Question: I have filed for divorce from my wife. I want to proceed directly to court and avoid wasting time at the Family Guidance committee. What do I need to do?
Answer: The first stage of the legal process for divorce is the Family Guidance committee. In family matters, the local courts cannot be approached directly. In such cases a no-objection certificate or a transfer letter must be obtained by the Family Guidance committee prior to approaching the courts. This is considered as an important step as they try to resolve any matters amicably between the husband and the wife due to the important of family in the social context. When approaching the family guidance committee, the claimant should bring with them their Emirates ID and original marriage certificate.
If the couple married outside the UAE then the document must be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in that country and attested by the UAE embassy in that country. The same document then has to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, translated into Arabic and stamped by the Ministry of Justice. Some countries require the marriage contracts to be stamped by their embassies in the UAE. That step should be followed accordingly to the requirement.
Disclaimer:
The above information might not apply if both parties are non-muslim. Starting from the 1st of February 2023, UAE issued specific family law to be applied between non-muslim expatriate residents in case none of them wanted to apply his/her home country's law in the UAE. To know more information about this law, please feel free to click this link.
اتصل بنا
اتصل بنا
