Guide
I want to give my property
to my child or my spouse
A gift of land or a house is a common way to settle things within a family while the owner is alive. It only counts when it is on record. This page shows what a gift is, what has to happen for it to hold, and how it is done for you from abroad.
Where this applies This page covers land or a building in Pakistan that its owner wants to give to a family member. A gift in Pakistan is a different thing from a will. What a gift means for tax or inheritance where you live is a separate question for that country.
What this is about
A gift is three things together: the giver gives, the receiver accepts, and the receiver takes possession. If any one of them is missing, the gift can be challenged later, usually by other heirs after the giver has died. That is why a gift written on plain paper and kept in a drawer is the start of a family case, not the end of one.
Living abroad, you cannot hand over the keys yourself or go to the office to have the record changed. Both are done through a power of attorney, and the words in it matter: a power to sell is not a power to give.
What has to be in place
What has to be in place for a gift to hold.
That the property is in your name on the record, with nothing against it.
That the receiver accepts, and takes possession in a way that can be shown later.
That the record is changed into the receiver’s name: the gift is entered, not just written.
Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.
The documents you will be asked for
The papers the office and the registry ask for.
- The record extract in your name, obtained recently.
- The gift document, drafted for registration where registration is required.
- Identity documents of the giver and the receiver.
- A power of attorney for the person who acts for you, attested at a Pakistani mission, that names the gift.
How an advocate helps from where you are
What an advocate does from where you are not.
- Reads the record and tells you what can be given and what stands in the way.
- Drafts the gift and the power of attorney so that all three parts of the gift are on paper.
- Registers the gift where the law requires it, and has the record changed into the receiver’s name.
- Tells you what the other heirs can and cannot say about it later.
What to ask before you agree
- Does the gift have to be registered, and where?
- How will possession be shown, when I am not there to hand over the keys?
- What can the other heirs say about this gift later?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- What is your fee, and what is not included in it?
More in Land and property
Someone is sitting on our landLand and property
A sale I never signed is in the recordLand and property
I want to sell my house in Pakistan from abroadLand and property
Also relevant
Words you will meet
- gift
- A transfer of property while the owner is alive, for nothing in return.
- possession
- The receiver actually taking the property. Without it a gift is weak.
- mutation
- The change of the record into the receiver’s name.
Sources
Official pages read on 11 September 2026. The page says only what these say, and what an advocate does; nothing specific to your case.
Checked
11 September 2026
Pakistan. Sources listed at the end of the page.