Questions & Answers
Seeking divorce and deciding the legal custody of child
Dear Ma'm,
I am an Indian (Christian) staying in Sharjah with my wife and 3+ years old daughter. My visa is from AUH, and hers is from Dubai. We got married in 2009.
Since the past few years, she had been torturing me mentally and also after the child is born, she made a lot of issues and there were incidents which she unnecessarily dragged me to police stations with complaints against me.
She is suffering from BPD- a mental problem and is so arrogant that she always says that she will either self-kill, kill the child or me.
I tried my level best to save her, myself and the child (with police-Dubai Court-Hospitals-Churches-Counselling), but no use.
Now, she started saying gossips about me and our maid, still, she wants the maid at home. When I asked, she said she has some plans.
Ma'am, this is my second attempt to write here, but it seems just 1000 characters are not enough to explain my issues.
Kindly let me know your email ID so that I can send a detailed mail to you.
Regards KPT
Under Article 1 of Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 (Regarding Personal Status) - “If the parties wish to have the law of their home country applied, they may petition for this before the court."
This means that the law allows relevant parties to apply their own laws to personal status matters, especially in divorce cases whereby both parties are from the same country.
The divorce process in the UAE begins with either party opening a file before the court asserting their decision to end the marriage.
Thereafter a MANDATORY meeting where the parties will voice their concerns pertaining to the marriage before the conciliator.
In this meeting, no legal representatives will be permitted and the couple will get the opportunity to discuss their issues and attempt to resolve them.
CUSTODY: There are two types of custody, physical (With whom the child stays) and legal (control over the passport and financial responsibility).
Under articles 78, 148 and 155 of the Personal Status Law, a mother would have physical custody of the child/children on divorce until the boy is 11 and the girl 13.
After this, the physical custody could revert to the father, if he applies for it. The father is always the legal guardian of a child under the UAE law and part of his role as a guardian is to have financial responsibility for the child.
nikhat@kochhardubai.com
