ADJD, ADGM, DIFC or Dubai Courts: choosing your UAE will route

A non-Muslim expat in the UAE can register a will four ways: the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department standard route (AED 950, around three months), the ADGM Courts notary channel into the same ADJD system (AED 950 plus USD 155, around two weeks), the DIFC Courts Wills Service (AED 5,000 to AED 15,000, two to four weeks), or the Dubai Courts Notary Public. All four produce a will that UAE courts will act on. They differ in cost, speed, and which legal framework administers your estate afterwards.

For most expat families the decision comes down to one question, which is at the bottom of the comparison table.

Last checked 13 September 2026.

The four routes, side by side

The one question that usually decides it

Ignore the feature lists for a moment. In practice two things separate these routes: how soon you need it enforceable, and whether your estate is complicated enough to want a common law court administering it.

• Straightforward UAE estate, not in a hurry: ADJD standard. Cheapest available, same legal effect.
• Straightforward UAE estate, but three months of waiting would bother you: ADGM channel. The USD 155 buys about ten weeks.
• Complex cross-border estate, corporate structures, or a strong preference for an English-language common law framework: DIFC. The fee is real money and for the right estate it buys something real.

If you are reading this and none of those obviously describes you, you are probably in the first group. Most expat families are.

ADJD standard

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department’s Civil Family Court registers wills for non-Muslim expats using an official bilingual template, and the registered will covers assets across all seven emirates. It is the route we prepare for.

Cost: AED 950 per will in court fees.
Timeline: the appointment queue currently runs around three months.
Process: UAE Pass login, upload the signed will, clerk validation, pay online, book a video notarisation appointment, appear on video with your passport, receive the stamped will by email with its registration number.
Best for: anyone with a UAE-based estate who wants the lowest cost and is not working to a deadline.

Watch for: the single most common cause of rejection is a name that does not match the passport exactly, letter for letter. The second is an unverified UAE Pass account. Both are avoidable and both cost you a place in a three-month queue.

ADGM Courts notary channel

ADGM is not a separate registry competing with ADJD. It is an ADJD-authorised digital notarisation channel into the same system, which is why its fee sits on top of the AED 950 rather than replacing it. The will that comes out is an ADJD-registered civil will, and any later probate application goes to ADJD.

Cost: AED 950 to ADJD plus USD 155 to ADGM, per will.
Timeline: typically around two weeks to a stamped will.
Best for: new parents, an imminent property completion, upcoming travel, or anyone who simply does not want this sitting unfinished for a quarter.

DIFC Courts Wills Service

The DIFC is a common law jurisdiction inside Dubai with its own courts and its own Wills and Probate Registry. A DIFC will is written in English, administered under DIFC rules, and probated by the DIFC Courts.

Cost: AED 10,000 for a single Full Will, AED 15,000 for mirror Full Wills. Limited-purpose wills covering only property, financial assets, business interests or guardianship run AED 5,000 to AED 7,500. Add AED 3,000 to AED 6,000 if you use a registered draftsman.
Timeline: two to four weeks.
Eligibility: you must not be Muslim and must never have been Muslim. UAE residency is not required, but you need UAE assets or minor children resident in Dubai or Ras Al Khaimah.
Best for: complex or high-value estates, corporate holdings, or people who want the certainty of a common law framework and are willing to pay for it.

Dubai Courts Notary Public

Dubai Courts maintains a register of non-Muslim wills under Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 and opened a dedicated non-Muslim inheritance division in July 2023. The will must be in Arabic or officially translated, and coverage is generally understood to be limited to Dubai assets.

We could not confirm this route’s current fees from any published Dubai Courts schedule. Figures around AED 2,150 per will circulate online and several appear to trace back to a single press quotation from years ago. If you are considering it, ask the Notary Public directly rather than trusting a number from a blog, including this one.

What all four have in common

Whichever route you take, the same things are true.

• Without a registered UAE will, your estate falls to the default rules under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022, which for a non-Muslim is broadly half to the surviving spouse and half divided equally among children. That is a fixed rule, not your plan.
• A foreign will is not automatically acted on by UAE authorities for UAE-sited assets. A UK grant of probate does not by itself release a Dubai property.
• Bank accounts, including joint accounts, are frozen when the bank is notified of a death, not when the estate is resolved. A will shortens that, it does not prevent it.
• Naming an interim guardian who actually lives in the UAE matters more than most parents realise. The permanent guardian is usually abroad and needs time to arrive.

Questions people ask

Can I have both a DIFC will and an ADJD will?

People do, usually to cover different asset classes, but overlapping wills are how contradictions get created. If you go down that road, have someone check that the two documents cannot be read as revoking each other.

Do I still need a will in my home country?

If you hold assets there, almost certainly yes, and the two wills need to be drafted so each is clearly limited to its own jurisdiction. Two wills that each claim to be your last will and testament worldwide is a predictable and expensive problem.

Is an ADGM will different from an ADJD will?

No. The ADGM channel produces an ADJD-registered civil will. You are paying for the speed of the notarisation route, not for a different legal product.

What if I leave the UAE?

A registered will stays registered. It governs your UAE assets. If you leave and dispose of everything here, review it, because a will that distributes assets you no longer own is a will that needs redrafting.

Does any of this apply if I am Muslim?

No. These routes are for non-Muslims. Muslim expats register wills under Sharia principles through a different process, and this page is not a guide to it.

How we checked this

DIFC fees and eligibility come from the DIFC Courts published fee schedule and the Wills and Probate Registry Rules. The ADJD and ADGM fees and timelines are the ones our own clients pay and wait. The legal position under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 and Dubai Law No. 15 of 2017 is taken from the legislation. Where a figure could not be traced to a source, it is marked as unverified above rather than rounded into a table.

We prepare wills for the ADJD and ADGM routes only, so we are not neutral. The DIFC and Dubai Courts detail is here so you can check our recommendation against the alternatives rather than taking our word for it. We review this page quarterly.

We prepare will documents. We are not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice. Court fees and procedures change without notice, so confirm the current position with the authority before you rely on it.