Ask Elhais

Question:

I am an Asian woman and caught my husband cheating on me. Both of us are UAE residents. He admitted the affair to me, and the woman he has been having the affair with admitted it to me on WhatsApp. I want to file for divorce and would like to know my options.

Answer:

According to the Personal Status Law, if you and your husband are UAE residents the court with jurisdiction to hear the divorce case would be the family court in the emirate where you live. You may file your case based on the WhatsApp admission received from the other woman. However, it is highly probable that the judge will ask you to produce further evidence or witnesses to testify. In case you do not have any further proof or witnesses to produce, you can request the court refer the matter to arbitrators for reconciliation. During this stage, if the arbitrators fail to resolve the issue, they would recommend to the court that you are granted a divorce.

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 expat 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