Property Gift Transfer (Hiba)

A property gift transfer — hiba — is the voluntary transfer of property ownership without a sale price, most commonly between close family members or between an individual and a company they own. In Dubai, gift transfers are a recognised registration category at the Land Department with a significantly reduced transfer fee compared with the standard sale rate, but the concession applies only to qualifying relationships, principally first-degree relatives (parent–child, spouses) and transfers between owners and their wholly owned companies, each requiring documentary proof such as attested birth or marriage certificates. Gifts are widely used for succession planning — moving property to children or a holding company during the owner's lifetime avoids the delays of inheritance proceedings — and in corporate restructuring. The transfer is executed at a registration trustee like a sale, and once registered it is a genuine, completed disposal: the giver loses ownership, so the decision deserves the same care as a sale.