Abu Dhabi power of attorney
Power of Attorney Abu Dhabi: What the Emirate Changes
The emirate that receives your document decides who ratifies it and how it has to be written. We draft the power of attorney, translate it into Arabic, check it against what the receiving authority asks for, and attend with you.
- Drafted in Arabic
- We attend with you
- Checked before you book
What changes when the matter is in Abu Dhabi
The emirate decides which authority ratifies the document and what it wants to see inside it. The law of agency behind it is federal and does not change.
Who ratifies it
A notary public
Language of the deed
Arabic, with a certified translation where needed
Fee
Set by the authority that ratifies it, confirmed before you pay
Why the emirate on your document matters
A power of attorney is ratified by a notary, and the notary who does it sits under an authority. Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 applies to everyone performing notarial duties in the State, including the free zones, with one exception written into Article 2: local judicial authorities whose notarial services are governed by local legislation. Dubai is one of those authorities, under Dubai Law 4/2013.
Documents for Abu Dhabi are handled by the Abu Dhabi authority, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. We do not publish its procedure, its offices, its forms or its fees on this page, because we have no published Abu Dhabi text to quote and we will not guess at one. Before you book anything, we confirm the current requirement with the authority that will receive your document.
The published federal fee schedule, Cabinet Resolution 19/2024, prices the execution or notarisation of a general or special power of attorney at AED 100 for each party to it, and notarising a translation inside the instrument at AED 50 per page. That schedule sits under the federal notary law, which excludes local judicial authorities with their own legislation, so we confirm which fee applies to your document.
The Ministry of Justice also runs a system called the E-Notary System, and a digital power of attorney service that produces a digitally ratified document without a visit to a notary office. Both are federal. Which emirates and which document types they cover for your matter is something we check rather than assume.
What does not change is the law of agency itself. Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 governs agency across the UAE at Articles 866 to 903. It says an agency may be general, special, conditional or deferred to a future time, that anything beyond management and preservation needs a special agency naming the act, and that a power written in general terms grants only acts of management.
Which situation applies to you
Two very different things get called an Abu Dhabi power of attorney. The difference is not where you live, it is where the document lands.
Document for Abu Dhabi
The document is for an Abu Dhabi authority
The receiving body is in Abu Dhabi, so its requirements decide the drafting, the language and the ratification. We confirm those with that body before you sign anything.
You live in Abu Dhabi
You are in Abu Dhabi, the matter is in Dubai
Your address does not set the rules. A Dubai property, case or company puts the document in front of Dubai Courts, which works under Dubai’s own notary law.
Four Abu Dhabi situations and what each one needs
The act you are giving away decides the wording, and the wording is what gets a document accepted or sent back. A personal power of attorney and a commercial one are drafted differently.
A property in Abu Dhabi
Name the property by its title deed, not by a description. Sale and mortgage are named in the law as acts needing a special agency, so list each one separately.
A company or licence in Abu Dhabi
Name the company and its licence, then name each act: signing, banking, share transfer, filings. A commercial power of attorney sits in a different MOFAIC fee band from a personal one.
A case before an Abu Dhabi court
Pleading before a court, arbitration, settlement and taking an oath each need a special agency naming the act. Name the case or the court the agent will appear in.
You live in Abu Dhabi, the matter is in Dubai
Dubai requires the instrument in Arabic, with a certified translation and both versions signed. Dubai Courts verifies capacity and eligibility by virtual or personal attendance, so you may not need to travel.
How to get a power of attorney in Abu Dhabi
The general step by step for a Dubai power of attorney is on its own page. This is what we add once Abu Dhabi is involved.
1
Confirm who receives the document
We ask which body will act on the power of attorney, then confirm the current requirement with that body. Nothing is drafted or booked on an assumption.
2
Draft the powers act by act
Our legal consultants write each power as a named act, with the property, company or case identified. A power written in general terms gives away less than people expect.
3
Translate into Arabic
A legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice prepares the Arabic. The federal schedule prices notarising a translation inside the instrument at AED 50 per page.
4
Attend the ratification
The notary checks identity from an ID card or passport, confirms capacity and consent, and reads the content out. We attend with you. The notarisation is carried out before a notary public.
Wording that decides whether the document works
A power of attorney fails more often on its wording than on a missing paper. These six points decide what the agent can actually do.
- Name the exact act, because anything beyond management and preservation needs a special agency
- Identify the property by its title deed, not by a description of the building
- Identify the company by its name and its licence, not by the trade name alone
- Name the court or the case if the agent is going to plead
- Write the term you want, because the law works from the term the document states
- Spell the agent’s name exactly as it reads on the Emirates ID or passport
What we need from you before drafting
Three groups of papers. The third group is the one people forget, and it is the one that identifies the subject of the power.
The principal
The person giving the power
- Emirates ID, or passport
- Name spelled as on that document
- Contact details for the deed
- Any earlier power of attorney you want replaced
The agent
The person receiving the power
- Emirates ID, or passport
- Full name and ID number
- Whether a sub-agency is allowed
- Anything the agent must not do
The matter itself
Whatever the power is about
- Title deed for a property
- Trade licence for a company
- Case or file reference for a court matter
- Attestation papers if the document was signed abroad
Why an Abu Dhabi power of attorney gets sent back
The two lists below are the same problem from two sides. The first is what goes wrong, the second is what we check before anyone books an appointment.
- Powers written in general terms, which grant only acts of management
- A foreign language document with no certified Arabic translation
- A document signed abroad that skipped the consular attestation chain
- The receiving authority, confirmed with that authority and not assumed
- Every act named on its own, so nothing is left to be implied
- Names and ID numbers matched against the Emirates ID or passport
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Do I have to be in Abu Dhabi to sign a power of attorney for an Abu Dhabi matter?
Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 sets personal appearance before the notary as the default in Article 17, and Article 18 allows a notary to use IT tools for transactions without that personal appearance. Which of the two applies to your document is for the authority receiving it, so we confirm that before booking anything.
Will a power of attorney notarised in Dubai be accepted in Abu Dhabi?
Acceptance is decided by the body that receives the document, not by us and not by the notary who ratified it. We have no published Abu Dhabi text to quote on this, so we will not tell you yes or no from a web page. We confirm it with the receiving authority before you sign.
Which law governs the power of attorney itself?
Agency sits in Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law, at Articles 866 to 903. That decree-law repealed Federal Law 5 of 1985 and came into force on 1 June 2026. Pages that still cite Article 955 for revocation are citing the repealed law. The current revocation article is 898.
Does the power of attorney have to be in Arabic?
Article 5 of the notary decree-law says the instrument drafted by the notary is in Arabic, and may be drafted in a foreign language according to the circumstances and conditions set in a ministerial resolution. We draft in Arabic and have a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice prepare the translation.
Is a general power of attorney enough to sell my Abu Dhabi property?
No. Article 870 of the Civil Transactions Law requires a special agency specifying the type of act for anything that is not management and preservation, and it names sale and mortgage among those acts. Article 871 adds that a power expressed in general terms grants only acts of management.
How long does a power of attorney last?
There is no general statutory period in UAE law. Article 897 says an agency ends on completion of the work, on expiry of the term specified in it, or on the death or loss of capacity of either party. The two year figure people quote is a Dubai Land Department acceptance rule for property deals, reported under Circular 29/R/2025.
Can I cancel a power of attorney after it is ratified?
Article 898 lets the principal 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 agent’s interest. Article 899 makes the principal liable to compensate an agent for revocation at an inappropriate time. Revoking a principal agency also revokes sub-agencies under it.
My power of attorney was signed abroad. Can I use it in Abu Dhabi?
It has to go through the chain first: the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then the UAE embassy or consulate there, then MOFAIC in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain. MOFAIC charges AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial ones.
Start here
Tell us where the document is going
Send us the matter and the emirate that will receive the document. We will tell you what the drafting has to say, what has to be translated, and what we still need to confirm with the receiving authority. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft, translate and check the power of attorney, and attend the ratification with you. The ratification itself is done by 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.