Q: (1) How much maintenance percentage is required to be paid by a husband (working) who divorces his wife (not working) and has one daughter to support? (2) We are British citizens living in the UAE and own a home in the UK. Will the UAE law force me to rent additional accommodation for her when I can provide a home in the UK? Many thanks

Q: I am divorcing my wife. She will have custody of our 3 children. My monthly salary is AED 20,000. I have a bank loan that I repay every month, and the repayment amount is AED 9,000. When the UAE courts calculate 'child maintenance' and 'alimony', will they calculate based on the AED 20,000 that I earn or on the AED 11,000 that is remaining after I pay my monthly loan instalment? Please advise. Thank you

Q: Hi, We have been granted a divorce notice from Dubai courts on Jan 2018, signed by me and ex-wife in front of the judge while she being pregnant, we both are living separately since Oct. 2017. She has delivered successfully recently and I have supported her through these times financially as per her wish of doctors and healthcare. My question is, she has been demanding a huge amount for monthly support for a settlement, and adding, she requires a car and an extra amount for healthcare and education. How can I deal with this situation?

Q: I am a resident of Dubai. I want to ask about my husband who brought me from Dubai along with my 3-year-old son by fraud to spend a vacation in Pakistan in Dec 2019. He forcefully took over child passport and other documents of UAE visa and left us alone in Pakistan and runaway back to UAE. I am on an employment visa and my son is under his father's visa. I need to come back, but my husband is keeping the passport in Dubai with him and he is not ready to give it back to me. I am stuck in Pakistan as I need to bring my son to UAE. Now he threatens that he misplaced all my personal belongings; my gold, jewellery and important documents in my absence from home in Dubai. He wants to divorce me in Pakistan; that's why he is forcing me to stay in Pakistan so I cannot file a maintenance and child care claim in Dubai. If I come back to Dubai, can I get help to get my son's passport from him in order to bring him to the UAE because the child can't live without his mother?

س: هل يمكن رفع قضية نفقة ومسكن وأنا خارج الإمارات؟ عقد الزواج تم داخل الإمارات.

Q: What are the basic rights of a wife if the husband filed for divorce in the UAE as per Sharia law?

س: السلام عليكم، أريد رفع قضية نفقة على طليقي الذي يعمل بالإمارات وأنا خارج الإمارات. ما الإجراءات اللازمة؟

Q: I am paying housing alimony to my ex as per the court judgment. But she has been reluctant to provide a rental contract and proof that she is using this amount for child housing as it has been assigned in the first place. Can we get any legal remedy to uphold any misuse of the alimony amount being allocated for child support?

Q: My sister and her husband are Egyptian Muslims and live in Dubai. There is a problem between them and could end in divorce. He doesn’t want to divorce her in Dubai, what are her legal rights to file for a divorce in Dubai? If he refuses to divorce her, can she go and file a case? If yes, does she have to go back to the house where the husband is? And finally, what is the process of divorce when it comes from the wife's side? Thank you

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

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.