Top trends in estate planning: What 2025 is teaching us about legacy

When the matriarch of a Gulf-based family passed away in early 2024, the family expected a straightforward estate transition. Her will had been registered under DIFC jurisdiction, her accounts were consolidated, and a corporate trustee had been appointed to manage the distribution. What they hadn't planned for was the reaction.

One son, based in Canada, objected to the philanthropic provisions. The daughter in Abu Dhabi raised concerns about the trustee's role in managing real estate she considered sentimental. The youngest sibling, still in university, asked for more time before taking on her responsibilities. No one contested the will. But everyone questioned its design.

Situations like this are surfacing more often in 2025. Families today are wealthier, more mobile, and more fragmented than their structures assume. And the questions they're asking - about fairness, flexibility, and purpose - are reshaping how estate plans are built and why.

Legacy planning starts with intent.

The most resilient estate plans are shaped by clarity. Not just legal clarity, but emotional intent - what needs to be preserved, who needs to be protected, and where vulnerability sits beneath the surface.

This shift is playing out across the Gulf, where legacy no longer begins with a spreadsheet. Families are leading with questions. What matters enough to be safeguarded? What's worth equalising? What should remain untouched?

Across the UAE and wider Gulf, these questions are reshaping the idea of legacy itself. Endowments (waqf), sustainability mandates, and guardianship wishes are appearing in the same documents as shareholdings and liquidity provisions. Families aren't waiting until net worth crosses a threshold to formalise purpose. They're anchoring it from the outset.

The system is catching up.

Estate planning in the UAE has moved beyond a one-size-fits-all model. The rise of DIFC and ADJD wills, UAE-based foundations, and dual-structure planning is helping families reflect on how they actually live across emirates, jurisdictions, and often across different belief systems.

These structures aren't only being used for tax or probate reasons. They're being chosen to solve the challenges of blended families, mixed citizenships, and divergent expectations between generations. When paired with offshore vehicles or holding companies, they offer not just legal clarity but strategic coordination, especially for families managing succession over time, not just across assets.

Tech helps, but not with trust.

Digital platforms are making it easier to manage documents, register wills, and prepare for asset transfer. Tools like Tejouri and the DIFC's digital assets framework allow heirs to access encrypted data and crypto holdings without long delays.

But while they reduce friction, they don't replace trust. According to a 2025 Trust & Will study, nearly half of respondents said they trusted human advisors more than AI-driven platforms when it came to emotionally sensitive planning. That sentiment echoes across the Gulf, where succession often sits at the intersection of family loyalty, reputation, and discretion.

Tech is being used for execution. It's not being relied on for interpretation. Not yet.

Inheritance will need rehearsal.

One of the more visible shifts in 2025 is timing. Families are bringing heirs into the conversation earlier, not when a trigger event forces it, but when alignment still has room to grow.

Exposure is no longer enough. Inheritance needs rehearsal. That means talking through roles, responsibilities, and trade-offs while the principal is still alive. Some families are doing this through structured onboarding. Others are using shadow governance models. The goal isn't consensus. It's familiarity. When things are understood in advance, they don't need to be defended later.

Liquidity will bring leverage.

Life insurance is finding new relevance in estate plans as a tool for making transitions smoother and more intentional.

Consider a family whose wealth is tied up in real estate, private equity, or long-term business holdings. If something happens to the principal, heirs often need immediate funds - to pay for education, cover taxes in another jurisdiction, or maintain property while probate is still in motion. That's where structured policies come in to create liquidity that isn't dependent on selling assets or negotiating loans.

In the Gulf, insurance is also being used to level out inheritances, especially when one child is involved in the family business and another isn't. Instead of splitting shares, families are using policies to offer equal value in different forms. For younger dependents, payouts are timed or held in trust to prevent premature access. For philanthropic families, policies are being tied to charitable goals that extend giving beyond the founder's lifetime. The product hasn't changed much. The thinking around it has.

The silence is breaking.

If there's one pattern emerging across all these changes, it's this: silence is less tolerated. Families may still avoid confrontation, but they're starting to reject ambiguity. The most challenging conversations, about fairness, succession, and readiness, are becoming harder to skip. That doesn't make planning easier. But it does make it real.

Estate planning in 2025 isn't being driven by fear. It's being driven by design. Not the design of a document, but the design of a future that feels intentional. Families are asking what to leave in place, not just what to leave behind.