Civil marriage, new marriage and divorce regulations for Non-Muslim in UAE

Introduction of changes into Personal Status law allowed Non-Muslim couples to conduct marriage in UAE and decide their custody questions under a separate law. The law governs marriage, divorce, custody, parental rights and inheritance. This is a very serious step to ease family questions for non-Muslim couples and to give them choice to settle their disputes excluding Sharia law. The law also speaks about inheritance questions and options of the Will for non-Muslim residents.

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Laws:

The new law was introduced in Abu Dhabi: the law No 14 of 2021 concerning personal status for non-Muslim foreigners.

The latest update was introduced by Federal Decree No 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status for non-Muslim.

It means that Federal Law on Personal Status shall not be applicable for non-Muslim couples unless one of the parties requests to do so.

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What are the new rights and options under the new law:

Federal Decree No 41 effective from 1 February 2023 covering marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody. ?The law stipulates requirements for registering marriage with the competent court. Earlier non-Muslim couples had an opportunity to conduct marriage in the Embassy of their home country. However this was possible only for those who have one nationality or passport from the same country.

The law also outlines the procedure for divorce that now can be initiated jointly or singly. If to refer to Federal Law on Personal Status and procedure in the courts the couple had an opportunity to initiate divorce singly however if both agreed on divorce the process might be completed by settlement.

The new law also organized the procedure for settling the financial claims after divorce, and the arrangement of join custody of the children. Earlier this was also possible through the family courts, the couple had a choice to implement the law of their home country with the certain terms and conditions.

And lastly the new law organized the procedure for inheritance, wills and proof of paternity. This is a new option in the UAE courts. The wills for foreigners were mostly possible in the free zone courts such as DIFC; the option was also available in the Abu Dhabi court.

There is an option to conduct Civil Marriage in Dubai courts, which is totally new possibility for those who want to stipulate conditions in their marriage contract.

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Under Abu Dhabi law No 14 there is a provision for more flexible dispute resolution for non-Muslim. The Law had separate articles regarding civil marriage, divorce, joint custody of children and inheritance. The concept of civil marriage is first introduced in the law and is based on the will of both man and the woman. Divorce procedure for non-Muslim is the right of the spouses after divorce and the discretion of the judge in assessing the financial rights of the wife based on several criteria, such as the number of years since marriage, the wife’s age, the economic standing of each of the spouses and other considerations that the judge takes into determining the wife’s financial rights. These are new and very valuable points for family disputes.

The law also provides conditions for the custody post the divorce, which will be done in the way that will be safe for the family after divorce and preserve the psychological health of the children. New options in the inheritance question give point for the foreigners to draw up the will to bequeath all his/her property to whomever he/she wishes. And last the new option to proof the paternity for non-Muslim foreigners by either marriage or recognition of paternity.

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Civil marriage in 24 hours in Dubai:

Dubai made a new option to conduct marriage for non-Muslim couples in a speedway within 24 hours under following conditions:

- both parties must be non-Muslim

- at least one of the parties must be a resident of Dubai

- the age of the couple must be at least 21 years old

- the couple or their legal representative must appear in person

- original of the ID is required

- Proof of being single must be provided

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Foreign documents:

All documents must be submitted in Arabic language for those documents that are issued outside UAE legal translation and stamp of Ministry of foreign Affairs is required. Civil marriage is complied with the new Federal Law No 41. Upon ceremony couple shall obtain civil marriage license.

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Conclusion

The new law and new procedure is a modern and progressive way with the main purpose to give options and possibilities for non-Muslim foreigners to safeguard their family rights and to ease the procedure of conducting marriage and getting divorce. The law also takes care about financial rights of spouses and health of the children. This is a significant progress in embracing cultural diversity.

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Disclaimer

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This artic[i]le is intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with, and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. It is not intended to be, and not be used as, a substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. The Author and the Law Firm will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this publication.

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This may qualify as “Lawyer Advertising” requiring notice in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Copyright ? 2024 Dr. Maryam Krystyna Nechaieva. All rights reserved.

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