Q: My friend got married to a person whom she met on a matrimonial site and is currently working with Etihad airlines, Abu Dhabi. She is his second wife now and his first wife and 11-year-old girl are living in Abu Dhabi with him for the last 11 years. Now, her terms with her husband are not good since she got to know of his other hidden affairs too. She was working in Dubai for the last 2 years when she met him, during which he never told her he is married. She has a 2-month-old boy who was born out of wedlock. She conceived at the end of December 2016 when she was in Dubai, and they got married in India on 7th July 2017. 1. Can the husband sponsor the children of his second wife in the UAE on his family visa? 2. What are the legal charges if the husband decides to confess to the adultery committed by them? Is it possible still from his side to confess and they both are married now, but she conceived the child in the UAE before marriage? 3. Can a legal marriage contract be signed now drafting the terms?

Q: I'm not married to my son's father. He paid child support before the baby was born, and stopped one month before his birth. What can I do to claim child support from the father for my 9-month old son? He told me I won't be able to do anything because we are not married. He is from Kenya and I'm from South Africa, and he works for a big company in Abu Dhabi.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to enquire about my legal marriage status. I had a non-legal nikah marriage in the UK. Myself and my then husband moved to Dubai. This nikah certificate was attested/ certified for visa/ legal purposes, however, I'm unsure of whether the UK would now recognise this nikah as a legal marriage, as another country has recorded it as such. If so then I would have to also legally divorce. As my divorce currently is an Islamic one. Please, could you advise me further of if there are any ways of checking this or confirming etc? I had no legal marriage ceremony in Dubai. The second question I have is that if I get a court order here in the UK for child maintenance. Is this then able to be registered in Dubai (can this be used to seek to enforce) in case he failed to pay? If so how much would this mirror order cost? Kind regards, Sarah

Q: Hi, I am married but don’t have a certificate to show it. I was reported for a bounced cheque and when police asked me for my statement, they asked if I’m married and I answered yes. I have a 2-year-old son who was born outside the country. Will I be charged with sex out of wedlock? Thank you

Q: Dear sir/madam, I am 2 months pregnant and unmarried, currently residing in Abu Dhabi. Can I stay here or not? Am I allowed to go for a medical check-up in any healthcare facility?

Q: Hi, I have a question. Can unmarried parents apply to UAE parents for custody arrangements in the UAE? We have never been and this is what is stated in the documents.

Q: Good Day, I am a single mother of a 5-year-old living in Dubai. The father and I have never been married, but I would like to file for sole custody and child support on the grounds that: 1. He only sees his child one weekend every two weeks. 2. He constantly drops off his child and refuses to pick him up, even if he hasn't seen him in a while. 3. He has never paid child support. 4. He threatens the mother (me) constantly. 5. He threatens to leave the country. 6. He recently put a tracker in my son's bag without anyone's knowledge to find out where we live and invade our privacy. (A case was filed with the Dubai Police).

An interview-format article covering the topic of pregnancy out of wedlock in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

UAE Personal Status Law (also known as Personal Affairs Law) governs marriage, divorce, inheritance and other personal affairs in the United Arab Emirates. The law equally applies to citizens of the UAE and non-citizens unless one of them asks for the application of his home country law.