Gifting a house or plot in Pakistan while you live abroad: getting the hiba right
A gift of property is the cleanest way to move it within the family — until a sibling challenges it ten years later. Most challenged gifts fail on the same few points.
Property · By Khalil Ahmad Bhullah, Founding Partner · 15 October 2026 · Pakistani law only
Overseas Pakistanis often want to put a house or plot into a child’s, spouse’s or sibling’s name during their lifetime rather than leave it to inheritance. Done properly, a hiba (gift) does exactly that. Done carelessly, it becomes the subject of a suit after the donor’s death, when other heirs argue that the gift was never complete.
The three elements of a valid hiba
- Declaration. The donor clearly states that the property is gifted, voluntarily and without payment.
- Acceptance. The donee accepts the gift during the donor’s lifetime.
- Delivery of possession. Possession passes to the donee — physically, or constructively for rented or vacant property — and the donor stops treating the property as their own.
Courts look hard at the third element. A gift deed signed while the donor keeps living in the house, collecting the rent and paying the bills is exactly the kind of gift other heirs challenge, and often successfully.
Registration and the record of rights
In practice a gift of immovable property in Punjab is written as a gift deed, signed before witnesses, registered with the Sub-Registrar, and then reflected in the land record through mutation, or through a transfer with the housing society or development authority. Until the record changes, the donee cannot sell, mortgage or easily defend the property. Registration charges and stamp duty depend on the property’s value and the relationship between donor and donee; we confirm the current figures before anything is signed.
If you are abroad when you gift
You do not have to travel. A donor abroad can appoint an attorney through a special power of attorney attested at a Pakistani mission or through NADRA’s online system. Three points matter:
- The power must expressly authorise the attorney to gift this property to this named person. A general power to “manage and transfer” is a weak foundation for a gift.
- The donor’s intention should be evidenced independently — for example, a separate signed declaration, or a recorded statement where the society or registrar allows it.
- Societies such as DHA and the development authorities have their own transfer rules; some require the donor’s biometric or personal appearance. We check the specific body before you sign anything.
Tax points to plan for
Gifts within close family — spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents — are treated more favourably than gifts to others. A gift to someone outside close family can create an income-tax charge for the person receiving it. Both donor and donee should record the gift in their wealth statements if they file returns in Pakistan.
Gifts that get challenged
We see the same patterns: possession never handed over; an attorney who used a general power to gift property to himself or a relative; a deed registered but no mutation; a gift that leaves other children with nothing and was signed when the donor was ill. Avoiding these is mostly a matter of sequence and paperwork.
What we do
We confirm the title, draft the gift deed and a purpose-made special power of attorney, arrange attestation abroad, complete registration and mutation or society transfer in Pakistan, and keep the evidence of possession on file — so the gift holds if it is ever questioned.
Related reading: general vs special power of attorney · checks before buying a plot from abroad · when a relative occupies your property
Questions we get on this.
Yes. You can appoint an attorney through a special power of attorney attested at a Pakistani mission or through NADRA’s online system, expressly authorising the gift of a named property to a named person.
The three essentials are declaration, acceptance and delivery of possession. For immovable property, registering the gift deed and completing mutation or society transfer is what makes the donee’s ownership usable and defensible in practice.
Gifts within close family are treated more favourably than gifts to others. Registration charges and stamp duty still apply depending on the province and value, and gifts to people outside close family can create an income-tax charge for the recipient.
Usually because possession was never handed over, the attorney lacked express power to gift, or the land record was never updated. Courts then question whether the gift was ever complete.