When a share in property passes to a minor, neither a parent nor a guardian may deal with it as their own. Law No. 17 of 2022 names the body responsible for minors' property in Dubai and lists thirteen of its powers — from supervising guardians and inventorying movable and immovable property to representing minors in court. A separate article settles the most practical question: five actions, letting the property included, are taken WITHOUT a court permission. And one detail matters for residents: custodianship arises automatically for UAE nationals, while for non-nationals it requires an application and a court decision.
Verified on 15 September 2026 against official sources: the text of Law No. 17 of 2022 comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae). Source links sit next to every article and again at the end. This is not legal advice: a particular case is judged on its own documents.
When a share in a flat passes to a child — by inheritance, by gift or through a division — a question arises that almost nobody asks in advance: who now makes decisions about that property. Dubai answers it in a dedicated law, and the answer does not match the instinct that "the parent decides".
The document is Law No. (17) of 2022 Concerning the Endowment and Minors' Trust Foundation in Dubai, issued on 13 October 2022. The body is called Awqaf Dubai; under Article 3 it is a public foundation with legal personality, affiliated to the emirate's Executive Council.
First, the boundary most people do not know about
Article 21 opens by naming this body as the government entity in charge of all matters related to custodianship over the property of minors and persons of similar status. Then come the items — and the first three distinguish between categories of people:
«1. undertake, by virtue of law, Custodianship over the Property of Minors from amongst the UAE Nationals of the Emirate who have no Guardian or custodian;»
«3. undertake, upon the request of the concerned persons and approval of Awqaf Dubai, and pursuant to a decision of the competent court, the custodianship, Guardianship, and judicial trusteeship over the property of Minors, and Persons of Similar Status as Minors, from amongst the UAE Nationals of other emirates and non-UAE nationals residing in the Emirate;» — Law No. (17) of 2022, Article 21
The distinction is fundamental and written down:
| Category | How custodianship arises | item of Article 21 |
|---|---|---|
| UAE nationals of this emirate with no guardian | by virtue of law, automatically | 1 |
| incapacitated, partially incapacitated, missing and absent persons among UAE nationals | by virtue of law | 2 |
| UAE nationals of other emirates and non-nationals residing in the emirate | on the request of the concerned persons, with the foundation's approval and pursuant to a court decision | 3 |
For a resident family without UAE nationality this means: the mechanism is available, but it does not switch itself on — an application, an approval and a court decision are required.
What the body does with the property
The remaining items of Article 21 set out the scope. The ones that matter for real estate:
«4. oversee the acts of Guardians, Custodians, Conservators, and Judicial Trustees in respect of all matters related to the property of Minors and Persons of Similar Status as Minors;»
«7. prepare lists, and conduct an inventory, of the movable and immovable property of Minors, and Persons of Similar Status as Minors; and invest, develop, and preserve the same by itself or through engaging other persons…»
«8. take over, administer, and invest the undivided property co-owned by the persons over whom it undertakes custodianship… and other co-owners, based on the request or consent of these persons and co-owners. In return for these services, Awqaf Dubai will charge a percentage of the proceeds to be prescribed by the Board of Directors;»
«10. represent the Minors… before government entities; non-government entities; and all kinds of courts, Tribunals, and competent judicial entities…»
Item 4 answers "doesn't the parent decide?": the acts of guardians and custodians are supervised. Item 7 is why this touches real estate specifically: property is inventoried, immovable property included, and then preserved or invested. Item 8 covers co-ownership: a minor's share in a jointly held property may be administered together with the other owners' shares — but on their request or with their consent, and against a percentage of the proceeds set by the board.
Items 9 and 12 add the money frame: a percentage of the proceeds of investment under approved rules, and the receipt of donations, gifts, bequests, Zakat and alms provided to those in care.
Five actions that need no court permission
Article 24 answers the most practical question — what can be done without going to court each time:
«Awqaf Dubai may, without the need for a permission from the competent court, take all necessary actions and measures to administer, invest, develop, and preserve the property of Minors, and Persons of Similar Status as Minors, with a view to serving their interests, in the following cases:
- renting out and taking lease of real property and movables;
- disbursing the necessary maintenance payments to Minors, and Persons of Similar Status as Minors, as approved by the CDA or the competent court in this respect;
- meeting the due liabilities of Minors, and Persons of Similar Status as Minors, in respect of which definitive judgements are rendered;
- initiating or abandoning legal proceedings and filing appeals… and directly representing them before judicial entities of all types and levels; and
- paying the Zakat of the property of Muslim Minors…»
The first item is the one worth knowing for owners: letting real property out, and taking a lease, are actions that require no court permission. A child's flat need not sit empty while approvals grind on.
And what is not on the list matters just as much: none of the five items mentions selling or mortgaging real property. We do not infer a prohibition from that absence — we merely observe that an exemption from court permission is not stated here for those acts.
The other half of the law: endowments
The same law governs endowments — waqf. Article 16 empowers the foundation to maintain, restore and preserve endowment assets, set aside reserves, obtain loans and sell portions of property to fund repairs. Article 17 permits investing endowment property in lawful and Sharia-compliant activities, selling or replacing unusable endowments, and establishing endowment projects.
For the property market that means something simple: part of the emirate's stock belongs neither to private persons nor to companies but to an endowment, and dealings with it follow these rules rather than ordinary transaction logic.
How this fits with the rest
- Inheritance. If the child's share arose by succession, the transfer of title follows its own course: how that works.
- Dividing with other heirs. A dispute over dividing inherited housing is excluded from the Centre for Amicable Settlement and runs its own route: the Decree 31/2023 procedure and the jurisdictional boundary.
- Binding family ownership in advance. If the aim is to tie shares to rules before rather than after: the family property contract.
- Any change of right happens through an entry. Why only the register proves it.
What we are NOT claiming here
- That selling a minor's share is forbidden or permitted. Article 24 lists the cases that need no court permission; a sale is not among them, and we draw no conclusion either way from that.
- The size of the service percentage. Items 8 and 9 of Article 21 refer to board resolutions; we have not seen the rates and do not quote any.
- The application procedure for non-nationals. Item 3 names three conditions — request, approval, court decision — but the procedure comes from other instruments.
- The content of the Family Law and the Sharia rules to which Article 21 defers. We quote this law, not what it refers to.
Sources
- Law No. (17) of 2022 Concerning the Endowment and Minors' Trust Foundation in Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: Article 3 (status as a public foundation), Article 4 (objectives, including managing minors' property in their best interests), Article 16 (preserving and restoring endowment assets, reserves, loans), Article 17 (investment, replacement of unusable endowments, endowment projects), Article 21 (thirteen powers: custodianship by virtue of law for UAE nationals, by application and court decision for non-nationals, supervision of guardians, inventory of movable and immovable property, administration of undivided shares against a percentage, representation in court), Article 24 (five cases needing no court permission, letting real property included). Issued 13 October 2022.
