UAE Lowers Age of Majority to 18: What Expats Must Know About Wills, Guardianship and Contracts

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UAE lowers age of majority to 18. Essential updates for expat wills, guardianship, and contract legalities.

The UAE has lowered its age of legal majority from 21 lunar years to 18 Gregorian years under a new Federal Decree-Law, taking effect in 2026.
DIFC Courts have confirmed the change applies to DIFC Wills, with guardianship provisions now expiring at 18 rather than 21.
Expatriates with existing wills should prioritise reviewing guardianship nominations and age-conditioned inheritance clauses.
The law also allows minors aged 15 and above to seek court approval to manage specific assets, lowering the previous Hijri calendar threshold.
Banks, landlords, and free-zone regulators including ADGM are updating internal policies to reflect the new capacity threshold.
Individuals aged 18 and above can now independently sign contracts, execute powers of attorney, and own property without parental consent.

UAE Civil Transactions Law: A Landmark Reform for Adults and Families

The UAE's update to its Civil Transactions Law represents one of the most significant changes to civil legal capacity in a generation. The reform, enacted under a new Federal Decree-Law, replaces the previous threshold set by Federal Law No. 5 of 1985, which had defined full civil capacity at 21 lunar years. For expatriate families in particular, the shift carries immediate consequences for wills, inheritance structures, and testamentary guardianship arrangements.

Institutions regulated by the DIFC Courts and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) are already aligning their frameworks with the revised standard. The DIFC Courts have issued formal confirmation that 18 is now the age of majority for DIFC Wills, while ADGM and other free-zone regulators are reviewing shareholding and directorship policies for under-18s. Legal practitioners are urging clients to act promptly, given that many existing will structures were drafted on the assumption of a 21-year majority.

What the Law Changes - and When

The UAE has reduced its legal age of majority from 21 lunar years to 18 Gregorian years, replacing the standard set under the old Civil Transactions Law. The reform was issued under a new Federal Decree-Law and modernises the legal framework, unifies age references across civil and criminal law, and aligns the UAE with widely observed international standards. The new threshold grants individuals aged 18 and above full legal capacity for civil and contractual purposes.

Multiple sources - including Gulf News, Gulf Today, and international law firm Clyde and Co - confirm the law takes effect in 2026. Cited effective dates range from 2 March to 1 June, depending on the specific federal decree reference applied. Alongside the majority threshold, the law replaces Hijri (lunar) calendar references with the Gregorian standard, removing a longstanding source of ambiguity in age calculations.

Impact on Wills and Estate Planning

For expatriate families, the most immediate concern is the effect on existing wills registered in the UAE. Many wills drafted under the previous law used 21 as the threshold for minority, guardianship, and inheritance access. With the age of majority now set at 18, those provisions may no longer reflect the legal position and could create disputes over when beneficiaries can demand control of inherited assets.

Estate-planning practitioners are advising clients to review wills registered with the DIFC Courts, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, or Dubai Courts. Where a will names children over 18 as beneficiaries, legal commentary confirms that no revision is needed to preserve the validity of bequests - however, guardianship provisions will automatically terminate at 18 rather than 21. Private-wealth advisers cited in Legalinz are urging expatriates to focus on four areas in particular:

Key Areas to Review in Existing Wills

Guardianship nominations where children are close to or already over 18 years old.
Age-conditioned inheritance clauses that previously used 21 as the distribution or vesting threshold.
Staggered distribution schedules (for example at ages 21, 25, or 30) timed around the former majority age.
Family-business and succession structures involving 18- to 20-year-old shareholders or beneficiaries.

Guardianship and the New Legal Boundary

Under the revised law, guardianship applies only until a child turns 18, at which point they are treated as a legal adult capable of making their own decisions about residence, education, and financial matters. This effectively shortens the legal window during which parents or appointed guardians hold formal authority. Specialist estate-planning sources describe the change not as reduced protection, but as a clearer legal boundary that reduces scope for dispute when wills and guardianship directives are interpreted by courts.

The new law also creates a tiered framework for minors, reflecting the UAE's policy direction of extending economic agency to young people under structured safeguards. Children below 15 have no independent asset-management rights. Minors aged 15 to 17 may apply to a court for approval to manage specific assets, typically in entrepreneurship or family-business contexts. Individuals aged 18 and above enjoy full civil capacity without court oversight.

Contracts, Property, and Powers of Attorney

The practical implications extend well beyond estate planning. From the effective date, individuals aged 18 and above will be able to sign leases, open bank accounts, and enter employment contracts in their own right. They can also independently execute powers of attorney (POAs) - legal instruments that authorise another person to act on their behalf - without needing a parent to co-sign. HR teams and universities are expected to streamline onboarding as a result, according to reports in Middle East Briefing and WhichSchoolAdvisor.

Khaleej Times reports that banks, telecoms operators, and landlords are updating internal processes to remove capacity-based objections for 18- to 20-year-olds. Property ownership for this age group is also expected to become more straightforward, since the previous Civil Transactions Law required full legal capacity - previously reached at 21 - to independently hold real estate. However, some free-zone regulators may retain higher internal thresholds for specific activities such as company directorships, and practitioners advise checking applicable free-zone rules before assuming full parity.

What Regulators and Institutions Are Doing

Beyond the DIFC Courts, a range of regulators and service providers are reviewing their frameworks. On-shore civil courts are expected to apply the revised Civil Transactions Law so that 18-year-olds have full capacity to litigate and settle disputes without guardian approval. ADGM is monitoring how the new federal age-of-majority standard may influence its existing policy requiring children's shares to be held via guardians or trusts. Banks and telecoms operators are updating onboarding forms and risk frameworks to reflect the revised capacity threshold.

Family-law practitioners note that while civil-law capacity is now generally achieved at 18, interaction with religious and personal-status rules may still produce case-specific outcomes in matters such as marriage, custody, and certain forms of inheritance. For expatriates using local or DIFC wills, however, the shift to 18 as the civil age of majority provides a clearer and more predictable baseline for guardianship clauses and financial-capacity assumptions across institutions.

What Clients are Asking their Advisors

What does 'age of majority' mean under UAE law, and what has changed?

The age of majority is the threshold at which a person is legally recognised as an adult with full rights and responsibilities under civil law. The UAE has lowered this from 21 lunar years to 18 Gregorian years under a new Federal Decree-Law, meaning 18-year-olds can now sign contracts, own property, and make legal decisions without parental consent.

Do I need to update my UAE will now the age of majority has changed to 18?

Wills naming children over 18 as beneficiaries remain valid without amendment, but guardianship clauses drafted on the assumption of a 21-year threshold will now expire earlier. Estate-planning specialists recommend reviewing age-conditioned distributions, staggered inheritance schedules, and guardianship nominations - particularly where children are close to or already aged 18.

How does the change in UAE age of majority affect DIFC Wills specifically?

The DIFC Courts have issued formal guidance confirming that 18 is now the age of majority for DIFC Wills under the relevant federal decree. Guardianship provisions in existing DIFC Wills will now only apply to children under 18, so testators with children aged 18 to 20 should review whether their will still reflects their intentions.

What are the risks if expatriates do not update their UAE wills after the age of majority change?

If existing wills retain 21 as the threshold for guardianship or asset distribution, they risk becoming misaligned with the current legal definition of adulthood. This could create disputes over when a guardian's authority ends or when a beneficiary can demand control of inherited assets, potentially requiring court intervention to resolve.