Guide · updated 02.09.2026 · 13 min read · Lucent Legal team

Diya in the UAE: the money the family of a deceased person is owed

Money for a death in the UAE exists and families do collect it: this is diya, or blood money — AED 200,000 under Article 30 of the Penal Code. In a road death it is almost always paid by the at-fault driver's insurer, not out of his own pocket. Below: who receives the money, what a family abroad has to do, and how all of it connects to the criminal case against the person at fault.

Where the AED 200,000 figure comes from

AED 200,000 is written directly into Article 30 of the Penal Code, Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021. The same article lets the Cabinet raise or lower the sum on a proposal from the Minister of Justice. Equality between men and women is in the text of the article itself.

Almost every English-language explainer still cites Federal Decree-Law No. 1 of 2019. That law was repealed by Article 2(3) of the 2021 Code with effect from 2 January 2022, and the amount moved into Article 30.

Some legal sources write that a court can depart from the AED 200,000 in a particular case. Article 30 itself gives the power to change the figure to the Cabinet. Confirm the current number with a lawyer before you file.

When diya applies: negligence, road deaths, intent

Diya attaches to a death. For non-fatal injuries the law fixes no set amount.

• Death by negligence — Article 393. The main charge in road deaths. Penalty: imprisonment and/or a fine. No less than a year if the driver breached duties tied to his work or profession, was drunk or on drugs, or refused to help the victim. From 2 to 5 years if more than three people died, and from 3 to 7 years if an aggravating factor is added on top.
• Intentional murder — Article 384. Life imprisonment; the death penalty where there was premeditation, an accompanying crime, the killing of a descendant relative, or the killing of a public official.
• Injury by negligence — Article 394. Up to a year's imprisonment and/or a fine of up to AED 10,000, up to two years where permanent disability results.

Article 1 of the Code refers crimes punishable by qisas and diya to Sharia rules, and Article 67 names diya as a principal penalty in its own right. Neither provision makes the religion or nationality of the deceased a condition.

What to do at the scene of a crash and the role of the police report are set out in car accidents in Dubai: step by step. The general shape of criminal proceedings is in UAE criminal law.

Who pays: the insurer, the driver, the employer

In a road death the money comes from the motor insurer. The Unified Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy against third-party liability, approved by the Central Bank of the UAE, obliges the insurer to pay what the court awards against the insured.

The insurer cannot raise against the victim the defences it would raise against its own policyholder: a dispute between the company and its client does not kill the family's claim. And a settlement between the at-fault driver and the family binds the insurer only with its written consent — verbal deals struck at the hospital do not work.

The driver pays out of pocket where there is no policy or the case falls outside cover. For a death at work the employer is liable; for a death caused by medical error, the clinic and its insurer.

Who gets the money and in what shares

Diya goes to the heirs of the deceased, not to whoever files first. It is divided by inheritance shares rather than equally, and the court determines who the heirs are. A widow will not be handed the money simply because she is the widow.

Non-Muslim families have a choice here. Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status allows a request to apply the law of the deceased's nationality instead of Sharia shares. That request is made before distribution, not after. The mechanics of inheritance are covered separately in inheritance and wills in the UAE.

Forgiveness by the family: what it changes in the sentence

Diya and qisas belong to the heirs, and the heirs can waive them. The state's own right to prosecute is untouched by that.

• Intentional murder: under Article 384(3), a waiver of qisas by relatives at any stage of the case replaces the maximum penalty with a fixed term of no less than 7 years.
• Death by negligence: the Article 393 prosecution continues even where diya has been paid in full and the family has no claims. The court takes a statement of forgiveness into account when sentencing.
• Withdrawing a complaint ends the prosecution in those offences that are only opened on a complaint. If the victim died after filing, the right to withdraw passes to the heirs.

Test any promise that "we pay and he walks" against the charging article: for road deaths the law provides no such trade.

What the family should do, step by step

1. Get the police report. Everything is built on it: the charge, the diya, and the insurance payout.
2. Find the criminal case number at the Public Prosecution. Diya is awarded inside that case, not through a separate claim.
3. Collect the death certificate and proof of relationship — marriage and birth certificates, a family composition certificate.
4. Legalise documents issued abroad. The UAE is not party to the Hague Convention, so an apostille will not do for Russian papers; you need the full consular chain: document legalisation between the UAE and Russia.
5. Issue a power of attorney to a representative in the UAE. Without one an heir abroad can sign nothing and receive nothing: power of attorney in Dubai.
6. Wait for the court to determine the circle of heirs — payment goes out in the established shares.
7. Once the judgment is final, take a certified copy and open an execution case if the money has not arrived voluntarily.

The whole family does not need to fly in: one power of attorney is enough to run the case through a representative.

Death at work: diya and labour payments are different money

A death on the job entitles the family to a payment under Article 37 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021: the deceased's basic salary for 24 months, but no less than AED 18,000 and no more than AED 200,000. It goes to the heirs on top of end-of-service gratuity and any other sums the employer owes.

The employer must report the accident to MOHRE within 48 hours.

The labour payment and diya do not substitute for each other. Diya is imposed in a criminal case once a specific person's guilt is established. The labour compensation is paid for the fact of a workplace death, whether or not anyone is punished.

Deadlines: how long the family has

• Criminal case. Limitation periods per the u.ae portal: 20 years for crimes punishable by death, 10 years for other felonies, 3 years for misdemeanours, 1 year for infractions.
• Complaint in cases opened on a complaint — 3 months from learning of the crime and of the person responsible.
• Civil claim for damages — 3 years from the day the injured party learned of the harm and who caused it, and no later than 15 years from the event itself.

A new Civil Code has applied since 1 June 2026: Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, replacing Law No. 5 of 1985. The tort provisions of the old code (Articles 282–317) moved into Articles 245–273 of the new one, with moral damage set out in Article 254. The three-year and fifteen-year rule survives, but the numbering changed — a lawyer will name the exact article for your case. The new code does not touch diya itself: that lives in the criminal law.

Topic: UAE Criminal Law 2026

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.