The UAE legislator has introduced the so-called civil marriage in order to facilitate the marriage procedures for citizens and expatriates who do not profess the Islamic religion, and has also developed an action mechanism and explicit clauses and texts on civil marriage and divorce for non-Muslims

 However, recently many questions have been raised about what the UAE law has introduced about marriage and civil divorce, its nature, the conditions for its holding and the procedures related to it, first we must talk about the circumstances and reasons that have created the existence of such a law in the United Arab Emirates, As everyone knows, the United Arab Emirates is the focus of the attention of the whole world, as they include many and many nationalities and cultures, and it is also a center for attracting talents and competencies in all fields, as well as its leading and unique role in the region, and therefore it is necessary that there are laws that correspond to the interests of all nationalities , This is something that the state has been doing since its inception through many laws, all of which have enshrined its global status, and this is what prompted the UAE legislator and had the motivation to issue Law No. 14 of 2021 on the personal status of non-Muslim foreigners in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which defined civil marriage:

Definition of civil marriage

 The Emirati legislator has also noted that the law on civil marriage concerns only the affairs of marriage and divorce for non-Muslims. the Personal Status Court for non-Muslims is competent with regard to the application of the provisions of this law for non-Muslim foreigners who have a home , residence or place of work in the emirate. the court is composed of an individual judge, and the judge may be non-Muslim.

At the black robe for legal consultancy and debt collection company, we specialize in the work of Marriage Lawyer in Dubai, Abu Dhabi UAE, we introduce you to the procedures and controls of civil marriage in the UAE as follows

The procedure for concluding a civil marriage

 Before starting the marriage procedure, the marriage conditions specified by the law must be met, namely :

• Both the husband and wife reach at least 18 years of age, according to the identity document issued by the state .
• Consent and the issuance of an affirmative and explicit acceptance by the spouses before the notary judge of their consent to the marriage.
• The spouses sign the marriage application form .
• The marriage contract to be concluded should not be between (incest ).
• Filling out the form prepared for this by the spouses before the notary judge, where the spouses disclose in the said form the existence of any other previous marital relationship to either of them with the date of the divorce, in addition to acknowledging the absence of any existing marital relationship, after all the notary judge certifies the marriage contract after verifying all the required conditions.

Divorce and consequent financial demands

 The purpose of a divorce application is for one of the spouses to express before the court his desire to separate and not continue the marital relationship, without the need for this request to be justified or to prove a real harm to one of the parties .

 It is necessary to fill out the application form for divorce for non-Muslims, as this is decided at the first hearing of the registration of the case in court, without the need to submit the case to family guidance.

 As for the dues, some divorces or financial matters that occurred during the marital union, some financial matters may remain stuck between them, as the court judge has the right to adjudicate them and each party has the right at his discretion and according to the following criteria  :

– The number of years of marriage, so that the amount of alimony increases by increasing the number of years of marriage.

– The age of the wife and its role in the decline and rise in the value of alimony, and it can be said that the older the wife, the higher the value of alimony to be paid.

– The economic status of the husband and wife is estimated based on the calculation expertise report prepared by one of the experts accredited by the Department.

– Financial compensation that has befallen either party as a result of the divorce.

– The father (divorced) shall cover the mother’s custody expenses for the children, for a period not exceeding two years according to the results of the accounting expertise report.

 However , in all cases, the wife’s alimony will be forfeited if she marries another man.

 The issue of joint custody: the UAE legislator has regulated the division of custody, where he made it possible for custody to be shared between the parties until the custodians reach the age of (16) years,then the child has full freedom to choose between father and mother, and either party has the right to assign custody to the other party and this is by a written request submitted to the court, as both parties request the removal of the other provided that there are reasons acceptable to the court.

 Legacies and Wills

 A foreign inheritor has the right to leave a will with all his money, real estate, shares, or otherwise and be present in the country to whomever he wants, but in the case where he does not leave a will, it has been regulated by the UAE legislator as follows :

1-half of the inheritance goes to the husband or wife and the other half is distributed equally among the children.

2-in the case where the deceased has no children, the inheritance goes to the parents of the inheritor equally, or half goes to one of them in the absence of the other, the other half goes to his siblings.

3- in the absence of parents, the inheritance goes entirely to his siblings, where it is distributed equally among them, there is no difference in that between male or female.

Proof of birth lineage: it is done in two cases, namely marriage and confirmation, and the head of the department issues a decision that includes the conditions and procedures for obtaining a child’s birth certificate.