Background:
A man who lives in Abu Dhabi petitioned the court of personal status in Dubai claiming that his wife had been denying him the opportunity to see his children. He divorced his wife and requested the court to grant him a visitation with his five children (four children are older than 4 years old, and the other son is 2 years old). He wanted to spend the night with the four older children on Fridays between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. the following day and visit his youngest son on Fridays between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. without spending the night. He also asked the court to compel his wife to provide a mobile phone for his eldest 8-year-old son.
Court of First Instance Ruling: The court ruled as follows:
The father is permitted to visit the four older children (over4 years old) and stay overnight with them every Friday from 5 p.m. until 5 p.m. the following day. He may visit his youngest son every Friday from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Visitation shall begin with picking up the children from the wife’s residence and end with returning them to the same location. Alternatively, the enforcement judge may determine another location for visitation and handover upon agreement by both parties.
All other requests were rejected.
Court of Appeal Findings:
Both parties appealed the ruling, but the court upheld the initial judgment.
Findings of Court of Cassation: The wife filed an appeal to the Court of Cassation (Case No. 717/2025) on the basis of incorrect interpretation of the law and lack of logic. She claimed that the children leave school at 1 p.m. on Fridays and are emotionally bound to her, so it is not in their best interest to keep them away for long periods of time, which the lower court did not take into consideration.
The Court of Cassation partially agreed with this argument. In accordance with Article 154 of the Personal Status Law, after divorce, when one parent retains custody and the children reside with them, the other parent holds the right to visit, care for, and accompany the child. However, the parent wishing to visit must do so at the child's place of residence. Visitation must not interfere with the child’s rights, welfare, studies, or school attendance; therefore, contact and visits must be kept within reasonable limits.
The authority to decide the specifics of child visitation is a matter of fact that rests with the Court of First Instance, which must make its determination on reasonable grounds present in the case file. In this instance, the lower court did not give due weight to the significant geographic distance between the parents where the father resides in Abu Dhabi. Imposing a weekly commute of 200 kilometers on the children within a single day is contrary to their welfare and would subject them to excessive strain. Furthermore, the system that alienates the youngest child, with his siblings whenever they are visiting deprives him of the feeling of emotional safety and care that the presence of his siblings provides.
After taking these factors into consideration, the court held that there was a need to have the original judgment changed. Accordingly, the father is granted visitation with all four older children on the first weekend of each month, commencing Friday at 5:00 p.m. and concluding Saturday at 7:00 p.m., which includes an overnight stay. For the youngest son, visitation is scheduled separately on Saturdays from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The remainder of the initial judgment was left unchanged and remains in effect.
Finally, the best interest and welfare of the child is the main factor that should be taken into account when the court decides on the visitation rights of the child and supersedes the visitation rights of a parent.
Conclusion:
The Court held that compelling the children to travel weekly between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi back to Dubai, is contrary to their best interests, as it would subject them to exhaustion by requiring them to cover a distance exceeding 200 kilometers round-trip within a 24-hour period each week. Moreover, separating the visitation schedule by allowing the youngest child, to visit alone without his siblings would deprive him of emotional reassurance, psychological stability, and social comfort during visitation. Accordingly, the contested judgment is tainted by flawed reasoning and insufficient justification, warranting its reversal.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the factor of distance while preparing a post-divorce visitation schedule in Dubai?
Distance is one of the major factors that UAE courts take into consideration while deciding a visitation schedule specially to ensure the safety of a child’s health and studies. If the parents are living in different Emirates, forcing children to travel long distances every week is against their welfare. Therefore, if the factor of distance is involved in the visitation schedule, the court has the power to limit the frequency of visits to a “reasonable limit” that considers travel time and the children’s need for stability.
2. Does the age of a child affect visitation and overnight stay arrangements in Dubai?
Yes, the age of the child significantly influences visitation schedules and overnight permissions. Typically, older children may be permitted to stay overnight with the non-custodial parent, whereas younger children (such as a two-year-old) may have shorter, daytime-only visits. The court's goal is to maintain children’s emotional safety and stability, ensuring that younger children are not separated from their primary environment or siblings for durations that might cause psychological distress. Eventually, the Court would rule according to the best interests of the child(ren).
3. Can a court compel a custodial parent to provide electronic devices for communication?
The courts in the UAE are primarily concerned with the child’s right to visit and the child’s welfare and not the details of the personal belongings or technology used by the child at the custodian’s house. The courts do encourage communication between the non-custodial parent and the child but seldom order the provision of specific electronic devices. It’s the court’s discretion to decide after considering the best interest of the children. But the court is not obliged to force the wife to provide a mobile phone for their children.
4. Does the “best interests of the child” principle take precedence over a parent’s visitation rights in the UAE?
Yes. The laws of the UAE concerning family matters give more weight to the ‘best interests of the child’ over the wishes of the parent for visitation. While the UAE Personal Status Law grants non-custodial parents the right to visit and accompany their children, the court will restrict or modify these rights if considering children’s emotional reassurance, psychological stability, and social comfort during visitation. The visitation must not interfere with the child’s welfare, studies, or school attendance; therefore, contact and visits must be kept within reasonable limits.
5. If there are more than one child, will the judge decide a different visiting time for each child?
The court will make its determination on reasonable grounds according to the matter of fact. Therefore, the judge may decide the father to be granted a different schedule of visitation up to the different age of the children and their emotional safety. To emphasize once again the protection of children's interests under UAE law, that is, the best interest of the children overrides the demands of the parents.
About the Author
Dr. Hassan Elhais publishes educational analysis of UAE personal status and family judgments, including divorce, maintenance, child custody and inheritance. For readers researching family lawyers in Dubai, his case-study writing provides context for the issues considered by the courts. These educational summaries do not imply that the cases were handled by the author or his team.
Copyright © of this article is retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. We explicitly grant you permission to download a copy, without any alteration, of this article
for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or any charge. This article can be utilized on your website or for marketing, however, we grant you permission
to host this article on your website and no other rights. This content should not be altered in any way or sold commercially in any format without prior permission of the copyright holder.
During reference of this article, full biographic details entailing the name of the author, his designation, the institute and the publishing date of the article shall be provided.
