Can my family stay in the UAE after the death of our sponsor?

First, my condolences — and you have more time than the conflicting answers suggest. UAE residence rules allow the family of a deceased sponsor to remain in the country: the residence status of dependants can continue for up to one year from the date of death, without needing a new sponsor during that period. That means your children can finish the school year, and you have room to plan rather than days. What to do now: obtain official copies of the death certificate, attested and translated if it was issued abroad, then apply through the immigration authority — GDRFA if your visas are Dubai-issued, ICP otherwise — to have the extension recorded against your file and the children's, so nothing lapses silently in the system. Use the year deliberately: the main routes afterwards are your own employment residence if you take a job, a self-sponsored option if you qualify for one, or sponsorship by another eligible relative. Gather your husband's documents early too — end-of-service dues, bank matters and any inheritance file move on their own timelines, and the same paperwork feeds all of them. A UAE family or immigration lawyer can handle the extension and the inheritance steps together, which spares you running parallel processes alone.