Shared apartment in Dubai sparks financial dispute after couple's divorce

A jointly owned apartment between a former couple became the focus of a dispute after their divorce, after the husband paid the full price and loan installments on his own, while the wife refused to pay her share or relinquish her ownership.

The husband filed a civil lawsuit before Dubai Real Estate Court, which obligated the wife to pay Dhs421,800, this being her share of the amounts paid, plus legal interest at five per cent annually until full payment.

Earlier, a couple purchased a real estate unit during their marriage for Dhs1.45 million with bank financing and the property was registered as jointly owned by the two parties, with their commitment to pay the loan installments equally.

However, the husband alone took it upon himself to pay all the amounts including a down payment to the previous owner, registration fees and loan installments, which totalled more than Dhs843,000, while the wife did not provide any evidence of paying her share though she previously acknowledged that she was committed to do so.

During the proceedings, the plaintiff requested that the other party’s ownership of the unit be revoked and that it be re-registered in his name.

However, the court declined this request, relying on the validity of the land registry, which established equal ownership that could be challenged only in cases of fraud or forgery, neither of which was proven.

Conversely, the court accepted the alternative request, considering that the wife’s failure to pay her share, despite benefiting from the ownership, constituted unjust enrichment, thus requiring her to repay the outstanding amounts.

The court indicated that the expert report confirmed that one of the parties had paid all the financial obligations related to the property, while the other was unable to prove payment or provide documents to support his defence.

The court also rejected the claim that those amounts were a gift, due to the lack of evidence for it and its contradiction with previous statements.

Accordingly, the court obligated the defendant to pay Dhs421,848, this being half of the amounts paid for the unit plus legal interest at five per cent per annum from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment.

Rejecting all other claims including the claim for future installments because they were not proven or because they were premature claims, the court obligated the defendant to pay the incurred charges, expenses and lawyer’s fees.