documents it requests.
Unvested RSUs. Only the employee's records and plan administrator can confirm whether an unvested award survives death. The answer may also require advice under the law governing the award. Record the vesting schedule shown in the grant records, but do not infer the death result from that schedule. Collect the award notice, grant agreement, plan rules and any later amendment. Ask the administrator, in writing, what the records require after the participant's death.
Unexercised options. Use the same discipline. Record how many options are vested and unvested, then ask whether the documents state an exercise window after death, who may exercise, what evidence of authority is required, and what happens if that window expires. These are questions for the actual plan and its governing law. Do not turn them into assumptions because another employer's plan handled death differently.
Cash still with payroll. This bucket has a UAE statutory rule. Article 15 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 requires an employer to hand the worker's family any wages, financial entitlements and end of service gratuity within ten days of the death or of the employer learning of it. Article 15(2) allows the worker to specify in writing which family member should receive those rights.
Article 15(2) calls for a written nomination without identifying the employer's form. Ask the employer which nomination mechanism it uses and whether a MOHRE step applies, then keep a copy with the employment records. If payment is made to the deceased's own bank account instead, it joins an account that the bank may freeze after notification of death. Payroll, insurance and gratuity payments are covered in more detail in where the payout actually lands.
For workers covered by Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, Article 15 sets the ten-day deadline.
Find the death terms before you estimate the estate
Collect the offer letter, every award notice, each grant agreement, the current plan rules, later amendments and the latest account statement. Do not rank those documents in advance. Their legal effect depends on their wording and governing law.
The useful questions are plain:
- Has the award produced issued shares, cash, or neither?
- Do the plan rules govern the death treatment, or does a grant agreement or later amendment supply or change it?
- Does any part of the award become payable, vest, cancel, or remain subject to a decision?
- Is there an exercise, notice or claim deadline?
- Who may give instructions after death, and what proof of authority must that person provide?
- Which law governs the award?
That list deliberately separates questions from answers. Only the employee's records and advice under the governing law can establish the outcome. The administrator can point to the operative text. Counsel in that jurisdiction can explain its legal effect.
Any deadline found in the records belongs at the top of the estate file. On the onshore UAE side, Article 1228 of the Civil Transactions Law in force from 1 June 2026 says an heir may not dispose of an estate asset before receiving a certificate stating their share in the net estate. Dubai Courts does not publish one standard processing time for inheritance or estate settlement cases. A contractual deadline can therefore run while the family is still obtaining authority. The full week-by-week timeline explains the surrounding estate steps.
The person allowed to act also depends on the route. Under the onshore Civil Transactions Law, the court confirms an executor appointed by the deceased or appoints one if there is no executor, and the court issues the certificate identifying heirs and their shares. For a non-Muslim estate with a DIFC-registered will, the executor named in the will applies to the DIFC Courts for a Grant of Probate. Naming an executor helps define who should apply, but the grant or court appointment is still required.
Payroll does not solve the equity file. Article 15 puts the ten-day duty on the employer for wages, financial entitlements and gratuity. An equity administrator dealing with a separate award follows the relevant documents and its deceased-participant procedure. HR may help locate records, but it cannot rewrite a clause or replace the authority demanded by the custodian.
Request the plan rules and every grant record now. Access and response times vary by employer and plan.
Custody: where issued shares actually sit
For shares that have actually been issued, read the settlement statement and account terms before deciding which document will release them. The custodian's terms identify its deceased-client requirements. Those requirements may include an order from a jurisdiction outside the UAE.
HSBC's published UAE terms for investment products provide a useful example, but only an example. The terms require legal heirs or personal representatives to provide a court order issued in the relevant jurisdiction for the investments. They also say HSBC will not help the heirs apply for probate. The investments are custodied with Pershing (Channel Islands) Limited. The practical instruction is narrow: read the actual custody clause and ask the provider, in writing, which order it will accept.
UAE-listed shares have depository procedures of their own. If the deceased's issued shares are recorded at Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange's central securities depository, inheritance is handled as an off-market transfer. The AD CSD rules do not allow an inheritor to deal with the securities before the inheritance transfer is registered, subject to limited temporary-account mechanics.
The ADX fee list dated June 2023 prices an inheritance transfer at 0.20 percent of market value using the previous day's closing price, with a minimum of AED 25 from one side, plus 5 percent VAT. Foreign powers of attorney or decrees of distribution must be attested by the foreign ministry in the issuing country, the UAE embassy there and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Those figures and documents are ADX-specific. The research found a named Dubai CSD inheritance-transfer service, but no published Dubai CSD inheritance fee or full document list.
Do not use the deceased's login as a shortcut. Article 9 of Federal Decree-Law 34 of 2021 penalises acquiring another person's password without permission or authorisation, with imprisonment or a fine from AED 50,000 to AED 100,000. Article 9(2) carries higher penalties when the password is then used to obtain access, or to enable another person to obtain access, with intent to commit a crime. Separate unauthorised-access and personal-data provisions may also apply. The safe route is the broker's deceased-client process, using the authority and documents it requests. The same distinction between access and title is explained in why access is not inheritance.
A will adds another layer, and the reader's legal track matters. For non-Muslims within the federal civil regime, Article 11(3) of Federal Decree-Law 41 of 2022 allows a foreigner's heir to request the law applicable under the Civil Code unless a registered will provides otherwise. That rule is limited to the non-Muslim civil track. Muslim estates sit under a different personal-status and wills framework, and a Muslim reader should obtain advice on the applicable route.
For non-Muslims, a DIFC Full Will has been able to include worldwide assets since 30 June 2019. The narrower DIFC Property, Financial Assets and Business Owners Wills remain limited to UAE estates. Coverage in the document also does not guarantee recognition abroad. A foreign custodian follows the law and procedure of the relevant jurisdiction, so local advice may still be needed.
Two adjacent issues have their own guides: why the accounts freeze, and what a family can still use, and, where the equity is in the employee's own company, what freezes when a shareholder dies.
The Equity Compensation Death Audit
The Equity Compensation Death Audit is a working table with one row per grant. Its job is simple: replace "there is equity somewhere" with a record the family can give to the administrator and its lawyer. Timing depends on the number of grants, the documents available and how quickly missing terms can be confirmed.
| Column | What to write, per grant |
|---|---|
| Plan name | The name shown in the plan records. Include ESPP holdings where relevant |
| Grant date | The date on the award notice or grant record |
| Issued or delivered amount | Shares or cash already delivered, with the settlement evidence |
| Undelivered amount | Units, options or other awards that have not been delivered |
| Death terms | Quote the relevant wording and clause number. Mark it open if the wording is missing or unclear |
| Deadline | Any post-death notice, claim or exercise date stated in the records |
| Account provider and custodian | The broker, depository or other provider, plus the jurisdiction named in the account terms |
| Beneficiary or nominee record | The person named on any plan form, what the form says it covers, and the filing date |
| Employer or administrator contact | A named team, email address and case channel |
| Document location | The folder path or physical location, known to one other person |
Leave a row open where the plan wording is missing, the administrator has not replied, or the settlement method is unclear. A blank marked "awaiting administrator confirmation" is more useful than a confident guess.
Three actions follow.
First, if the plan offers a beneficiary or nominee form, obtain the form and ask what it covers before filing it. Ask the administrator and governing-law adviser whether the form and the will address the same right. The answer comes from the plan document and the applicable law.
Second, add the separate written nomination permitted by Article 15(2) for final wages, financial entitlements and gratuity, using the employer's applicable mechanism. Keep the submitted copy and any confirmation.
Third, tell one person that the plan exists. The family or estate representative should notify the administrator after death and follow its deceased-participant process. The file should contain the plan name, account provider, contact channel and the location of the operative records.
Tax sits outside this guide. Equity at death may engage the rules of the plan's country, the custodian's country and the employee's home country. Ask a tax adviser in each relevant jurisdiction. Disputed employment entitlements belong with a UAE-licensed lawyer; Article 55 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 exempts labour claims brought by heirs from judicial fees where the claim does not exceed AED 100,000. Nothing here recommends exercising, holding or selling an investment.
Last updated: 25 July 2026 · Changelog: 2026-07-25: first published.
Frequently asked questions
Does a UAE will cover my RSUs and stock options?
A will can direct property that forms part of the estate, subject to the scope of that will and the law applied by the relevant custodian. For shares already issued and delivered, identify the account and its release procedure. For unvested RSUs, unexercised options or any award that has not settled, the plan documents, administrator and governing-law adviser must confirm what right exists at death and what the estate can claim. A will cannot be assumed to change the award terms.
Can my family use my password to log in and exercise my options?
Do not treat possession of the password as authority. Article 9 of Federal Decree-Law 34 of 2021 penalises acquiring another person's password without permission or authorisation, with a fine from AED 50,000 to AED 100,000 or imprisonment. The higher penalty in Article 9(2) requires use to obtain access, or enable access, with intent to commit a crime. Other unauthorised-access provisions can apply separately. The family should use the plan administrator's and custodian's deceased-client procedure.
What happens to the salary and gratuity still with payroll?
For employment covered by Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, Article 15 requires the employer to hand wages, financial entitlements and end of service gratuity to the worker's family within ten days of the death or of learning of it. The worker may nominate in writing which family member should receive those rights. Confirm the employer's nomination mechanism and keep evidence of submission.
Do unvested RSUs pass to my heirs automatically?
Only the employee's grant records, current plan rules and administrator can answer that question for the award. Ask the administrator to identify the operative wording, any claim deadline, the person authorised to act and the governing law. Where material value is involved, have counsel in that jurisdiction review the answer.
Who can actually claim the shares from the broker?
The person accepted by the custodian after the required court documents are issued. Under Article 1228 of the onshore Civil Transactions Law, an heir may not dispose of an estate asset before receiving the certificate stating their share in the net estate. An executor may also need court confirmation or appointment. For a non-Muslim DIFC estate, the executor named in the registered will applies for the Grant of Probate. A foreign custodian can add its own requirements, including an order from the relevant jurisdiction, as HSBC's published investment terms illustrate.
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