Gifting a Dubai Property Share

We rate this tip S tier, with one warning: the saving is tens of thousands of dirhams, and the rule about who qualifies is the part people get wrong. Dubai Land Department (DLD) registers a gift of a property, whole or in part, for 0.125% of the property's valuation, with a minimum of AED 2,000, while a sale costs 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer, 4% in all (both read Nov 10, 2026). On a half share valued at AED 2,000,000 that is AED 2,500 (about $681) against AED 80,000 (about $21,784). The warning is the list of who may receive the gift: DLD names mother, father, spouse and children, and no one else in a family.

We think DLD's gift page still says 0.125% and still stops at parents, spouse and children in mid 2027, with brothers and sisters not added: the rate is 32 times lower than a sale's, and a wider list would turn every family sale into a gift. Confidence: Likely. Check by: Jun 2027.

Who can receive the gift

DLD's service page describes the gift as a transfer without payment to "first-degree relatives; mother, father, spouse, or children or to companies". That is the whole list for people. The property must not be restricted and must not be granted land.

George Vanous's notes give three different answers, which is why this page exists:

• On May 28, 2024 he phoned a real estate registration trustee office and wrote down that the fee "only applies to parents, siblings, children (direct family members)".
• An undated line elsewhere says the exception covers a gift to "father, mother, wife, son or daughter".
• An older line says a property can go to "same-surname family members with only 0.05% fee".

The second line is the one that matches DLD today, with one correction: the official word is spouse, so a wife can give to a husband as well. Siblings, named in his phone note, are not on DLD's list, and neither is anyone chosen by surname. We found no 0.05% rate on any DLD page; that line's own example, AED 2,000 on a property of AED 4,000,000, happens to equal today's minimum fee, but 0.125% of that value is AED 5,000. If a trustee office tells you a brother or sister qualifies, ask it to show the rule before you plan around it.

What it costs

The fee is charged on DLD's valuation of the part being gifted, not on the price printed on the title deed. The examples in George's notes use the deed value, so read them as estimates.

Both examples are his: the AED 80,000 from his note on adding a person to a title deed the ordinary way, and the AED 6,250 from the note he wrote after the May 2024 call.

DLD lists the same smaller charges on both services: AED 250 to issue the title deed, a map fee (AED 225 for a unified map of land under Dubai Municipality, AED 100 for land outside it, and a line of AED 250 for villas and apartments), an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee. The trustee center takes its own fee as well. For a gift, DLD's page puts it at AED 4,000 plus VAT at AED 2,000,000 or more and AED 2,000 plus VAT below that; for a sale the line is drawn at AED 500,000. AED 4,000 plus 5% VAT is the "AED 4,200 (Trustee Fee)" in George's notes.

Documents and the visit

A gift is registered in person at a Real Estate Registration Trustee center, and DLD gives the service time as 20 minutes once the papers are complete. The papers are where the time goes:

1. Proof of the relationship: a marriage certificate for a spouse, a birth certificate for a child. A certificate issued abroad must be translated and attested by the UAE embassy and the foreign ministry of the country that issued it. DLD also lists a proof of paternity or kinship from your own embassy in the UAE.
2. Emirates ID, checked on the spot with no copy kept, or a passport copy for a non-resident. UAE citizens bring a marriage contract or the Family Book.
3. A valuation. For land, DLD says to request one at a trustee center before applying; apartments and villas can use its smart valuation.
4. A legal power of attorney if anyone signs for either side.

At the center, staff check the file and approve it in the system, you pay, and the issued documents arrive by email. Because DLD will not register a gift of a restricted property, check for a block first: George's own case of one is on Dubai Property Block for Unpaid Service Fees.

A company can also receive a gift on DLD's list, after it is registered with DLD. A mortgage, a visa that depends on the value each owner holds, and inheritance are separate questions that the fee page does not answer, and this page does not either.

What we checked

The rate, the minimum, the list of relatives, the extra fees, the documents and the 20 minutes are from DLD's Property Gift Registration page, and the 2% plus 2% from its Property Sale Registration page, both read on Nov 10, 2026. The address in George's 2024 note still opens the same gift service. His phone call and his worked sums are his record of May 2024; we did not call a trustee office ourselves, and DLD's page does not say which value sets the trustee's fee band when no money changes hands. This page states DLD's published rule and is not legal advice.

Sources

• Property Gift Registration, Dubai Land Department, read Nov 10, 2026
• Property Sale Registration, Dubai Land Department, read Nov 10, 2026
• George Vanous's notes, May 28, 2024, with two undated earlier lines