UAE: How Married Couples Can Plan Living Arrangements Before Filing for Divorce

A divorce in the UAE requires sound planning so as to divide financial obligations and housing. The query was posed to our attention by a reader interested into knowing how can he or she legally record the status when intending and planning to start a divorce. The couple lives in Shawarah Sharjah currently and all related tenancy issues including the contract and the expenses of the tenancy are tackled by the husband. Some of them want to have contingent obligations manifested in legal documents particularly as they relate to housing and expenses prior to seeking dissolution of their marriage.

Hajjat stresses that for there to be a valid contract in the UAE, there must be meeting of the minds in the contract’s essential terms, a permissible and defined subject matter, and a lawful purpose in light of article 129 of the UAE Civil Transactions Law Known as Federal Law No 5 of 1985. The law here stresses that any legal relationship must follow the principle of freedom of contract and should also only contain terms which are legal and which have been agreed on in a voluntary basis by both parties.

Contracts may relate to the sale of goods or work and services, use and management of property, rights, obligations, and other lawful objects. By the same law, Article 126 of the Code Civil, spouses can agree on the division of property and also on other aspects such as dwelling, dwelling contributions and rent. It should also also meet the task of fairness in business operations carrying out the functions of good faith mentioned in Article 246 and correspond to the conditions under the agreed terms.

In this regard, it would be sensible for the couple to come up with an understanding on who is supposed to pay for instance rent or bill and other shared cost. These should be financially related commitments and it is advisable that this contract be written in such a manner that reflects the intention of both parties on how they will attend to these responsibilities once the marriage is dissolved.

Once both the parties are willing to go for divorce, they can go to a Personal Status Court in the UAE and file for a mutual consent divorce. In according to the accepted and meant settlement, the court allows it and legalizes it under the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status. These terms will then be considered by the court before making a decision in accordance to the laws of the country.

Planning for such disputes is not only preventing future disagreements but also assists both parties to work out their problems clearly while going through divorce procedures and at the same time, meet their obligations.