Q: My question is about my son who has a travel ban for the past four years. I am a divorced woman and the travel ban is from his father. I want to move back to my home country as I don't have any emotional or physical support here. My parents are old and would like to move back for good. I have tried discussing this matter with his father but unfortunately, the matter is still unresolved. I am willing to let go of all financial support in order to go back. Please let me know if this can be resolved in any way.

Q: I am a UAE national. My husband and I are divorced and were building a house on our government land. We divorced and I applied for a house at Iskan because my parents are dead and it may be likely that I will take custody of my children. I went to Iskan to tell them my situation, they told me I should come back in three years, I have a steady income and it's possible that I will remarry. However, my income is not enough since I will be barely surviving and will not be able to put away savings for my retirement. At this point, the way I would live is no different than an expatriate. I don't have a problem waiting for three years, however, where am I meant to live for 3 years? Not to mention, I'm old enough to receive a pension. Remarrying is out of the picture. I was also told by Iskan that I am not eligible to receive land or a government house since my name was included under the government land that my ex-husband and I were building. There should be loans for women in my situation. Any advice?

Q: My husband moved out of my house and he is coming to the house every day to visit his son without notifying me. His visit timings were 9 pm - 10 pm when we are all about to sleep. I've told him he can't keep on coming late at night but he ignored me. I am a working mom from 9-6 pm. Our divorce case has been filed by me and we already attended 2 conciliation sessions without reaching an agreement. I don't like these visitations at home especially the timings he wanted but he is just doing what he wants. Is there any way I can get restricted child visitation now since our case has no judgment yet? I asked him to get a court order for visitation, but he doesn't seem to care. How can I restrict him from coming to my house? If I don't open the door, he will call the police. Thank you for your advice!

Q: I am facing a threat of divorce from my wife who lives in the UAE. She is an Indian citizen living in the UAE and I am a Canadian citizen living in Canada. We have a young daughter born on May 25th, 2019. I would like to get possession of my daughter and relocate her to Canada (my daughter is Canadian). Also, I would like to check if there are any pending cases filed against me by my wife in the UAE that would prevent my travel into the region to visit my daughter. I also paid in total 78,000 AED for rent and furniture for the apartment where my wife and my kid live in Dubai. I paid for this before my wife decided to separate from me. I have recovered 35,000 AED from her father who is generous and decided to pay me back the money since I never even got to stay in the apartment I had paid for.

Q: Dear Questioner, If a mother is given an arrest warrant which was wrongly put, what happens? If the child doesn’t want to go for visitation even though the mother is encouraging, would she still get arrested?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, My husband legally resides in the UAE and owns a company here. He is in France now for summer vacation, and I want to file for divorce in the UAE. Can he force me to move back to France to avoid the divorce? We have two children in school here, and he is now acting as if he doesn't approve of their continuing school in the UAE. I can prove that he is a UAE resident and owns a company and several cars in the UAE. Can he force me to move with the children to France? I'm not French and do not have French nationality or residency.

Q: Hello, My husband and I (both Hindu) are undergoing a divorce in Dubai. The execution is pending as I have filed an appeal. The divorce was filed by my husband. When he filed for divorce, he made me and my kids (twin boys) move to a different accommodation. He lives separately. After the court orders on divorce and maintenance in December 2024, he stopped paying rent for the accommodation. The execution is yet to be issued, and he has not started providing any money for maintenance. Do I have to leave this accommodation if the agreement is in his name? If I don’t have the money to arrange for alternative accommodation until the execution is finalized, how should I manage? Please guide!

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.

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.

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.

The provisions of this law On Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions (Law of Evidence) govern evidence in civil and commercial disputes in the UAE.