Abu Dhabi wills guide
Making a will in Abu Dhabi: the ADGM and ADJD routes for expats
Abu Dhabi is home to two separate court routes for expat wills — the ADGM Courts’ Notary Public and Wills Office, and the ADJD Civil Family Court’s civil wills route. Both courts accept applicants from across the UAE — use the eligibility checker to confirm your situation. QuickWills UAE prepares documents for both routes; the eligibility checker, not this page, determines which one fits.
Key distinction
Two Abu Dhabi courts, two routes. One eligibility checker.
QuickWills UAE is a self-help document-preparation service, not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice and do not submit, sign, notarise or register your will for you.
Why does Abu Dhabi have two will routes?
The ADGM Courts’ Notary Public and Wills Office is a non-Muslim wills service delivered in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. Separately, ADJD runs its own civil wills route through the Civil Family Court, created under Law No. 14 of 2021. Both are administered in Abu Dhabi, but they are not the same product — they differ on who is eligible, what assets they cover and how you sign. “Abu Dhabi will” is not one single thing; it is a choice between two courts.
Do you have to live in Abu Dhabi to use an Abu Dhabi court?
Based on source material reviewed by QuickWills UAE, both courts accept applicants from across the UAE — use the eligibility checker to confirm your situation. Abu Dhabi is where each court is administered; it is not necessarily where the applicant must live.
Which Abu Dhabi route might fit you?
Consider ADGM
If you are a non-Muslim (you must never have been a Muslim), aged 21 or over, and own assets in the UAE. Read the ADGM wills guide for UAE expats for the route-specific deep dive.
Consider ADJD
If you are an expatriate of any religion (not a UAE or GCC national). ADJD’s civil will route serves non-Muslim residents, and in practice has also been accepting registrations from non-Emirati Muslim residents, confirmed case-by-case.
What does an Abu Dhabi will cost?
Keep QuickWills UAE platform fees separate from court/government fees, which differ by route and are paid directly to the relevant court.
- QuickWills UAE platform fee
- AED 950–AED 1,500, depending on will type and identical across both routes. Includes guided document preparation, Arabic translation and court-registration guidance.
- ADGM court/government fee
- Approximately AED 1,520, paid directly to ADGM. Court fees can change.
- ADJD court/government fee
- AED 950 for a single will (AED 1,900 for mirror wills for couples), paid directly to ADJD. Court fees can change.
See the full UAE will cost guide for a route-by-route breakdown.
What is the process — and can it be done remotely?
ADGM
Document submission is digital, and the appointment is a virtual meeting with the Notary Public — but you still attend a scheduled appointment and sign in wet ink.
ADJD
ADJD’s process is fully remote — filed through the ADJD portal and confirmed at a video-call appointment — but registration is still a step you complete directly with the court, not something QuickWills UAE does for you.
QuickWills UAE does not register, file, notarise, sign or witness your will for you. QuickWills UAE is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
What happens if you don’t make a will in Abu Dhabi?
Official ADJD guidance describes default distribution rules under Article 11(2) of Law No. 14 of 2021 for someone who dies without a registered will — for example, a surviving spouse receiving half the estate, with the remainder divided among children. Default rules can be fact-specific, so this is not a prediction of your own outcome. Read our full guide on dying without a will in the UAE for more detail.
Abu Dhabi wills vs Dubai/DIFC wills
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts run a separate Dubai-based route with its own Wills Service and registry, distinct from both ADGM and ADJD. See the ADGM vs DIFC comparison guide for the detail.
Check which Abu Dhabi route fits your circumstances
Start with the eligibility checker, compare ADGM and ADJD in detail if you want the full breakdown, or read about preparing a will fully online. The eligibility checker is informational only.
Abu Dhabi wills FAQs
What are the will options in Abu Dhabi for expats?
Two separate court routes: the ADGM Courts’ Notary Public and Wills Office, and the ADJD Civil Family Court’s civil wills route under Law No. 14 of 2021. They have different eligibility, asset scope and process. QuickWills UAE prepares documents for both routes; the eligibility checker is informational only and does not make a legal determination.
Do I need to live in Abu Dhabi to make an Abu Dhabi will?
Both courts accept applicants from across the UAE, based on source material reviewed by QuickWills UAE — use the eligibility checker to confirm your specific situation rather than assuming a residency requirement either way.
What is the difference between an ADGM will and an ADJD will?
ADGM source material reviewed by QuickWills UAE describes eligibility as non-Muslims (you must never have been a Muslim), aged 21 or over, who own assets in the UAE, with an ADGM will able to cover UAE and, with probate caveats, non-UAE assets. ADJD serves expatriates of any religion (not UAE/GCC nationals) and covers UAE-situated assets only. See the full side-by-side comparison for the complete breakdown.
Can Muslims make a will in Abu Dhabi?
ADJD's civil will route serves non-Muslim residents, and in practice ADJD has also been accepting registrations from non-Emirati Muslim residents, confirmed by the court case-by-case — this area of UAE law is still developing. ADGM is limited to people who have never been Muslim. This is informational only, not a legal determination.
Can I make an Abu Dhabi will online?
QuickWills UAE's document preparation is done online. Registration itself is not: ADGM uses a virtual notary appointment with a wet-ink signature, and ADJD's process is fully remote — filed through the ADJD portal and confirmed at a video-call appointment — but registration is still a step you complete directly with the court, not something QuickWills UAE does for you.
Does QuickWills UAE choose ADGM or ADJD for me?
No. The eligibility checker at /eligibility derives the likely route from your answers — it is informational, not a legal determination, and you complete registration directly with whichever court applies. QuickWills UAE is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.