Dubai Court Rules Woman Must Repay Dh421,848 in Property Ownership Conflict.
Dubai: A Dubai court has ordered a woman to pay Dh421,848.38 to her former husband, along with 5 per cent annual legal interest, in a dispute over a jointly owned property purchased during their marriage.
The case involves a residential unit in Dubai that the couple bought in January 2017 for Dh1.45 million. The purchase was financed with a Dh1.05 million mortgage from a bank, with repayment scheduled through March 2042. The property was registered in both spouses’ names as equal co-owners, and the mortgage was duly recorded with the Dubai Land Department.
Court records show that the couple divorced under a final judgment issued in 2022. Following the divorce, the former husband filed a lawsuit in January 2026, claiming that he had solely financed the property from his personal funds.
He told the court that he had paid Dh400,000 to the previous owner, Dh58,000 in registration fees, and Dh385,696.77 toward the mortgage, bringing his total contributions to Dh843,696.77. He argued that his former wife had not contributed financially and requested that the court cancel the title deed and transfer full ownership of the property to him. Alternatively, he sought reimbursement of her share of the payments, in addition to future mortgage instalments and legal interest.
The dispute had already gone through several legal stages. In 2022, a court-appointed expert confirmed that the husband had made all payments related to the property. A real estate case filed in 2024 was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the matter was then referred to the Personal Status Court in 2025, which initially ruled in his favour. However, that judgment was overturned on appeal, with the appellate court determining that the Personal Status Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
In her defence, the woman claimed that she had contributed her share of the property to her husband, either in cash or through monthly deductions from her salary, which he then deposited into the mortgage account. She said she did not obtain written proof of these payments due to the nature of their marital relationship at the time.
The court, however, rejected the husband’s request to cancel the title deed. It ruled that under UAE law, the real estate register holds absolute evidentiary authority, and ownership recorded in it cannot be altered unless fraud or forgery is proven. Since the property remained officially registered in both names and no such allegations were made, the court found no legal basis to change ownership.
At the same time, the court upheld the husband’s alternative claim under the principle of unjust enrichment. It concluded that he had paid the full value of the property while the woman failed to provide evidence of her contributions. The court also noted that her earlier submissions acknowledged her obligation to pay, weakening her defence.
Consequently, the court ordered her to repay half of the total amount paid by her husband, totaling Dh421,848.38, with legal interest at 5 per cent annually from the date the case was filed until full payment is made.
The court dismissed the husband’s additional claims for past and future mortgage instalments, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for payments beyond those confirmed in the expert report, while claims related to future instalments were deemed premature.
In its final ruling, the court ordered the defendant to repay the principal amount with legal interest and to bear a proportionate share of the legal costs and attorney’s fees, while dismissing all other claims.
