Property power of attorney
Power of attorney to sell property in Dubai
A sale is a disposition, so UAE law needs a special agency that names the act. The two lines that decide how the sale goes are the lowest price your agent may accept and the account the money is paid into.
- Special agency, not general
- Minimum price written in
- Proceeds account named
The short answer for sellers
You need a special power of attorney that names the sale and the property, ratified before a notary public. Set the lowest price your agent may accept and say who receives the money before you sign anything.
Agency type needed
Special agency naming the sale
Who ratifies it
A notary public, not a broker
Federal notary fee
AED 100 per party to the POA
What the law requires for a sale
Selling is a disposition, not day to day management, so it sits outside what a general power of attorney can do. The Civil Transactions Law says an agency written in general terms grants only acts of management. The agency law now in force is Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, which repealed the 1985 Civil Code, so any page still citing Article 955 is quoting a statute that no longer exists.
Article 870(1), Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.
Minimum price and where the proceeds go
These two lines are what separate a selling power of attorney from a buying one. Your agent is disposing of an asset you own and taking in money for it, so both limbs have to be written down.
Clause one
The lowest price you will accept
Write a floor figure into the document. Without one, your agent decides the price alone, and you have no written standard to hold the sale against.
Clause two
Who the buyer pays
Name the account the price is paid into, and say plainly whether your agent may receive the money at all. Article 870 asks the document to specify the dispositions involved.
What a power of attorney to sell property actually does
A power of attorney to sell property is a document in which you, the owner, authorise someone else to sign a sale of a named property on your behalf. It does not transfer ownership and it does not make your agent an owner. The Dubai Land Department is the authority that registers the transfer, and the sale is registered in the buyer’s name, not the agent’s.
Most people who ask for one are not in the country on the day the paperwork has to be signed. An owner who has already left the UAE, an owner who cannot take leave, and co-owners who cannot both be in Dubai on the same day all face the same problem. Where a property is held in joint names, every owner has to give their own authority, because one owner cannot sign away another owner’s share.
What the wording should pin down
Article 870 asks a special agency to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails. In a sale, that means the document has to be concrete about the following.
- The property itself, identified by the details on the title deed.
- The act of sale, named in words rather than left to implication.
- The lowest price your agent is permitted to accept.
- Whether your agent may receive the price, and into which account.
- Whether your agent may sign the sale and transfer papers for you.
- The term, because an agency ends when the term you set expires.
How a sale power of attorney is put in place
We draft, translate, check the documents and attend the appointment. The ratification itself happens before a notary public, who is the only person who can perform it.
1
Decide the powers and the limits
Before anything is drafted, you settle two things: the lowest price you will accept and who the buyer’s money goes to. We also ask whether your agent may sign the transfer papers, whether a sub-agent is allowed, and what end date you want on the document. Those answers decide the wording, and they are far harder to change once the document is ratified.
2
Drafting in Arabic
A notarised instrument is drafted in Arabic. Dubai Law 4/2013 allows a foreign language document only with an Arabic translation by a certified translator, with both versions signed by the parties. Dubai Courts asks for legal translation by a translator approved by the UAE Ministry of Justice. We prepare the Arabic and the English side by side so you can read what you are signing.
3
Checking identity and documents
The notary has to verify identity from an ID card, passport or other official document issued by the State, and has to verify capacity and consent and read the content out to the parties. Dubai Courts asks for the agent’s Emirates ID number, or an uploaded Emirates ID or passport, and for the title deed to be uploaded where the terms concern a property. We check these before the appointment is booked.
4
Ratification before a notary public
Notarial duties are performed only by public notaries, private notaries and accredited UAE consuls. In Dubai, notaries public sit under Dubai Courts and are governed by Dubai Law 4/2013. The Dubai Courts service describes verifying capacity and eligibility through virtual or personal attendance, so the appointment is not always in a room. We attend the ratification with you, before a notary public.
What to have ready
The lists below are what the drafting and the notary appointment need. The exact set depends on where you are on the day and how the property is held.
If you are in the UAE
Both sides, principal and agent
- Your Emirates ID and your passport
- The agent’s Emirates ID number, or a copy of it
- The title deed for the property
- The figure you will not sell below
If you have left the UAE
The legalisation chain still applies
- A passport copy for you and for your agent
- Attestation by the foreign ministry of the issuing country
- Attestation by the UAE embassy or consulate there
- Attestation by MOFAIC once the document reaches the UAE
If the property is in joint names
One authority per owner
- A separate document from each owner named on the deed
- Identity documents for every owner, not just one
- The same price floor, agreed between the owners first
- Each owner’s own instruction on where their money goes
What gets a selling power of attorney sent back
Most of the trouble is in the wording, not the paperwork. These are the points worth settling before you sign rather than after.
- A general power of attorney used for a sale, when general terms grant only acts of management
- No minimum price, leaving your agent to set the figure alone
- Silence on who collects the price and where it is paid
- Any citation of the repealed 1985 Civil Code, Article 955 included
- An Arabic text that does not match the English version you were shown
- No end date, when the authority is meant to run only to a fixed day
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Can I sell my Dubai property with a general power of attorney?
Not safely. The Civil Transactions Law says an agency expressed in general terms, without specifying what is intended, grants only the power to perform acts of management. A sale is a disposition, and Article 870 lists sale among the acts that need a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails.
Can my agent accept any price for my property?
Only if you allow it. Nothing sets a floor unless you write one into the document. If you want a minimum, state it as a figure in the power of attorney itself, not in a side message or a phone call. A verbal instruction is not part of the instrument the notary ratifies.
Who should the buyer’s money be paid to?
That is your decision, and it belongs in the wording. You can name your own account and keep your agent out of the money entirely, or you can allow your agent to receive the price. Article 870 asks a special agency to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails, so say which one you want.
I have already left the UAE. Can I still do this?
Yes. A power of attorney signed abroad has to be attested by the foreign ministry of the country it was issued in, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE. MOFAIC charges AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial documents.
Does an apostille work instead?
No. The UAE is not a contracting party to the Apostille Convention, so there is no apostille route into the country. An apostille obtained in a member state does not replace the consular chain. The document still needs attestation in the issuing country, then at the UAE mission there, then at MOFAIC in the UAE.
How long does a selling power of attorney stay valid?
UAE law sets no general validity period. An agency ends when the work is done or when its term expires. Legal commentary reports that Dubai Land Department Circular 29/R/2025 asks for a power of attorney used in a property deal to be no more than two years old. That is one authority’s acceptance rule, not a general rule of law, so confirm it before you rely on it.
The property is in joint names. Do we need one document or two?
One from each owner. Your authority covers your share only, so a co-owner who wants the same agent to sign for them has to give their own power of attorney. Each of you can set a different minimum price and a different payment destination, although in practice it is simpler if you agree them first.
What does the notary charge?
Under the federal fee schedule, executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney is AED 100 per party to the document, and notarising a translation included in the instrument is AED 50 per page. That schedule does not cover local judicial authorities with their own legislation, and Dubai Courts publishes its own fees, so check the current Dubai figure.
Start here
Talk to us before the wording is fixed
The cheapest moment to get a selling power of attorney right is before it is ratified. Send us the title deed, tell us the lowest price you will accept and where the money should go, and we will draft it, arrange the legal translation, check the identity documents and attend the notary appointment. The ratification is done by the notary public.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.