Q: Salam. Would like to know, how one can initiate divorce in the UAE, both husband and wife are willing to separate. How long will the process be, if one goes to court on own? And if one takes assistance from a Lawyer, how fast it can be done and what could be total approx. cost? Thanks

Q: What are my rights in case of emotional abuse and being held in the UAE against my will and not allowing me to go back to my home country, so that I am unable to file for divorce (khula')? How can I prove emotional abuse? I have been asking for a divorce for almost a year and a half now, but my husband is not giving me because my parents are not supporting me, what should I do???

Q: I am a working woman, and a month ago I separated from my husband. He is under my sponsorship, but now he is threatening me If I pursue a divorce, he will make our private photos public at my workplace. What rights as an expat (Asian) do I have here? What should I do?

Q: My soon-to-be-ex-wife threatened to report me to the police for cybercrime. It's because I know her iCloud password and used it to add her to our Family Sharing and Find My iPhone app. She is very bad at remembering passwords (also often misplaced her iPhone that requires me to make it sound using Find My iPhone app) so for years, I had to be the caretaker of her accounts. Should I be worried? Does she have legal grounds to report me?

Q: Greetings, I appreciate the information. A spouse opens a case for divorce based on false accusations and lies which result in ruining the partner’s reputation, causing mental stress and financial damage. Since the divorce was denied by the appeal court, can the affected partner open a case of defamation or disobedience? The spouse refuses to live with her husband for more than 16 months and holding the kids from seeing or speaking to father and holding the kids' passports. The husband has tried hiring three different lawyers to help his cause but made it more complicated and financially very difficult. Please advise

س: أنا سيدة باكستانية، وقد طلقني زوجي مرة وبعد التراضي رجعت له. الآن، طلقني مرتين أمام شاهد (صديقتي) وطردني من المنزل. يرجى العلم بأنه يتعاطى الكحول باستمرار ولا يصرف علي. ما الإجراءات التي يجب علي فعلها لتثبيت الحالة والحصول على ورقة طلاق رسمية؟ وهل أستحق نفقة؟

Q: My wife secretly filed a divorce claim behind my back on a false basis of being abandoned by an alcohol/drug addict who never paid for his daughter and not knowing where I am. Although she knew a divorce process was already filed in Europe, I am now facing major legal costs in the UAE. Can I get compensated for these and the emotional damage costs caused by her actions?

س: السلام عليكم، زوجتي تركت بيت الزوجية لأكثر من 3 أشهر بدون سبب. كيف أرفع قضية رجوع لبيت الزوجية؟

Q: Can a person open a criminal case for slander of adultery after one and a half years and what is the penalty for this kind of accusation in court?

Q: Dear Lawyers, My estranged husband filed a false criminal complaint against me out of revenge. He claims I forged his signature for a car sale that he fully agreed to while in jail in 2022 but now denies out of spite. He was arrested in 2022 on drug trafficking charges and imprisoned at Al Barsha Jail. He agreed to sell our car (registered in his name), so I had a Power of Attorney (POA) drafted, which he signed while in jail. When I attempted to have it notarized, I was informed that the POA had to be processed from jail. I notified him, and he instructed me to proceed with the sale, assuring me he would finalize the paperwork after his release. The buyer, a family friend, took the damaged car (with flat tires, a dead engine, and a dead battery) based on trust and my husband’s verbal agreement. Now that he has been released, he denies agreeing to the sale and is falsely accusing me of forgery because I have refused to meet with him. He has physically abused me multiple times and has used threats of violence against my family to stop me from leaving. Please, I need legal advice on how to fight these false charges.

الأسرة هي عماد المجتمع، ويدور صلاحه مع صلاحها وجوداً وعدماً، فأن فسدت الاسرة فسد المجتمع؛ ولذلك اعتنت الشريعة الإسلامية بتنظيم العلاقات الاسرية أيما عناية. فالزوج والزوجة هما الأصول التي يتفرع منها الأبناء، فإن لم تستقِم العلاقة بينهما انعكس ذلك على بقية أفراد الاسرة من الأبناء وبالتالي فسد مجتمع الأسرة. وفي دولة الامارات العربية المتحدة يولي المشرع اهتماماً بشؤون الأسرة من خلال قانون الأحوال الشخصية الإماراتي وتقنينه من وقت لآخر بإجراء عدد من التعديلات عليه لكي يتماشى مع أوضاع الأسرة المختلفة.

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.