Choosing the right form
General or Special Power of Attorney: Which You Need in the UAE
Anyone comparing a general vs special power of attorney in the UAE is really asking one thing: which one will do the job. The answer turns on the act you need carried out, not on the title at the top.
- Act named, not implied
- Arabic text prepared
- We attend, notary ratifies
Which one you need, in two sentences
If your agent is only managing or preserving something you already hold, general wording carries it. If the act disposes of something, admits something, settles something or goes before a court, UAE law wants a special agency that names that act.
The deciding test
Is it management and preservation?
Governing article
Article 870(1), Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
Notary fee either way
AED 100 per party, both forms
The one question that decides it
Put the two names aside for a moment and describe the act instead. Is your agent keeping something you already own in working order, or is the agent parting with something, giving something up, admitting something, or standing in front of a judge? That single question decides the form, because UAE law draws its line in exactly that place and nowhere else.
Article 871(1) reads a document written in general terms down to acts of management. Article 870(1) then requires a special agency for any act that is not an act of management and preservation. So the heading on your document does not set its reach. The act does, and the wording either names that act or it does not.
What Article 869 actually says, and what it does not
Article 869 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. That is four shapes, not two. General and special are the two that come up in practice, so the choice in front of you is usually between them, but a page saying UAE law knows only two kinds has misread the article. Older guidance quoting the 1985 Civil Code, including the Article 955 citation, points at a repealed statute.
Articles 869 and 870(1), Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
Article 869: “An agency may be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time.” 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.”
How each form behaves when it is tested
Nobody argues about a power of attorney on the day it is signed. The argument comes later, at a counter or in a courtroom, when somebody reads the wording and decides whether it reaches the act in front of them. What each form does in detail has a page of its own: the general power of attorney and the special power of attorney.
General wording
Holds up for running things
It carries collection, renewal, correspondence and routine administration. Put a sale, a mortgage or a hearing in front of it and Article 871(1) reads it back down to management.
Special wording
Holds up for the named act
It states the act, the subject it attaches to and what the act entails, so a reader can match it to the transaction. Outside that act it gives the agent nothing.
Which one a common matter needs
Four situations people describe to us, and the form each one points at. If your matter is not here, run it through the same test rather than hunting for it on a list, because Article 870(1) says particularly before its examples, which makes them examples and not a boundary.
Selling a property while you are abroad
Sale is a disposition, not management, so general wording will not reach it. The property, the act and what the sale entails have to be named in the document.
Keeping a tenancy and a licence alive
Renewals, service charges and routine filings are management. General wording carries them, provided the document still says plainly which matters the agent may handle.
Someone to appear for you in court
Pleading before the court is named in Article 870(1), and settlement, arbitration and oaths sit alongside it. Each one has to be stated in the wording, not implied.
Running a company while you travel
This one splits. Day to day administration is management, but selling shares, mortgaging assets or acknowledging a debt is not, so the split is settled before anything is drafted.
What people get told, and what the law says
Three beliefs come up often enough to be worth answering here. Each one sends somebody to a notary appointment holding a document that will not do the job they came for.
- That a general power of attorney covers everything, because the word general sounds broad.
- That UAE law recognises two kinds of power of attorney and nothing else.
- That the acts named in the law are the whole list, so anything absent from it is safe under general wording.
- Article 871(1) grants only acts of management where the agency is expressed in general terms without specifying what is intended.
- Article 869 allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. Two of the four come up in practice.
- Article 870(1) says particularly before its examples, so the test is any act that is not management and preservation, listed or not.
From deciding to holding the ratified document
Once the form is settled, the route is the same for both. We draft, arrange the translation, check the papers against the names on the identity documents and attend with you. The ratification itself is carried out before a notary public.
1
Describe the act, not the document
Tell us what the agent has to do and what it attaches to. We test that against Article 870(1) and tell you which form the matter actually needs.
2
Drafting that names what it covers
The wording sets out the act, the subject it attaches to, what the act entails and when the authority ends, so nobody reading it has to infer any of that.
3
Arabic text and legal translation
Instruments are drawn up in Arabic. A foreign language version needs a translation by a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice, and both versions are signed.
4
The notary appointment
The notary checks identity against an ID card or passport, tests capacity and consent, reads the content of the transaction out to the parties, then ratifies it.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
How do I decide which power of attorney to ask for?
Describe the act rather than the document. If the agent is only managing or preserving something you already hold, such as collecting rent or renewing a licence, general wording carries it. If the act disposes of something, admits something, settles something or goes before a court, UAE law requires a special agency naming the act and what it entails.
Does UAE law recognise only two kinds of power of attorney?
No. Article 869 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 allows an agency to be general, special, conditional, or deferred to a future time. That is four shapes. General and special are the two that come up in ordinary practice, which is why most guidance stops there, but a page saying the law knows only two has read the article too quickly.
The act I need is not named in the law. Is general wording enough?
Read Article 870(1) again. It requires a special agency for any act that is not an act of management and preservation, and it says particularly before naming donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, oaths and pleading before the court. Those are examples of the test, not the whole of it. If your act gives something up, treat it as needing the special form.
Is one form more expensive to notarise than the other?
Under the federal schedule in Cabinet Resolution 19 of 2024, a single item covers both: executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney is AED 100 for each party to it. A private notary adds 30 per cent as professional fees, so AED 130 per party. Dubai Courts sits outside that schedule under Dubai Law 4 of 2013 and publishes its own fees.
What happens if I choose the wrong form?
Nothing dramatic happens at the counter. The document simply does not authorise the act, because Article 871(1) reads general wording down to acts of management and Article 870(1) requires a special agency for anything else. The other side declines it, and you are back to a fresh document, a fresh translation and a fresh appointment.
Does the choice change what I bring to the notary?
Identity is the same either way. The notary verifies who you are from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State, and Dubai Courts asks for the agent’s Emirates ID number or a copy of the card. A special wording adds whatever the act attaches to, such as a title deed, a vehicle ownership certificate or a case reference.
Does the choice affect attestation if the document goes abroad?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges AED 150 to attest an individual affairs document and AED 2,000 for a commercial one. Its own lists place a power of attorney of a personal nature in the first group and a general power of attorney in the second, so the label can change that cost. The UAE is not an Apostille Convention party, so the consular chain still applies.
Why do so many pages still cite Article 955?
Because the article numbers moved. Article 955 comes from the 1985 Civil Code, which Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 repealed, and the new Civil Transactions Law came into force on 1 June 2026. Agency now sits at Articles 866 to 903, with revocation at Article 898. A page still citing the 1985 text is pointing at a statute that no longer applies.
Start here
Not sure which one to ask for?
Describe what your agent has to do, in your own words, and we will tell you whether the matter sits inside acts of management or needs a special agency naming the act. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the wording, arrange the Arabic legal translation, check the identity documents against the names in the document and attend the appointment with you. The ratification is done 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.