After the transfer · The onward sale
An inherited Dubai property cannot be sold while the deceased remains on the register. The sale every family pictures is actually the second of two transfers: first the inheritance title transfer that puts the heirs on the deed, then a standard DLD sale transfer to the buyer. Understanding that sequence — and what each step costs — prevents the two most common surprises.
Two transfers
The inheritance step is the cheap one: a flat AED 1,000 per property plus the fixed deed and map fees, as set out on our fees page. The onward sale is priced like any other sale: the standard 4% DLD transfer fee applies to the sale, with the usual trustee-office and deed fees alongside. The inheritance relief applies to getting the heirs onto the title — it does not travel with the property into the sale. Budgeting the sale at inheritance rates is the first surprise this page exists to remove.
Consent
Once the deed issues in the heirs’ names, they hold the property in the shares the court decreed. A sale needs every registered heir’s consent — one holdout, or one heir nobody can reach, stalls the file. Heirs abroad sign through legalised powers of attorney rather than flights. Where the heirs prefer it, the family can also agree — with everyone’s consent recorded — to consolidate ownership before selling; that consolidation is itself a transfer with its own rules and costs.
Minor heirs
Where any share belongs to a minor, that share is protected: disposing of it requires the approval of the competent court supervising minors’ interests. Families should treat court approval for a minor’s share as the longest lead-time item in an inherited sale and start it early. Nothing about the minor’s protection blocks the inheritance transfer itself — it governs what can be sold afterwards, and how.
Mortgages
If the property carried a mortgage, the bank is already in the file — our mortgaged-property page covers the no-objection letter at the inheritance step. Before a sale completes, the mortgage is settled or formally assumed, exactly as in any sale. Buyers’ side will ask one thing above all: a clean chain. The new title deed in the heirs’ names, issued through the inheritance title transfer, is that proof — which is why the sequence on this page is not optional.
Frequently asked questions
No. DLD will not process a sale while the deceased holds the title; the inheritance transfer comes first.
No. The flat fee belongs to the inheritance step; the onward sale carries the standard 4% DLD transfer fee and the usual transaction fees.
Not if they can execute a power of attorney; a legalised POA signs for them at every step.
Heirs hold, and are paid, in the shares the court decreed and the register records.
Only with the approval of the court supervising the minor’s interest for that share. Start that application first, not last.