What happens to Dubai property when an expat dies

By MyHaven Team·Published 31 October 2026·7 minute read

When an expat dies owning property in Dubai, the title stays in their name and cannot be sold or transferred until a UAE court issues a document naming who inherits it. Without a registered will, the court applies the default rules: half to a surviving spouse and the rest shared equally among the children. With a will registered at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), which covers assets in all seven emirates, the court follows the will.

The short answer

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) moves a title deed from a deceased owner to their heirs only on a certificate or declaration issued by the judicial authorities. That is true whether or not there is a will. What a registered will changes is what the court puts in that document, and how much your family has to prove before the court will issue it.

Without a will, your family first has to establish who the heirs are, and the property is then shared out under a fixed formula, which may not be what you would have chosen. With a registered will, the court has your instruction on file: who gets the apartment, who acts as executor, and what happens if a beneficiary dies before you.

Without a will: the default rules

For non-Muslim expats, Federal Decree-Law 41 of 2022 on civil personal status sets the default. Under Article 11, where there is no will, the surviving spouse takes half of the estate and the children share the other half equally, sons and daughters alike. With no children, the estate passes to the parents and then to the brothers and sisters. The federal text does not say clearly whether a surviving spouse still takes half in that case; the ADJD describes the parents as sharing “the remaining inheritance”. The law also lets an heir ask the court to apply the law of the deceased’s home country instead, unless a registered will says otherwise.

Two things follow for a property. First, a flat bought for the family home may end up co-owned by a surviving spouse and several children, some of them minors, which makes selling it or refinancing it slow. Second, nobody can act until the court process is complete. The full picture of the default rules is in UAE inheritance law for expats, and the wider effect on a family is in what happens if you die without a will in the UAE.

With a registered will

Article 11 lets a non-Muslim leave all of their assets in the UAE to whoever they choose by will. A will made on the ADJD’s civil will template can leave a named property to a named person, identified by its title deed number, and the rest of the estate to others. The will also names an executor, the person who deals with the court and the DLD, and a backup if they cannot act.

Your family still applies to the court after your death, and the DLD still needs the court’s document. The difference is that the court is applying an instruction it already holds rather than working out a distribution from scratch, and nobody has to argue about what you would have wanted. The registration process itself is explained in ADJD will registration.

Sole and joint ownership

A property in your sole name

The whole property is part of your estate. It passes under your will if you have one, and under the default rules if you do not.

A property owned jointly

Many couples buy together and assume the survivor keeps the home. In some countries that is true: the share of a joint owner who dies passes to the other owner automatically. We could not find any rule in Dubai that does this, and the DLD’s inheritance service is written around transferring the deceased owner’s share to their heirs. A joint owner should not assume their share goes to the other owner. If that is what you want, the will should say so.

A property with a mortgage

A mortgage does not pause on the owner’s death. The DLD lists a no-objection certificate from the bank or financing entity among the documents it needs before it will transfer a mortgaged property to heirs, so the bank is part of the process from the start.

• Life cover on the loan. If your mortgage came with a life insurance policy, its terms decide whether and how much of the loan it repays. Keep the policy number with your will papers so your executor can start the claim early.
• Without cover, or with a shortfall. The remaining loan stays secured on the property. Your heirs or executor will need to agree with the bank how it is repaid, whether by keeping up the payments, refinancing or selling.
• Service charges. These keep falling due while the estate is settled, so it helps if your will and your executor are clear about who pays them in the meantime.

Off-plan property

A unit you have bought off-plan is still an asset of your estate. The DLD lists a no-objection certificate from the developer as a requirement when the property was initially registered or is under construction, so the developer joins the bank and the court as one of the parties your executor deals with. Keep the sale and purchase agreement and the payment plan with your will papers, because the instalments do not stop either.

The transfer at the Dubai Land Department

Once the court has issued its document, the transfer itself is an administrative step. The application is made at a Trustee service centre or the DLD main building, and the applicant does not have to be one of the heirs. The DLD needs:

• the inheritance certificate or declaration issued by the judicial authorities;
• Emirates IDs for heirs who live in the UAE and passport copies for those who do not;
• the bank’s no-objection certificate if the property is mortgaged;
• the developer’s no-objection certificate if it is off-plan or newly registered.

Documents issued outside the UAE must be attested, and anything not in Arabic needs a certified legal translation. The DLD’s published fees, as listed on its service page in October 2026, are below.

The DLD states a service time of eight working hours once everything is submitted. Fees change, so check the DLD’s inheritance title transfer page for the current figures.

Tenants and rent

If your Dubai property is let, the tenant does not lose their home because you have died. Article 27 of Dubai Law 26 of 2007 on landlords and tenants says a lease does not end on the death of the landlord or the tenant, and the contract continues with the heirs. Your heirs step into your place as landlord, with the same rights and the same obligations.

The practical points are about money. If the rent is paid into an account in your sole name, that account is frozen when the bank learns of the death, as explained in what happens to a UAE bank account without a will. A letting agent, if you use one, needs to know who to deal with. A will that names an executor gives the agent and the tenant one person to talk to.

The DIFC property will

The DIFC Courts Wills Service offers a property will for non-Muslims aged 18 or over. It can cover up to five properties in the UAE, or a share in them, and is written in English under a common law framework. A property bought later is not covered automatically: you sign and register a new property will to add it. It deals with real estate only, so bank accounts, vehicles and guardianship of children need another will.

It suits some owners, particularly those with several properties and advisers used to common law wills. It costs more than the ADJD route. Rather than repeat the fees here, the side-by-side comparison is in DIFC vs ADJD vs Dubai Courts wills.

What to do next

If you own property in Dubai, the step that saves your family the most time is a will registered in the UAE that names who receives it. The ADJD route costs 950 AED in court fees for one will and covers property and other assets in every emirate, including guardians for your children.

Our free assessmentasks a few questions about your family and what you own, and tells you which route fits before you pay anything. MyHaven is not a law firm and this guide is general information, not legal advice. If you also own property in your home country, a lawyer there can tell you how it passes under that country’s law.

MyHaven is not a law firm and this guide is not legal advice. It explains how the process works so you can make your own decisions. What that means