United Arab Emirates: Divorce

Under Article 98 of the Personal Status Law, divorce means cancellation of the valid contract of marriage between the spouses. Divorce can be commenced by the husband, and for the wife to initiate divorce, she must either have such right in the marriage contract or have grounds of ‘harm' as mentioned in the law.

Marital rights of a woman refer to those entitlements that a wife can have over her husband, as a result of their marriage. Some of these rights can be exercised during the married life, while some can be claimed only after the spouses proceed for divorce.

Divorce as an expatriate in the UAE can be quite challenging, especially with the various legal frameworks applying to non-Muslims.