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UAE: What are a wife’s rights if husband abandons her and their children?
The provisions of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims allow an individual to obtain a divorce in the first hearing of the court itself
- PUBLISHED: Sun 24 Aug 2025, 9:17 AM
Question: My husband and I got married in Dubai a few years ago. We’ve been experiencing some differences, and recently, he packed his bags and left our home, abandoning me and the children. What are my legal rights in this situation? He has not sent a divorce notice yet, but if he does, I am prepared to challenge it in court. What are my rights in this scenario? Is he still obligated to pay rent and other household expenses, given that he chose to leave?
Answer: It is assumed that you are a non-Muslim resident of Dubai, and you are married to a non-Muslim male; therefore, the provisions of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims are applicable.
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A non-Muslim individual who is a UAE resident may file for a divorce as per the provisions of the enacted UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims or may also apply his or her respective family law under which he or she is married.
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This is in accordance with Article 1 (1) of the Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status, which states, “The provisions of present Decree-Law shall apply to non-Muslim citizens of the UAE, and to non-Muslim foreigners who reside in the State unless one of them invokes the application of their respective law, in relation to matters of marriage, divorce, estate, will and proof of affiliation, without prejudice to Articles 12, 13,15,16 and 17 of the referenced Federal Law No. 5 of 1985.”
The provisions of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims allow an individual to obtain a divorce in the first hearing of the court itself. This is in accordance with Article 3 of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims, which states, “Divorce cases that are filed in accordance with the provisions of this Decree-Law shall not be referred to the family guidance committees and shall be referred directly to the court to issue a judgement at the first hearing.”
Furthermore, an individual may also seek a unilateral divorce in the respective Personal Status Court in Dubai without providing any justification or reason for divorce. This is in accordance with Article 7 of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims, which states, “Unilateral divorce may be requested and granted if either spouse expresses in court his/her desire to separate and terminate the marriage, without any need to justify their reason or to demonstrate harm or to put the blame on the other party.”
However, once a unilateral divorce is granted by the respective Personal Status Court in Dubai, a divorced woman may claim alimony from her ex-husband. This is in accordance with Article 9 of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims, which states, “The divorcee, after issuance of divorce order, apply to the court to obtain an alimony judgement from her ex-husband. Any applications subsequent to divorce shall be added in the court using the form prepared to this effect. In the event that the conditions or controls of this alimony or other financial requests are not agreed upon in the marriage contract, the acceptance of the application and its duration shall be subject to the discretionary power of the judge after evaluating the following factors…"
The judge based on the alimony case filed by a woman against her ex-husband, may grant certain amount of alimony to such woman based on various factors including but not limited to duration of the marriage, age of wife, financial condition of each spouse, negligence or any act due to which divorce has been obtained by the husband or wife, compensation by a spouse for any material or moral damage caused due to divorce, financial damages sustained due to unilateral divorce, payments related to custody and maintenance of children. This is in accordance to sub clauses 1 to 9 of Article 9 of the UAE Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims.
Based on the aforementioned provisions of law, either of you may file for divorce in the Personal Status Court of Dubai and may obtain a divorce under the applicable provisions of the Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims.
Furthermore, you may claim alimony from your husband. Your husband is obliged to provide maintenance for you until he remains married to you. However, he should provide child support to the children during the marriage and post-divorce.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.