The new personal status law under Federal Decree Law No. 41 of 2024 (“New Law”) has been enforced in the UAE since April 15, 2025 and the old family law under Federal decree Law No. 28 of 2005 (“Old Law”) is now officially abrogated. The New Law has brought in significant changes to the areas of marriage, divorce, child custody and alimony.This article offers a comprehensive study of the changes in the New Law:
General changes
1. All time periods to be calculated as per the Gregorian calendar
Article 2 of the New Law states that all time periods will be calculated as per the Gregorian calendar. The Old Law followed the lunar calendar. But now, age of majority for marriage, child custody and legal capacity will be determined as per the Gregorian calendar.
2. Choice of Applicable Law
As per the Old Law, parties were allowed to apply the personal laws of their home country in family matters. After the Old Law underwent an amendment, it allowed the laws of the place of marriage, to be a choice of law that can be applied in family matters.
The new Law under Article 1(2) states that parties can mutually determine which law is to be applied in the case.
3. Submission to family guidance
The Old Law required the submission of family cases for mediation, to the family guidance department, before the case was to be presented before the judge, However, the New Law under Article 8 states that family cases will be reviewed by the court which will then decide whether the case can benefit from mediation. Only if the court decides to refer the case to mediation will the case be referred to the family guidance department.
Changes in regulations around Marriage
1. Engagements Gifts
As per Articles 13 and 14, gifts given as part of the dowry, and gifts exceeding the value of AED 25,000 must be returned in case the engagement is discontinued. However, perishable or consumable items and gifts valued less than AED 25,000 need not be returned in the event of the breakdown of the engagement.
2. Void Marriage in case of large difference in age between the parties
As per Article 19 of the New Law, in case of an unmarried woman, the age difference between herself and her future husband must not exceed 30 years.
3. Proof of lineage
Under the Old Law, children born in a marriage that was null and void were not given the right of lineage. However, the New Law grants these children the right of lineage even if the marriage is null and void.
Changes in the process of Divorce
1. Usage of drugs, alcohol and psychotropic substances as a ground for divorce
Article 80 of the New Law states that the usage of alcohol, drugs and psychotropic substances is a ground for divorce. Although this reason was used to obtain a divorce prior to the enactment of the New Law, it was not part of the Old Law. Rather, it was recognised as a ground for divorce by judicial precedent. However, after the issuance of the New Law, substance abuse is now a ground for divorce as per law.
2. Divorce due to illnesses
Medical issues that prevent the continuation of marital relations continue to be a ground for divorce as was the case under the Old Law. However, the New Law alters certain conditions required for such a divorce. As per Article 69 of the New Law, if a person seeks divorce under this ground, the court may appoint an expert to determine the conditions of the illness and also provide a grace period of one year for medical treatment before granting the divorce.
3. Divorce due to abandonment
The provisions relating to the ground for divorce due to abandonment of the spouse have also undergone changes. Under the old law, a person could seek divorce in case of abandonment by the spouse for more than a year. However, the New Law under Article 79(1) has decreased this period to six months. However, after a woman has been abandoned for six months, she must give the husband a six-month notice period to either move back to the marital house, or enable the wife to relocate to the husband’s new residence.
4. Divorce due to detention
Detention of the spouse is another legal ground for divorce under the Old and New Law wherein a wife may apply for divorce if the husband has been granted a minimum of three years of imprisonment and he has already served one year of his prison sentence. However, Article 79(3) of the New Law imposes two new conditions. One is that the husband should not get out of prison during the case, and the other is that the time left for his imprisonment sentence should not be less than six months.
5. Changes in Khula provisions
As per Article 68 of the New Law, if khula has been invoked between a couple, it must be registered in the court of law within 15 days. Any interested party may prove this by any means of proof before the court.
Changes in laws regarding Child Custody
1. Age of custody
One the most significant changes brought in by the New Law is the change in age of custody. Under the Old Law, after a divorce, the mother was given custody of children until the son attained 11 years and the daughter attained 13 years. However, Article 123 of the New Law has increased this age of custody to 18, regardless of the gender of the children.
2. Children’s right to choose
The New Law also grants children the right to choose between their parents under Article 122 once they attain 15 years, provided the court does not determine that the children’s decision is against their best interest.
3. Educational guardianship
As per Article 112 of the New Law, the educational guardianship of a minor child will be held by the mother. However, if the mother is not an efficient guardian, an application can be made to the Urgent Matters Court to grant the guardianship to an eligible person.
4. Implied consent
Under the Old Law, if a person were to seek custody of a child due to changes in circumstances that made the current custodian ineligible, they were to do so within 6 months of first learning of such change in circumstances. However, the New Law under Article 115 has increased this time period to one year, granting individuals more time to initiate the legal process.
5. Right of the mother to custody under certain circumstances
Article 120 of the New Law states that a mother does not automatically lose her right to custody over her children even if she abandoned her marital house. Furthermore, Article 113 states that a non-Muslim mother will have the right to retain custody over her children, even beyond the age of 5, as per the discretion of the court.
6. Possession of children’s document
Under Article 117 of the New Law, the father of the child will have the right to hold the passport of the children while the mother will have the right to hold the identification document of the children as was the case under the Old Law. However, as per Article 124, the guardian can take custody of the identification documents from the custodian mother, if it is found that the mother has misused the documents. Articles 251 and 252 further states that refusal by a parent to handover the documents as per the law or misuse of the document for personal purposes will result in penalties and/or imprisonment.
Changes in Laws regarding Maintenance and Alimony
1. Backdated expenses reduced to two years
Although the Old Law allowed one to seek backdated expenses for the previous three years, the New Law under Article 99 has reduced this time period to 2 years.
2. Family support not restricted to monetary payments
Article 96 of the New Law states that family support does not have to be in the form of money, but can also include other types of contributions.
3. Request for increased maintenance
The Old Law allowed women to request an increase in the maintenance provided, after the expiry of one year from the previous order. Under Article 97 of the New Law states that the request for increased maintenance shall take retroactive effect and apply from the previous six months.
4. Rights over jointly owned property
Article 105 of the New Law states that properties that are jointly owned by spouses cannot be rented or allowed to be used by a third party regardless of whether they are a relative of the couple, except with the consent of both owners of the property.
5. Extinguishing the wife’s right to Maintenance
Under the Old Law, a wife would lose her right to maintenance if she abandoned her marital house or if she denied her husband his conjugal rights. The New Law under Article 103 states that along with the above scenarios, a wife will lose her right to maintenance if she refuses to travel with her husband without any justification.
6. Maintenance of the daughter
Earlier, it was the father’s duty to provide maintenance for the daughter until she is married, and in case she is divorced or widowed. The New Law under Article 106 states that the father is not required to provide for the daughter if she starts working in these circumstances, as she now has a source of income to maintain herself.
7. Family support to take precedence over other debts
The New Law distinguishes family support into two categories: a) continuous maintenance that go towards the current daily expenses of the family, and b) backdated expenses that is a debt that requires repayment. Consequently, in case a man becomes bankrupt, the continuous maintenance will be classified as a priority debt under Article 98 of the New Law that has precedence over other types of debts owed by the man, while the payment of backdated expenses is considered to be a normal debt.
Related Topics
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.
