Updated 10 November 2026.

What does an easement mean for your property?

An easement concerns a benefit enjoyed by one property over another. Dubai's registration law calls them the dominant property, which benefits, and the servient property, which bears the right. Identify both plot numbers before arguing about the route.

Ask what the recorded right allows: a route on foot, vehicle access, or another use. Match that wording to the route on the attached plan.

Source · Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, Law No. 7 of 2006, Articles 16–18; issued 13 March 2006, checked 10 November 2026.

Which documents should you put side by side?

Ask DLD which records and attested copies you can obtain under Article 5 as an interested party. Keep the plot reference on each attachment.

Bring or requestWhat you need to check
Title and relevant register entriesThe properties and people named, and the recorded right
Instrument creating or changing the rightIts permitted use, conditions and attached route drawing
Property plan and any earlier subdivision planBoundaries, dimensions, adjoining parcels and version dates
Dated correspondence and observationsWhat changed, when, and the remedy each person is asking for

Article 15 describes a plan's boundaries, dimensions and adjacent unit numbers. Use DLD's Property Map Request for an e-map of registered property. Ask which earlier plans and instruments you also need.

For a measurement mismatch, follow the land-demarcation checklist. Keep any Musataha development right in a separate part of the file.

Sources · Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, Law No. 7 of 2006, Articles 5 and 15 · DLD, Property Map Request · Checked 10 November 2026.

Can a private agreement remove the right?

Ask your lawyer how the proposed change must be documented and registered. Article 9, as replaced in 2019, requires recording dispositions that create, transfer, change or extinguish property rights, and final rulings validating them.

Before signing a settlement, ask who will prepare the instrument, obtain any required consents and complete the registration. Get an itemised quote; no case-specific fee or completion time is confirmed here.

Source · Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, Law No. 7 of 2019, issued 4 September 2019, checked 10 November 2026.

What if the plot has been subdivided?

Dubai's published registration law addresses easements after subdivision in Articles 16 and 17. Don't assume that a new plot number erased the old right. Ask your adviser to trace the benefiting and burdened parcels through the earlier plans and register entries.

Hypothetical example: your neighbour says a driveway belongs to a newly divided plot. Put the old plan beside the new one. Ask which parcel benefits, which bears the route and what change was recorded. A drawing you make yourself is useful for explaining the question, but doesn't settle it.

Source · Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, Law No. 7 of 2006, Articles 16–17; checked 10 November 2026. Example is fictional.

What should you ask your lawyer in 2026?

The federal Civil Transactions Law changed on 1 June 2026. Ask your adviser to check the current law and any transitional provisions against the dates in your file. Older guides quoting the 1985 law need that check.

  • Right: “Which instrument and register entry support the claimed use?”
  • Dispute: “Is the problem the boundary, the extent of access or an obstruction?”
  • Action: “Which authority or court can deal with this claim, and is any urgent step needed?”
  • Costs: “What are the quoted legal, survey, translation and filing costs, and what remains unknown?”

Watch out: ask your lawyer to confirm any filing deadline when you first send the documents. Keep the file private; share it with the parties, their advisers and the relevant authority.

Source · UAE Legislation, Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, promulgation dated 1 October 2025, effective 1 June 2026; official indexed promulgation text checked 10 November 2026.

What else do buyers ask?

Does owning the land settle the access dispute?

Check the rights affecting it as well. Give your lawyer the title, recorded instrument and plan, and point out the route being disputed.

Can DLD's map service remove an easement?

It issues an e-map for registered property. Ask DLD which procedure applies to a proposed change; don't treat the map output as a cancellation or a court decision.

What should a buyer ask before signing?

Ask the seller to identify recorded access rights and supply the relevant instruments and plans. Add unresolved access questions to your sale agreement review and off-plan due-diligence checklist.

Send your adviser the plot references, recorded instrument and marked-up plan. Ask for the next action in writing.