Company powers of attorney
General Manager Power of Attorney in the UAE
A manager runs the business day to day, which Article 871 already reaches, and then has to sell, mortgage, settle or plead, which Article 870 says must be named. A wording that stops at the general words strands them.
- Every act named
- Drafted in Arabic
- Ratified before a notary
A general manager power of attorney in brief
A manager’s power of attorney has to carry both kinds of authority: the general words that reach management and preservation, and the named acts that Article 870 requires for anything beyond them. Written with only the first, it leaves the manager able to run the business but not to act on it.
Governing law
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Articles 866 to 903
General words reach
Acts of management only, under Article 871
Ends on
Death or loss of capacity, Article 897
A manager needs both kinds of authority
No other agent sits so squarely on the line. Running the business day to day is exactly what the statute calls acts of management and preservation, and a general wording does reach it. But a manager is also the person sent to sell, to mortgage, to settle a claim, to go to arbitration or to plead. Those sit on the other side of the line, and the statute will not read them in.
Articles 871(1) and 870(1), Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
Article 871(1): “If the agency is expressed in general terms without specifying what is intended, it shall only grant the agent the power to perform acts of management.” Article 870(1): “Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.”
What the document is, and when it stops working
A power of attorney is an agency contract between a principal and an agent, and here the manager is the agent. The statute allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. In Dubai the instrument is in Arabic, and a foreign language document is accepted only with a translation by a certified translator, with both versions signed. It is then ratified before a notary public.
An agency does not run on indefinitely by default. Article 897 ends it on completion of the work entrusted to the agent, on expiry of the term specified for the agency, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of either the principal or the agent. For a manager that last limb matters most, because the authority stops with the principal whatever the business still has in progress.
Running the business is the part already covered
Article 871 says a general wording grants acts of management. The statute does not set out a closed list of them, so we name these in the document rather than leave a manager arguing about what management covers on the day.
- Collecting money owed to the business and giving a valid receipt for it
- Renewing an arrangement that already exists and is coming up to its expiry date
- Paying and querying charges on a service the business already holds
- Keeping an existing lease running, including renewal, repairs and dealings with the landlord
- Submitting forms, following up applications and collecting documents from government departments
- Filing the routine returns that keep an existing arrangement in good standing
Where the general words stop
The dividing line is not about how important the act feels. It is about whether the act changes what the principal owns or answers for, which is what Article 870 singles out.
Reached by general words
Management and preservation
Keeping what already exists in working order: collecting, renewing, paying, corresponding, following up. Article 871 grants this much even where the document never names a single act.
Has to be named
Sale, mortgage, settlement, arbitration, pleading
Article 870 lists donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court. Each needs a special agency naming the act and its dispositions.
How the manager’s authority is drawn up and ratified
Four stages. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft, translate and handle the file. The ratification itself happens before a notary public.
1
Listing the acts before anything is drafted
We start from what the manager will actually be asked to do over the life of the document, including the things that come up once a year. Anything that is management goes into the general wording. Anything on the Article 870 list is written out act by act, with the dispositions it entails, because the statute will not infer it later.
2
Drafting in Arabic and checking the translation
In Dubai the instrument is in Arabic. Where there is an English version it has to say the same thing, and a foreign language document needs a translation by a legal translator registered with the UAE Ministry of Justice. On the federal schedule, notarising a translation included in the instrument is AED 50 for each page.
3
Identity, capacity and consent at the appointment
The notary verifies identity from an ID card, passport or another official document issued by the State, checks capacity and consent, and reads out the content of the transaction. If the notary is unfamiliar with the language of the people concerned, an interpreter from the Ministry’s Interpreter Register is engaged.
4
Ratification before a notary public
Ratification is carried out before a notary public. In Dubai the notary public sits under Dubai Courts and Dubai Law 4/2013, and the Dubai Courts service verifies capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance. On the federal side, the Ministry of Justice operates the E-Notary System.
What we ask you to send before drafting
Three stacks. MOFAIC publishes its attestation charge as AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents, and a commercial or general power of attorney sits on the commercial side of that list.
Identity for both names
The notary verifies these.
- The principal’s passport
- The principal’s Emirates ID
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, or Emirates ID or passport
- Both names spelled as they read on the passport
The Arabic text
Arabic is the language of the instrument.
- Arabic drafting of the instrument
- Translation by a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice
- Both versions signed by the parties
- An interpreter, where the notary does not speak your language
Anything signed outside the UAE
There is no apostille route into the UAE.
- Foreign ministry attestation in the issuing country
- UAE embassy or consulate attestation there
- MOFAIC attestation inside the UAE
- The original in Arabic or English, or a legally certified translation, not laminated
The faults that leave a manager stranded
The first list is what we look for in a draft that has already been written. The second is what we settle before one is drafted at all.
- A single line granting authority over all matters, which Article 871 reads down to acts of management
- A revocation clause citing Article 955 of the repealed 1985 Civil Code instead of Article 898
- Silence on sub-agency, so nobody can say whether the manager may appoint someone else
- Which acts on the Article 870 list the manager genuinely needs, and which can be left out
- The term the agency is to run for, since Article 897 ends it on expiry of that term
- Whether the Arabic and the English versions grant the same acts in the same words
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Is one general wording enough for a manager?
Not on its own. Article 871 says an agency expressed in general terms, without specifying what is intended, grants only acts of management. That covers running the business, but it stops at the point where the manager has to sell, mortgage, settle, arbitrate or plead. Those acts have to be named in the document.
Which acts have to be named one by one?
Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court. If the manager may be asked to do any of these, the document names it rather than implying it.
Is a manager’s power of attorney a general or a special agency?
The statute allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. A manager’s document usually has to work as both at once: general wording for management and preservation, and specific wording for each act on the Article 870 list. The label on the front matters far less than the wording inside.
What happens to the authority if the principal dies?
It ends. Article 897 extinguishes an agency on completion of the work entrusted to the agent, on expiry of the term specified for the agency, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of the principal or of the agent. Nothing written into the document keeps it running past that.
Can the manager appoint someone else to act?
Only where the document says so. Sub-agency is dealt with at Article 903, which also provides that where the principal agency is revoked, all sub-agencies derived from it are deemed revoked by virtue of law. Settle the point during drafting and write the answer down, rather than leaving it to be argued later.
Which article governs revoking it now?
Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025. The principal may revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, unless the agency involves a right of a third party or was issued in the interest of the agent. Guidance still citing Article 955 of the 1985 Civil Code is citing a repealed statute, and should not be relied on.
Which notary fees are published, and by whom?
The federal schedule, Cabinet Resolution 19/2024, sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and a private notary charges that plus thirty per cent, so AED 130 per party. That schedule is federal. Dubai Courts sits outside it, under Dubai Law 4/2013, and publishes its own fees.
Who has to appear when the document is ratified?
The person granting the authority signs in front of the notary, who verifies identity, capacity and consent and reads out the content of the transaction. The Dubai Courts service carries that check out by virtual or personal attendance. We attend with you and handle the file through to ratification.
Start here
Send us the list of acts the manager needs
Write down what the manager will be asked to do, including the things that only come round once a year. We will tell you which of them the general wording already reaches, which ones Article 870 needs named, and what the Arabic has to say. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft, translate and handle the file, and the ratification happens before a notary public.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.