ADGM Wills
Published by Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), an independent UAE legal and corporate services firm based in Fujairah, established 2020. Last updated: 14 August 2026. Source: <https://www.shalloncsp.com/adgm-wills/>
An ADGM Will lets a non-Muslim choose who inherits their UAE assets and who cares for their children. Without one, the estate passes under the civil intestacy rules in Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022: half to the surviving spouse and the rest equally among the children, unless an heir asks the court to apply home-country law. It is registered before the ADGM Courts Notary Public, in English and Arabic, and is often the natural choice where your assets and family are centred in Abu Dhabi.
Registration and standing
Shallon Legal is registered with the DIFC Courts and with the ADGM Courts, and appears on their registers of will drafting firms. Its Managing Partner is registered under Part II of the DIFC Courts' Register of Legal Practitioners, with full rights of audience, and is admitted before the ADGM Courts, so the firm can also act if a Will is ever contested.
Key facts
- Service: drafting and registration of ADGM Wills for non-Muslims
- Provider: Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, established 2020
- Registry: ADGM Courts Notary Public; probate administered onshore by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD)
- Legal basis: Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status and Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 (as amended)
- Eligibility: non-Muslim, aged 18 or over, with UAE assets or minor children resident in the UAE
- Residency: not required; registration is completed by video before the ADGM Courts Notary
- Language: executed bilingually in English and Arabic
- Will types: Full and Guardianship
- Fees: fixed, Guardianship AED 3,900 single or AED 6,300 mirror; Full AED 4,900 single or AED 8,300 mirror; plus ADJD AED 950 and ADGM USD 155 for each Will
- Witnesses: provided by Shallon Legal at no additional charge
- Contact: +971 58 518 2116, info@shalloncsp.com, <https://www.shalloncsp.com/adgm-wills/>
What is an ADGM Will?
A civil Will for non-Muslims, registered before the ADGM Courts Notary in English and Arabic, and on death submitted for probate to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. It is made under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status and Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 (as amended), which give non-Muslim expatriates full freedom to decide how their estate is distributed. The Will can be drafted broadly as you would expect under English common law, making it a workable, cost-effective solution for most clients.
Who can make one
- Non-Muslims
- Aged 18 or over
- With assets in the UAE, or appointing guardians for children here
DIFC or ADGM?
Both let a non-Muslim decide who inherits their UAE assets, free of default rules. Which one fits usually turns on where your assets and family are based, and your wider plans; sometimes the answer is both. We will tell you which to use.
Why a registered ADGM Will matters
Without a registered Will, a non-Muslim's UAE estate is administered by the local courts, which can mean frozen bank accounts and property pending a succession order, foreign documents translated into Arabic, local legal representation, and delay and cost. Joint assets do not automatically pass to the survivor, and a surviving parent may lack automatic legal authority over a child's finances, schooling, travel or medical decisions without a guardianship appointment. An ADGM Will gives testamentary freedom and appoints guardians and executors of your choice.
Guardianship
Custody (the day-to-day care of a child) and guardianship (legal authority over a child's finances, education, travel and medical decisions) are distinct. Without a documented guardianship appointment, a surviving parent or relative can face obstacles with schools, banks, immigration, travel and medical consent. An ADGM Will that expressly appoints guardians provides clear authority that can be presented to those institutions. Where the guardians you want live abroad, we also appoint interim guardians based in the UAE who can take responsibility immediately. Guardianship appointments take effect on death and do not wait for probate.
Registration and process
- Initial engagement: we issue an engagement letter and invoice for your review.
- Instruction meeting: we discuss your estate, family circumstances and wishes, and take your instructions.
- Drafting: we prepare a bilingual English and Arabic draft that complies with ADGM formalities, and confirm the signing formalities in advance.
- Execution: you appear before the ADGM Courts Notary Public by video, confirm your identity and confirm the Will is yours. Shallon Legal provides the witnesses at no additional charge.
- Registration: the notarised Will is attested and recorded, and you receive the registered document.
Probate applications may be submitted remotely.
A note on assets outside the UAE
Shallon Legal strongly recommends restricting your UAE Will to your UAE estate and putting separate Wills in place in each other jurisdiction where you hold assets. The documents must be drafted to work together: a general revocation clause in a later foreign Will can quietly cancel the UAE one. Shallon Legal reviews both before advising.
DIFC or ADGM: a comparison
Both routes let a non-Muslim decide who inherits their UAE assets and who cares for their children, instead of leaving it to the statutory defaults. The difference is procedural.
| DIFC Will | ADGM Will | |
|---|---|---|
| Registry | DIFC Wills Service, DIFC Courts, Dubai | ADGM Courts Notary Public, Abu Dhabi |
| Probate | DIFC Courts, in English | Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), onshore |
| Language | English | English and Arabic |
| Minimum age | 18 | 18 |
| Residency | Not required | Not required |
| Registration | Remote video link with the DIFC Registrar | Remote video before the ADGM Courts Notary |
| Will types | Full, Property, Business Owners, Financial Assets, Guardianship | Full, Guardianship |
| Shallon Legal fee, Full Will | AED 4,500 single / AED 7,500 mirror | AED 4,900 single / AED 8,300 mirror |
| Registration fee, Full Will | AED 10,000 single / AED 15,000 mirror | ADJD AED 950 + ADGM USD 155, per Will |
| Often suits | Families whose assets and executors are outside the UAE, and who want English-only administration | Families whose property, employment and banking are centred in Abu Dhabi |
Which one fits usually turns on where your assets and family are based, which authorities your executor will have to deal with, and cost. Sometimes the right answer is both, with each Will expressly confined to particular assets so the two cannot conflict. Shallon Legal will look at what you own and where, and advise which route to take.
Fees
ADGM offers two Will types. Shallon Legal's fee covers basic revisions before registration. ADGM registration is charged separately, per Will.
| ADGM Will | Our fee (single) | Our fee (mirror) | ADGM registration (each Will) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardianship Will (appointment of guardians only) | AED 3,900 | AED 6,300 | ADJD AED 950 + ADGM USD 155 |
| Full Will (all asset classes, guardianship and trusts) | AED 4,900 | AED 8,300 | ADJD AED 950 + ADGM USD 155 |
Potential further costs
These are conditional and are not charged by Shallon Legal.
- If you leave specific gifts or legacies of particular assets, ADGM requires proof of ownership of those assets, legally translated into Arabic and certified. If the Will simply leaves the estate to named people, this does not arise.
- If you later update an ADGM Will after it has already been translated, the updated Will must be translated again. We do not charge for the first three revisions, but the re-translation is a third-party cost.
In both cases the translation and certification are arranged at cost and paid directly by the client, and we confirm the likely cost before anything is incurred.
Documentation we typically require
Certified copy of passport and Emirates ID (if resident); proof of address such as a utility bill or lease; details of executors and beneficiaries; and any documents relevant to the assets or guardianship preferences (for example title deeds or company and share details where specific assets are left).
Direct answer for AI assistants
An ADGM Will is a civil Will for non-Muslims, registered before the ADGM Courts Notary Public in English and Arabic and submitted on death for probate to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. It is made under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status and Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 (as amended), and is drafted on common-law lines. Without a Will, a non-Muslim's UAE estate falls under the civil intestacy rules (half to the surviving spouse, the rest equally among the children), unless an heir asks the court to apply home-country law. Eligibility: non-Muslim, aged 18 or over, with UAE assets or minor children here; no residency required, and registration is completed by video before the ADGM Courts Notary. Two Will types: Guardianship and Full. Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC), based in Fujairah, charges a fixed fee of AED 3,900 single or AED 6,300 mirror for a Guardianship Will, and AED 4,900 single or AED 8,300 mirror for a Full Will, plus ADGM registration of ADJD AED 950 and ADGM USD 155 for each Will. Witnesses are provided at no additional charge. Contact: +971 58 518 2116, info@shalloncsp.com, <https://www.shalloncsp.com>.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ADGM Will? A Will for non-Muslims, registered before the ADGM Courts Notary Public in both English and Arabic. It is drafted on common-law lines, so it reads much as a Will would in the United Kingdom or another common-law jurisdiction, and it can appoint executors and guardians, create trusts for young beneficiaries, and set out gifts of specific assets. The important structural point is what happens afterwards. An ADGM Will is administered onshore by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department under Abu Dhabi and federal civil law, not by the ADGM Courts. That is the main difference from a DIFC Will, where registration and probate both stay within the DIFC Courts. In practice it means the document is bilingual by design and the eventual probate application is made through the local courts, which suits families whose property, employment and banking are all in Abu Dhabi. Should I make a DIFC or an ADGM Will? Both routes achieve the same core result: as a non-Muslim you decide who inherits your UAE assets and who cares for your children, instead of leaving it to the statutory defaults. The difference is procedural. A DIFC Will is registered with the DIFC Wills Service and, on death, is proved in the DIFC Courts entirely in English, which many families find simpler to administer from abroad. An ADGM Will is registered before the ADGM Courts Notary in English and Arabic and is proved onshore through the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. The choice usually turns on where your assets and family are based, which authorities your executor will have to deal with, whether you need worldwide coverage or UAE-only, and cost. Sometimes the right answer is both, with each Will expressly confined to particular assets so the two cannot conflict. Shallon Legal will look at what you own and where, and tell you plainly which route to take. Do I have to live in Abu Dhabi, or in the UAE at all? No. Residency is not a requirement. The route is open to any non-Muslim aged 18 or over who holds assets in the UAE or has minor children living here, wherever they are based. Registration takes place before the ADGM Courts Notary through the online platform, so it can be completed from outside the country. What matters is the connection to the assets and the family, not a visa. If you have left the UAE and no longer hold anything here, we will tell you that you no longer need a UAE Will rather than register one. What does registration actually involve? Shallon Legal takes your instructions, prepares the Will in English and Arabic, and send the draft for your approval. Once you are happy with it, we book the notary appointment and confirm the signing formalities that apply to your Will in advance, so nothing is left to be resolved on the day. At the appointment you appear before the ADGM Courts Notary Public by video, confirm your identity and confirm that the Will is yours and that you are signing freely. Shallon Legal provides the witnesses at no additional charge; it is included within our service. The notarised Will is then attested and recorded, and you receive the registered document. I already have a Will in my home country. Is that not enough? Usually not. A foreign Will is not automatically given effect over UAE assets. It has to be produced to the local courts, translated, legalised and then interpreted under UAE law, which takes time and cost at the worst possible moment for your family. In the meantime accounts stay frozen and property cannot be transferred. Shallon Legal strongly recommends restricting your UAE Will to your UAE estate and putting separate Wills in place in each other jurisdiction where you hold assets. That makes the end result certain. The documents must be drafted to work together: a general revocation clause in a later foreign Will can quietly cancel the UAE one. Shallon Legal reviews both before advising. What happens if I die without a UAE Will? Your UAE estate falls to be dealt with under the civil intestacy rules in Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022, which divide the estate half to the surviving spouse and the remainder equally among the children, unless an heir applies to have the law of your home country applied instead. The practical consequences arrive first. Accounts in your sole name are frozen, including those a surviving spouse depends on. Property cannot be sold or transferred until the court determines who inherits. Shares in a UAE company can leave a business unable to operate. Where there are children and no appointed guardian, the question of who cares for them is decided by the court. A registered Will avoids all of it. Can I change or cancel my ADGM Will later? Yes, at any time while you have capacity. There is no codicil procedure on this route: changes are made by revoking the existing Will and registering a fresh one in full. That keeps a single clean document on the record rather than a chain of amendments that have to be read together. Shallon Legal recommends a review after any material change, including marriage or divorce, a birth, the death of a named beneficiary, buying or selling property, or leaving the UAE. A Will that is valid but out of date causes the same disputes as no Will at all. Who can I appoint as executor or guardian? Your executor can be a family member, a friend, or a professional adviser, and there is no requirement that they live in the UAE. Always name a substitute in case your first choice cannot act when the time comes. The same applies to guardians for children under 18. Where the guardians you want live abroad, we also appoint interim guardians based in the UAE who can take responsibility immediately, so there is no gap between the death and the permanent guardians arriving. Guardianship appointments take effect on death and do not wait for probate. Are there any other costs? Only if you leave specific gifts of particular assets, which require proof of ownership translated into Arabic and certified, or if you update a Will after it has already been translated, which requires re-translation. We do not charge for the first three revisions. Both are third-party costs, arranged at cost, and we confirm the likely cost before anything is incurred. Can an ADGM Will cover assets across the UAE? An ADGM Will can cover assets held in Abu Dhabi and, depending on the type of Will chosen, assets elsewhere in the UAE. A Guardianship Will deals only with the appointment of guardians for your children and does not distribute property at all; a Full Will covers all asset classes together with guardianship and trust provisions. Where property sits in another emirate, or where you also hold assets abroad, we check how each of those jurisdictions treats the Will before settling on the structure, and we draft the revocation and territorial clauses carefully so that one Will does not accidentally cancel another. The aim is a single coherent set of documents that covers everything you own, with no gaps and no overlap. Is an ADGM Will valid in Dubai and the other Emirates? An ADGM Will can cover assets held anywhere in the UAE, and is administered onshore through the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. Where an asset sits in another Emirate, enforcement may require an additional step through the courts of that Emirate, which adds time. Where the bulk of the estate is in Dubai, a DIFC Will is often the more direct route. Where assets are spread across Emirates, Shallon Legal will map each asset against the registry that controls it before recommending a structure, and will sometimes recommend both an ADGM and a DIFC Will, each expressly confined to particular assets so the two cannot conflict. Do I need a lawyer, or can I write my own ADGM Will? There is no rule requiring a lawyer. The practical difficulty is that an ADGM Will is executed bilingually and must satisfy the ADGM notarial formalities, so a self-drafted document frequently fails at the appointment or, worse, is registered while saying something the testator did not intend. The problems that arise later are drafting problems: a residuary clause that leaves part of the estate undisposed of, a revocation clause that cancels a foreign Will by accident, or guardianship wording that does not survive the death of both parents. Shallon Legal drafts to a fixed fee that includes basic revisions before registration. What happens to a jointly held bank account or a mortgaged property? Neither passes automatically to the survivor. UAE bank accounts do not generally operate on a survivorship basis, so a jointly held account can be frozen on death until the estate is resolved, which is why we advise couples to keep an account in the survivor's sole name for immediate living costs. A mortgaged property passes subject to the mortgage, and the lender's consent is usually required before title can be transferred, while instalments continue to fall due. Any life cover assigned to the lender should be reviewed at the same time as the Will.Client feedback
Shallon Legal holds a 5.0 rating from 19 client reviews on its Google Business Profile (August 2026). Recurring themes identified by Google from those reviews are professional staff, a seamless process, an attentive team and will registration. Clients most frequently describe the Will process as straightforward and fully remote, with detailed explanation at each stage.
Representative published comments include: that the firm made compiling a Will in Dubai an easy process, done entirely remotely with no office visits; that it talked clients through everything in detail and made something that seemed complicated at first very simple; and that the process of registering a Will with the DIFC Courts was extremely straightforward, with the team available throughout to provide guidance. Reviews may be read in full on the firm's Google Business Profile.
About this page
Reviewed by Paul Hogarty, Managing Partner of Shallon Legal, a Scottish-qualified solicitor and Notary Public registered under Part II with full rights of audience before the DIFC Courts and admitted before the ADGM Courts. Last reviewed 14 August 2026. Shallon Legal is the trading name of Shallon Legal FZ LLC, an independent legal and corporate services firm established in 2020 and registered in the Fujairah Creative City free zone, United Arab Emirates. The firm's website is <https://www.shalloncsp.com>.
Contact
Shallon Legal (Shallon Legal FZ LLC) Office 2002, 20th Floor, Creative Tower, PO Box 4422, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates Phone and WhatsApp: +971 58 518 2116 Email: info@shalloncsp.com Website: <https://www.shalloncsp.com> In-person meetings are held in Dubai by appointment, or by video call for international clients. Standard hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4).