SPA review
Clauses on completion dates, developer liability, termination, retentions and assignment are read before you sign: changes at the start cost far less than a dispute.
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Legal advice in Dubai
No. 1 for property legal advice in Dubai for English-speaking owners and buyers: a UAE real estate lawyer reviews your SPA, handles conveyancing, maps your tax position and registers a will. You leave with a list of risks and the document that closes each one — from the 4% DLD fee to the 183-day residence test.
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Name and number. Describe the question briefly on WhatsApp and we will match you with the right specialist.
Foreign owners tend to postpone three questions: tax in their country of residence, getting out of a deal when circumstances change, and inheritance. All three cost less to settle before signing: tax turns on status and holding period, exit on the contract wording, inheritance on a will.
The advice comes from an invited expert — an independent practising UAE property lawyer who is not on our payroll. We pick the specialist for your task, add an adviser who knows your home-country tax where needed, make the introduction and stay in touch until the matter is closed.
Tax when you sell property in Dubai: the UAE side is simple, your home country is not
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Wills & inheritance in Dubai
Wills and inheritance for foreigners in the UAE: what happens without a will, DIFC Wills and the Dubai courts, Abu Dhabi, guardianship of children, national law and registering remotely.
More →Conveyancing in Dubai
Conveyancing in Dubai: checks on the property and the seller, the MOU, the NOC, the transfer at a Trustee office and the new title deed. Deals under power of attorney and with a mortgage.
More →What do buyers and owners ask a Dubai property lawyer?
Four things: a contract review before signing, conveyancing, tax in two countries and a will. A fifth comes up after the deal: getting out of it, or a dispute over dates.
Conveyancing
Legal handling of the transfer of title: checking the title deed and shares, the developer’s no-objection certificate, powers of attorney and registration with the Dubai Land Department.
Tax
Your obligations in the UAE and at home: rent, sale, dividends, and the 9% corporate tax if the property sits in a company.
Wills
Registering a will with DIFC, the Dubai Courts or the Abu Dhabi office, appointing guardians for children and aligning it with the will you hold at home.
What is conveyancing and what gets checked on a transfer?
Conveyancing is the legal work of moving ownership from seller to buyer, from checking the title deed to registering the sale at the Dubai Land Department (DLD).
The buyer pays the 4% DLD fee on the price, fixed administrative charges of about AED 580 on a ready property and about AED 4,200 for the trustee office. On the resale market, budget 6–7% on top of the price.
What tax does an owner pay in the UAE and at home?
The UAE has no annual property tax, no personal income tax and no capital gains tax. But a tax resident elsewhere — in Russia, for example, 183 days or more in any 12 months — declares worldwide income, including rent and sale proceeds from a Dubai flat.
Home-country rates then apply in full: a Russian resident pays 13% or 15% on rent, on a progressive scale that since 2025 rises to 22%. There is nothing to credit, because the UAE charged no tax. On a sale the figures are converted into the home currency, so a taxable gain can appear without any gain in dollars.
UAE corporate tax of 9% has applied since 2023 to business profit above AED 375,000 a year; a flat held personally is generally outside it. Commercial property carries 5% VAT.
Can you exit a deal on force majeure?
Only when performance has become objectively impossible: a natural disaster that destroys the property, war, a direct government ban. UAE courts treat financial difficulty, a currency fall, a lost job or falling prices as the buyer’s commercial risk.
For off-plan, Dubai law sets a scale of what the developer may retain according to the construction stage, whatever the buyer’s reason for leaving. Without grounds, the routes are talks with the developer or assigning the contract.
How developers move the completion date, and what to check in the SPA
Completion dates move in two ways: a widened force majeure clause and a permitted extension period. Both sit in the contract and are lawful once the buyer has signed.
The clause may list permit delays, material shortages and contractor defaults. The extension period — often in the order of six to twelve months — lets the developer shift an ‘anticipated’ completion date without reasons or compensation.
Courts weigh such claims on the merits: the developer must prove which event delayed the works. Never sign an addendum moving the dates without a lawyer: it can wipe out accrued claims.
What happens to Dubai property without a will?
Without a registered will a UAE court may apply local Sharia-based rules: shares go to relatives under a fixed scheme, and a wife does not automatically inherit everything.
Non-Muslims may dispose of their assets as they wish. Dubai offers two routes — the DIFC Wills registry, built on English common law, and registration through the Dubai Courts; Abu Dhabi runs a non-Muslim wills office at its Judicial Department.
A DIFC will can also set up joint ownership so that a deceased owner’s share passes automatically to the survivor — but only if arranged in advance, while both owners are alive.
How the work goes
The work runs in four steps, from describing your situation to the document that closes the risk.
- 1
Brief
You describe the situation: the property, the stage of the deal, your residence status and family.
- 2
Matching the lawyer
We introduce a practising UAE property lawyer and, for a tax question, an adviser who also knows your home jurisdiction.
- 3
Documents and review
The lawyer reads the SPA, the title deed, correspondence with the developer and payment records, and names the risks by reference to the text.
- 4
Outcome
Contract amendments, a written notice to the developer, a registered will or a tax calculation — whichever the task calls for.
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Book a consultation
Name and number. Describe the question briefly on WhatsApp and we will match you with the right specialist.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I need a lawyer to buy property in Dubai?
Not always for a standard deal with a proven developer. But the SPA and its termination and assignment terms are worth reading with a lawyer before signing: changes at the start cost far less than disputes later.
Is there inheritance tax in the UAE?
Not in the usual sense: transferring assets involves mainly administrative and registration costs. The real risk is different — without a will made under UAE rules, the estate may be distributed under local law.
Can a Dubai will be made remotely?
Largely, yes: drafting and review are done remotely, and registration with identity verification is partly available by video call. The process takes from a few days to a couple of weeks.
Is flooding in Dubai force majeure?
Abnormal rainfall declared an emergency by the authorities most likely is; an ordinary seasonal downpour often is not. Either way, damage to the fit-out is recovered through insurance and the developer’s statutory liability for defects.
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