Gift transfers between family: the Hiba route, the 0.125% fee, and what qualifies
Welcome back to The Conveyance Desk. Last episode we covered off-plan resale. Today: gift transfers between family — the Hiba route, a registered transfer of ownership without consideration, between first-degree relatives, at a concessional fee. General educational content, not legal advice; validate your situation against current DLD requirements. The framing: a Hiba is a gift — the donor relinquishes title, the donee receives it, no money changes hands. It registers at DLD on the same procedural basis as a sale: the donor's name comes off, the donee's goes on, a new title deed issues. The substantive distinction from a sale is the absence of consideration and the resulting concessional DLD fee — 0.125 percent of the assessed property value, minimum AED 2,000, against the standard 4 percent applied to sales.
The legal framework
Hiba is established at two levels. Federal Law No. 5 of 1985, the UAE Civil Transactions Code, defines the gift as a lifetime transfer of property without consideration, requiring donor capacity and voluntary action. At the emirate level, Law No. 14 of 2017 Regulating Endowments and Gifts in the Emirate of Dubai sets the specific Hiba rules — the 0.125 percent fee structure, the eligibility criteria, and the restrictions on repeated gifting of the same property. These aren't optional procedural rules; they're the legal framework that governs the route. A transfer that doesn't meet the framework is not a Hiba — it's a sale, assessed at 4 percent.
Eligibility: first-degree relatives
First-degree relatives are parent to child, child to parent, and between spouses — that's the full list. Sibling transfers don't qualify; grandparent to grandchild doesn't; aunts and uncles to nieces and nephews don't; cousins don't; stepparents and stepchildren don't. A transfer outside the eligible relationships is treated as a sale at 4 percent. Documentary proof of relationship is mandatory — birth certificates linking parent and child, marriage certificates between spouses; UAE citizens may submit a marriage contract or Family Book. Non-UAE documents must be attested through the issuing-country foreign ministry, legalised by the UAE embassy or consulate there, MOFAIC-attested in the UAE, and translated into Arabic by a UAE-sworn translator — the UAE isn't a Hague Apostille member, so an apostille alone isn't sufficient.
Eligibility: self-owned companies
DLD permits a second category: self-owned companies. A donor may gift property to a company they wholly own, or a wholly-owned company may gift property to its sole shareholder. The company must be registered with DLD before the gift application is submitted, and constitutional documents must establish the sole-ownership position — trade licence, certificate of incorporation, share certificate, memorandum and articles of association. Where the company is registered outside the UAE, corporate documents must be legalised through the full MOFAIC chain and translated into Arabic. This route is useful for consolidating holdings into a single corporate vehicle for asset protection or estate planning, or unwinding that structure back to personal ownership — but it's restricted to genuinely self-owned companies; joint-ownership companies don't qualify.
The fee structure
DLD applies 0.125 percent of the assessed property value, minimum AED 2,000. Beyond that: trustee office registration fee; title deed issuance fee, AED 250; map fee, AED 225 under Dubai Municipality or AED 100 outside; admin fees; knowledge and innovation fees; developer NOC fee where applicable; and a DLD valuation fee of approximately AED 4,020 for residential apartments and villas (the valuation is the basis for the fee calculation). The 0.125 percent rate is far below the 4 percent on sales — for a property valued at AED 3 million, the differential is AED 3,750 versus AED 120,000, a gap of more than AED 116,000. The concession reflects the policy intent of facilitating intra-family transfers.
Eligible and ineligible properties
Not every property qualifies. Eligible properties have a clear title deed registered with DLD and are in a designated freehold area. Granted land doesn't qualify; restricted land doesn't; off-plan properties don't until title issuance at handover. Mortgaged properties can be gifted, but the bank's NOC is required and the mortgage position must be addressed at or before transfer. A property linked to an active Golden Visa can't be gifted while the visa is held against it — the visa would need re-anchoring to a different property before the gift can proceed.
The double-gifting rule
The same property cannot be gifted at the 0.125 percent rate more than once. Under Law No. 14 of 2017, double gifting is restricted: a subsequent gift transfer of a property already transferred by Hiba may not qualify for the reduced rate and may be assessed at the full 4 percent, depending on DLD's assessment. This is strictly applied. Families sometimes plan multiple Hiba transfers across generations — grandparent to parent, then parent to child — and the second transfer may be assessed at the full sale rate. Plan accordingly: the first Hiba is the concessional one; the second is not guaranteed to be.
Documentation requirements
Original title deed; donor and donee Emirates IDs and passports; relationship proof, attested where issued outside the UAE; developer NOC, or eNOC for jointly owned properties; service-charge clearance; DLD valuation certificate; the Hiba contract recording the transfer; for corporate parties, constitutional documents and a board resolution; and where the donor or donee can't attend trustee day, a compliant POA specifically authorising the gift action — compliant with DLD Circular 29/R/2025, verified through official electronic platforms, with QR-code verification alone not accepted.
Mortgaged properties in Hiba
Three scenarios. Mortgage release at transfer — the donor settles the mortgage from personal funds or refinances, the bank releases the deed and clearance letter, and the property transfers unencumbered. Mortgage assumption by the donee — the donee qualifies for a mortgage in their own right, the bank substitutes the loan onto the donee's name, and the property transfers with the existing charge in place (bank approval required). Donee mortgage post-transfer — the property transfers unencumbered and the donee takes a fresh mortgage against it later. Each path requires explicit bank consent and sequencing.
Revocability
A registered Hiba is generally irrevocable. The donor cannot unilaterally reverse it; revocation is possible only through a court order, or by mutual agreement of both parties followed by a new registration process with its own fees. This is significant — donors sometimes treat Hiba as a revocable arrangement, but once title transfers the donee is the registered owner and the donor has no claim against the property. A donor who later regrets the gift cannot reclaim by demand; the route is one-way. This makes Hiba a serious estate-planning instrument, not a flexible one — the decision should be made with the irrevocability understood. If you'd like the gift handled correctly, you can have an independent conveyancer run the Hiba registration.
Coming next
Next episode: service charges and developer NOC — what the NOC actually establishes, why developers withhold it, Mollak and eNOC, and what to do when service charges are disputed.
Key takeaways
- Hiba is a no-consideration gift at 0.125% of value (min AED 2,000) versus the 4% sale rate.
- Eligible relationships are narrow — parent↔child and spouse↔spouse (plus self-owned companies); siblings and grandparents don't qualify.
- Relationship proof from outside the UAE needs full consular legalisation — an apostille alone isn't enough.
- The same property generally can't be gifted at the concessional rate twice — a second Hiba may be charged at 4%.
- A registered Hiba is generally irrevocable — reversible only by court order or mutual re-registration.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Hiba gift transfer in Dubai?
A registered transfer of property ownership without consideration between first-degree relatives, charged a concessional DLD fee of 0.125% of value (minimum AED 2,000) instead of the 4% applied to sales.
Who can receive a property as a gift at the reduced rate?
First-degree relatives only — parent to child, child to parent, or between spouses — plus genuinely self-owned companies. Siblings, grandparents, cousins and stepfamily don't qualify and are treated as a 4% sale.
Can a Hiba be reversed?
Generally no. A registered Hiba is irrevocable — the donor can't reclaim by demand. Reversal requires a court order or a mutual new registration with its own fees, so treat the decision as final.