Q: My ex-wife and I are of the same nationality, non-muslim. We were married back home and divorced back home in Feb 2021. The court granted custody to me. I live with my children here in the UAE. The children are 16 and 9. She refused to go back home and now is an illegal alien in the UAE having an expired tourist visa. She threatened me to go to court here to take back custody. Can she do that?

Q: I have a maintenance agreement for my children from my home country but also executed in Dubai. My ex-husband moved to Canada or United States now. Is there any way to execute the agreement again through Dubai Courts when he is not a resident anymore?

Q: Dear sir/madam, My partner is a UK citizen and lives in the UK. Her ex-husband has a South African passport but lives and works in Dubai. He signed a consent order through the UK courts as part of the divorce. However, he decided in January that he no longer wants to pay the maintenance due under the consent order or fulfil any other of his obligations under the order. A UK court is reviewing the case and will be issuing judgements. Questions: He has no UK bank accounts and his employer is in Dubai. The judgements will likely be garnishment of funds at source and garnishment of bank accounts. It is likely under UK law that an arrest order may also be issued for him if he returns to the UK. Will these judgements be honoured by a Dubai court if they have been issued by a UK court? Also, if these orders are issued by a UK court, how would the UAE Immigration department view this situation if they were advised that he has orders such as these issued against him in the UK? Thank you!

Q: Dear sir/madam, My husband and I got our marriage solemnized in India in front of 35 people conducted by a church priest but we did not register our marriage. It is the 2nd marriage for both of us. We have a letter from the church for the marriage. My husband approached me from Dubai when I was in India and now I am also working in Dubai. We have been together since then until May 2022 in Dubai, whenever I called my husband to register our marriage, he refused. Later I found out that he has an affair with a lady in India and he even stayed with her together in a hotel for 2 days when I caught them with the Police in India. I found out recently that my husband has hidden our marriage from everyone; he has informed his company that he is single. Can I email his employer with our marriage proof, and inform them that I’m his wife, to add that to their records? I really want to do that because marrying and living with me for 7 years and spreading false information that he is not married has affected me mentally.

Q: Dear sir/madam, Are postnuptial agreements between Hindu couples enforceable in Dubai? Are they litigated as Civil lawsuits or as Personal Status lawsuits (Article 62 of Personal Status law talks about the division of family home after divorce)? Will Hindu laws apply or Shariah? For example, if there is a clause in the postnuptial agreement stating that the wife will pay a portion of the child's education costs and this is acceptable according to Hindu Maintenance Law, but conflicts with Shariah law, what will a Dubai judge do? Please help. Thank you!

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, We got married in Georgia in February 2020. However, we were unable to register our marriage in the UAE because the lockdown started due to COVID-19 when we returned. The copy of our marriage certificate (with UAE stamp) was misplaced/lost. We have not yet registered our marriage. Is it still valid? Are we considered legally married?

Q: Dear Lawyers, Is it mandatory to register the marriage in MOFA to live together here in the UAE? We are both Muslims from different nationalities and nikah was done in another country. 1. We both have our own visas and have no dependency on each other in terms of any legal ground. 2. We do not have any plan to have a child since we both are over 45 years old. 3. We have no requirement to register the marriage in our home country. Still, is it mandatory to register the marriage with MOFA? We appreciate your valuable input to clarify this.

Q: Dear Lawyers, I got married here in the UAE last year, but my marriage certificate is not attested. Is it still valid?

An interview-format article covering the topic of divorce for expatriates in the UAE and seeking to apply the laws of their countries. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

In accordance with the UAE Law of Personal Status, marriage is a legal contract between two people (man and a woman), focusing on protecting the rights of married people and their children. This contract requires certain conditions to be achieved before it becomes valid.

A new civil personal status decree has been introduced in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. This personal status decree will be applicable for non-Muslim foreigners based in Abu Dhabi in matters of marriage, divorce, Will, inheritance, and custody of children.

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.