Prepare for your trustee centre visit

Every visit

Applies to all routes.

• The appointment is at a Registration Trustee office, not a Services Trustee centre (DLD directory)You, with the office
• Emirates ID and passport of every party: current, unexpired, and the name matches the title deedEach party
• Original title deed, or the electronic deed accessible in the owner’s Dubai REST accountCurrent owner
• Everyone who must sign is confirmed available at the booked time, or a valid attorney attends for themAll parties
• How the trustee fee and DLD fee will be paid on the day is confirmed with the office — cheque, card or whatever it acceptsPayer, with the office

Sale — every version

• Form F signed by buyer and seller, with the brokers’ details completed, and its completion date has not passedBuyer, seller, brokers
• Developer no-objection certificate (NOC) issued and still valid on the appointment day; outstanding service charges settled if the developer requires itSeller, with the developer
• A written cheque schedule — each payment’s purpose, exact amount and exact payee name — agreed by both sides days before the visitBuyer and seller, or their conveyancer
• Who pays the DLD transfer fee, trustee fee and other charges is as written in Form F; the TransferFee calculator has the current figuresBoth sides
• Manager’s cheques drawn in advance in the agreed names and amounts (what a manager’s cheque is); a spare blank cheque is not a substituteBuyer

Official process: DLD — property sale registration.

Buyer financing with a bank

• Final mortgage approval letter issued, and the bank has confirmed its drawdown date matches the appointmentBuyer, with the bank
• The bank’s cheques or payment, and its mortgage-registration documents, will be at the office on the day — ask the bank who attends or what it sendsBuyer’s bank
• The valuation the bank relied on is complete, and the loan amount agrees with the cheque scheduleBuyer, with the bank

Seller still has a mortgage

• Seller’s bank has issued the liability (settlement) letter with the exact payoff figure and its validity dateSeller, with the bank
• The settlement cheque is payable to the bank, not the seller, and the balance cheque to the seller — both on the cheque scheduleBuyer, from the schedule
• The sequence for releasing the mortgage and registering the sale is confirmed with the office and the bank — some banks need extra days between the two stepsSeller, bank, office

Official process: DLD — registering the sale of a mortgaged property.

Gift to a first-degree relative

• Evidence of the relationship — birth or marriage certificate — attested and translated into Arabic where requiredDonor and recipient
• Which DLD category the transfer falls under, and what the fee is assessed on, confirmed with the office; do not assume the gift rate appliesDonor, with the office
• A DLD property valuation, requested at the trustee centre before registration — DLD requires it for gifts; smart valuation is available for apartments and villas (DLD gift registration)Donor, with the office
• If the property is mortgaged, the bank’s written consent to the transferDonor, with the bank
• Developer NOC, if the community requires one for giftsDonor, with the developer

Inheritance

• Court succession certificate — or the DIFC Wills order where it applies — naming the heirs and their shares; this is the decisive step and happens before any DLD visitHeirs, through the court
• Death certificate and the heirs’ identification, attested and translated into Arabic where requiredHeirs
• One person authorised in writing to act for all heirs, or every heir attendsHeirs
• That the office handles inheritance transfers, and which DLD category and fee apply to your succession orderHeirs, with the office
• Any mortgage on the property: the bank’s position in writingHeirs, with the bank

The succession stage itself is covered on inheritancetransfer.ae.

Updating an owner’s details

• The new identity document and, where the name itself changed, the official document evidencing the changeOwner
• Original title deed showing the current (old) detailsOwner
• Whether this is handled at a Registration Trustee, a Services Trustee or directly through DLD channels — it varies with the type of correctionOwner, with the office

Record and detail corrections have their own guide on titledeed.ae.

Someone signs under a power of attorney

• The POA names this property and this type of transfer — a sale POA does not cover a gift, and a general POA may be refusedPrincipal, with whoever drafted it
• Notarised; if signed outside the UAE, attested for UAE use and legally translated into ArabicPrincipal
• Not revoked, not expired, and the named attorney is the person who will attend, with their own IDAttorney
• The original POA, not a copy, in the attorney’s hands before the dayAttorney

Scoping and attesting a property POA is covered on poas.ae.

Form F already signed

• The completion date in Form F leaves enough time for the NOC, bank letters and cheques — if not, agree an extension in writing before it lapsesBuyer and seller
• The amounts and fee allocation in Form F are the ones on the cheque schedule — no side agreementsBoth sides

Not sure which route applies?

Start with propertytransfer.ae, which explains how the routes differ, or ask the trustee office before booking: tell them what is on the deed now and what should be on it afterwards. Booking under the wrong category is a common reason for a wasted visit.