The estate planning platform Blanket has launched its services in the UAE, aiming to help expatriates manage wills and powers of attorney through a digital process designed for people with assets and family connections across multiple countries.
Founded by Anton Pirinen, a lawyer and former member of the founding team at Wio Bank, the platform focuses on estate planning needs often faced by UAE residents with cross-border financial and family responsibilities.
Blanket’s service fee starts from Dhs799 and includes document drafting, amendments, translation and digital storage features. Government registration fees are charged separately by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department at Dhs950 for a single will and Dhs1,900 for mirror wills.
Estate planning
The launch comes as many expatriates in the UAE continue to delay preparing wills due to concerns over cost, complexity and legal processes. Without a registered will, families may face frozen bank accounts, delays in accessing assets, guardianship decisions through the courts and lengthy probate procedures.
Blanket provides support for UAE wills and also offers will services for the UK and India. The company plans to expand its coverage to additional countries.
Digital process
Users can complete an online application in around 15 minutes without attending in-person meetings. Draft wills are prepared using lawyer-designed templates, reviewed by qualified legal professionals, translated into Arabic by a Ministry of Justice-licensed translator and submitted through the notarial process of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department.
Registered wills are stored with the department, while users can keep personal copies and related documents through the platform’s digital storage service.
Anton Pirinen, Founder and CEO of Blanket, said: “Estate planning is one of those things people know they should do, but usually put off because it feels too complex, too expensive or just not urgent enough. For expats, that problem is even bigger, because life does not always sit neatly in one country.
“You may live in the UAE, own assets somewhere else, have family overseas and be dealing with different legal systems at the same time. I built Blanket to make that process easier to understand, easier to access and more suited to how people actually live today.”
Service costs
The platform also offers powers of attorney, allowing residents to appoint trusted individuals to handle matters such as banking, government paperwork, healthcare decisions and administrative tasks when required.
The company said each customer is assigned a dedicated specialist to guide them through the process and answer questions throughout their application.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
