00:00All you need to know about divorce, judicial separation and annulment of marriage in the UAE.
00:06In the United Arab Emirates until very recently, federal law number 28 of 2005, the UAE personal
00:13status law, was governing divorce and other family-related conflicts. Abu Dhabi law number
00:1814 of 2021, the Abu Dhabi law, is a new law released by the Emirates of Abu Dhabi that
00:24primarily affects non-Muslims living in Abu Dhabi. Muslims in Abu Dhabi are still
00:29subject to the UAE personal status law. As of February 2023, non-Muslim citizens of the United
00:36Arab Emirates will be protected by a federal civil personal status law. After a personal
00:41status law for non-Muslims in Abu Dhabi was put into effect, the federal government enacted the
00:46new federal law. If neither non-Muslim expat resident wishes to apply his or her home country's
00:51legislation in the UAE, then the new federal legislation covering matters connected to
00:56alimony, custody, inheritance and parentage will be implemented. The purpose of this video is to
01:01provide an overview of these legal processes and their associated laws, procedures and requirements.
01:07Divorce and judicial separation in UAE. Judicial separation is a process by which the court does
01:13not dissolve the marriage but allows the parties to live separately. The UAE laws do not provide for
01:19such a process and therefore the parties may choose to divorce instead. Divorce is a legal process that
01:25dissolves the marriage contract between two individuals. In the UAE, there are two types of
01:30divorce, namely mutual divorce and contested divorce. Mutual divorce occurs when both the parties agree to
01:38end the marriage. Whereas, in a contested divorce, one party usually files for divorce and the other
01:44party disagrees to the request of divorce. Divorce under federal law. Note 28 2005. For Muslims in
01:52the UAE, divorce is the cancellation of the valid contract of marriage between the parties. Divorce
01:58proceedings can be initiated either by the husband or if the husband has granted his wife that right,
02:03Isma, by the wife. Wives can file for divorce for damage even if their husbands don't explicitly allow
02:10it in their marital contracts. Harm can be defined in a variety of ways, including the seven grounds for
02:16divorce listed in this video. Divorce can be obtained in one of two ways. The first is the Arabic
02:22talaq, which translates to, I divorce you. In the presence of a witness, either the husband or wife,
02:30if she possesses Isma, must pronounce or write I divorce you, or talaq. According to Islamic law,
02:36this is a permissible means of dissolving a marriage. Nevertheless, the divorce must be
02:41registered with the court before it may be acknowledged in civil court. According to
02:45Article 106 of the Personal Status Law, a divorce is legally binding once it has been authenticated by
02:50a judge. The witness could testify in court if there is a dispute over whether or not the talaq was
02:56actually said. If one partner initiates divorce proceedings by uttering the talaq without the
03:01other's agreement, that person could face financial consequences. Divorce can also be obtained through
03:06the judicial system, called separation by way of a judgment. The applicant will file for divorce,
03:13and the court's family guidance committee will hear their case. Before filing for divorce under
03:17Article 98 of the Personal Status Law, the family guidance committee will attempt reconciliation
03:22between the parties. The family counselors are not lawyers, but they do have mediation and
03:28counseling skills. They sit down with both sides, and if they still can't get along, they bring it
03:33before a judge. The judge will then determine whether or not the grounds for divorce are sufficient.
03:38For example, separation due to defects A. Defects including insanity, leprosy, impotence,
03:46and venereal disease. A party can only rely on such defects as a reason for divorce if they were
03:52unaware of the defect at the time of marriage. Article 113 of the Personal Status Law allows the
03:58court to postpone a case for up to a year while it investigates whether or not the deficiency can be
04:03removed. B. Serious dishonesty on the side of either party during the marriage's creation.
04:10Article 114 of the Personal Status Law allows for a divorce to be filed on the grounds that one's
04:15spouse was deceived into entering into the marriage contract. 2. Divorce due to unpaid dowry,
04:20Mokadam. 3. Separation due to harm or disputes. 4. Divorce may be granted to a wife who is not
04:27provided for financially during the marriage, if the court determines that her husband has the means
04:32to do so, but chose not to do so. 5. If one spouse disappears without warning,
04:38the other spouse may file for divorce. A divorce decision would not be issued until one year had
04:44gone after she filed for one, and her spouse had not returned during that period. 6. A spouse may
04:50file for divorce if their spouse has been sentenced to a prison term of more than three years and has
04:55already served at least one year of that term. 7. A divorce can be granted on the grounds of
05:01desertion. Arabic, Hajar. If the husband abandons his family and does not return within four months
05:06of his wife's request. In Muslim divorces, the waiting period is known as the Eda. After the court has
05:12issued the Talaq, there is a three-month waiting period. If the woman is expecting a child,
05:17the waiting period will not end until after the baby is born. During this time, the wife is expected
05:23to remain single. The couple should wait to see if the woman is pregnant, but they should also use
05:28this time to think about whether or not they can get back together. No matter who filed for divorce
05:32first, the waiting time always results in the husband covering the wife's living costs. Divorce can
05:37be finalized either temporarily or permanently. The parties can continue to be legally married during
05:43the waiting time because their divorce is reversible. If they want to get back together
05:47after that, they'll have to sign a new marriage contract. Federal Decree Law No. 41-2022, which is
05:54applicable to the non-Muslim citizens of UAE, provides for no-fault divorce under Article 7,
06:00where either of the parties may express before the court their intention to end the marriage
06:05without the need to justify any wrongdoing during the course of their marriage. Divorcing couples who file
06:10for divorce under the new law are not required to first seek mediation through the Family Guidance
06:15Committee in an effort to repair their relationship. Instead, they can go straight to court. The divorce
06:21is finalized immediately following the pronouncement of the judgment, and the wife is not required to
06:26wait any specific amount of time. Annulment of Marriage in the UAE
06:30As per the UAE family law, an annulled marriage is a cancellation of the marriage from the beginning.
06:36Annulment of Marriage in the UAE is a legal procedure to cancel the marriage in such a way
06:41that it is completely erased, legally, and it declares that the marriage never technically existed
06:47and was never valid. A marriage may be annulled if it is against the public policy of the UAE.
06:53In certain circumstances, even a validly attested marriage certificate would not be sufficient to
06:58allow a marriage to be recognized in the UAE. This is because in Islam, certain marriages are not
07:03capable of recognition. These are as follows. A marriage between a Muslim man and a woman who
07:08is not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. A marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man.
07:15Legal Update
07:16The information in this video might not apply if both parties are non-Muslim.
07:21Starting from the 1st of February 2023, UAE issued specific family law to be applied between non-Muslim
07:28expatriate residents in case none of them wanted to apply his-her-home country's law in the UAE.
07:34To know more information about this law, please feel free to click the link in the video's description.
Comments