When co-owners divide a property between themselves, the Department charges not the familiar 4% but 1% — and it is charged on the EVALUATED value, not on what the parties agreed. We read the service card: which agreement is required, where to go, and what is issued at the end.
Checked against the official source on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service card "Partners division registration application". The page was read in its raw form; every figure carries its source link, and the source is listed at the end.
Co-ownership arises in different ways: a joint purchase, an inheritance, a division on divorce. Sooner or later the question comes up — how to separate so that each party ends up with a property of their own. The Department has a dedicated service for it, and it is not built like a sale.
This is a division, not a transaction
Verbatim from the description, the service registers a division among partners — "dividing the land plots among the partners who are desirous to divide the joint real estate among themselves so that each partner or a group thereof has a property of their own, albeit by separation according to a division agreement (consensual - judicial)".
Two words in the brackets matter: the division agreement may be consensual or judicial. The card names both routes on equal terms and treats neither as exceptional.
One per cent, and the base is a valuation
The main fee line reads: "1% of the value of the disassociated shares in each property will be collected, the fee amount will be charged on the value of the property that was evaluated and divided accordingly" — 1% of the value of the disassociated shares in each property, charged on the evaluated value of the property, divided accordingly.
Two things are worth separating here.
The rate is a quarter of the usual one. On an ordinary sale the Department takes 4% — a bill we went through separately. A division between co-owners is charged at 1%.
The base is not what the parties agreed. The card explicitly refers to the evaluated value. The figure written into your agreement does not by itself determine the fee.
| Line | Amount | Where it is named |
|---|---|---|
| Division fee | 1% of the value of the disassociated shares | DLD card |
| Title deed | AED 250 | DLD card |
| Map: land plot outside the Municipality's jurisdiction | AED 100 | DLD card |
| Map: unified map with Dubai Municipality | AED 225 | DLD card |
| Apartment map | AED 250 | DLD card |
| Villa map | AED 250 | DLD card |
| Knowledge and innovation per drawing | AED 10 each | DLD card |
| Processing time | 1 hour | DLD card |
The agreement must be certified twice
The first required document reads: "An agreement certified by an official competent entity to be certified by DLD" — an agreement certified by an official competent entity, which is then certified by the Department.
So the route has two stages: certification by a competent entity first, then by the Department. A document the co-owners sign between themselves does not, on its own, meet that requirement.
The remaining documents named are the IDs of all owners — citizens and residents — and copies of valid passports for non-residents.
You must attend the main branch
One channel is listed: the Dubai Land Department main branch. Neither trustee centres nor the app appear here — unlike most services of this family, which we covered in reselling off-plan and buying a mortgaged property.
What is issued at the end: an electronic title deed and an electronic map.
What we do not claim here
- Who performs the valuation. The card refers to an evaluated value but does not name the valuer.
- The judicial division procedure. The description mentions a judicial agreement as one of the kinds but sets out no conditions or prerequisites.
- Tax consequences of a division. A different subject and a different source.
- Applicability to shares in a building's common property. This concerns dividing a property between co-owners, not the common property of a development, which is covered separately.
Sources
- Partners division registration application — Land Department service card: the description of division by consensual or judicial agreement, the twice-certified agreement requirement, the 1% fee on the value of disassociated shares charged on the evaluated value, fees of AED 250 / 100 / 225 / 250 / 250 / 10 / 10, the one-hour processing time, the main-branch channel, and the electronic title deed and map issued.
