UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Awatif Al Khouri, Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy
1.4 Requirements for Non-Genetic Parents A person who is not the child’s legal or biological par - ent does not automatically acquire parental rights merely by caring for the child or being married to one of the child’s parents. Any authority over the child must arise under the applicable statutory framework, a recognised legal relationship or an order of the com - petent court. UAE law also provides for foster or alternative family arrangements. Federal Law No 3 of 2016 on Child Rights recognises alternative care through a foster family where a child is deprived of the natural fam - ily environment. The Executive Regulations prescribe eligibility conditions and obligations for foster families. Such arrangements place responsibility for the child’s care on the foster family but do not, by themselves, create the same legal lineage as biological parentage. Article 14 (3) of the Federal Civil Personal Status Law also permits the Cabinet to regulate the procedures and legal consequences of adoption and alternative family arrangements. The precise position of a non- genetic parent therefore depends on the legal basis on which that person’s relationship with the child is recognised. 1.5 Relevance of Marriage at Point of Conception or Birth Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2024 on Personal Status Article 87 of Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2024 pro - vides that a child’s lineage to the father may be estab - lished by birth during a marriage contract, by admis - sion, by evidence or by scientific methods. Article 88 further regulates proof of paternal lineage where the child is born during an existing marriage, including by reference to the statutory minimum and maximum periods of pregnancy. Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status Article 14 of the Federal Civil Personal Status Law provides that parentage may be established through marriage or by the acknowledgment of the father and mother. Marriage may therefore provide a direct basis for establishing parentage, although the law also pro -
child’s birth certificate. Following divorce or separa - tion, both parents generally have joint legal and physi - cal custody, unless one parent waives that right or the court orders otherwise. 1.3 Requirements for Fathers Under the Federal Personal Status Law, a father does not usually need to make a separate application to obtain parental responsibility once legal parentage has been established. Article 87 provides that paterni - ty may be established by birth during a valid marriage, by acknowledgement, by evidence or by scientific methods. Article 90 permits the court to order DNA testing in specified circumstances, including where there is a dispute over the establishment of lineage. Before determining lineage on that basis, the court must also verify that the child’s lineage is unknown and that the age difference supports the claimed rela - tionship. Once parentage is established, the father will ordinar - ily exercise guardianship rights and responsibilities in relation to the child, including financial support and general supervision of the child’s affairs. This remains distinct from physical custody, which may be exer - cised by the mother, subject to the court’s orders and the child’s best interests. Article 14 of the Federal Civil Personal Status Law provides that parentage may be established through marriage or by the acknowledgement of the father and mother. The court may also order DNA testing, but an order establishing parentage on that basis is sub - ject to statutory conditions, including that the child is of unknown parentage and that the age difference is consistent with the claimed relationship. Once legal parentage is established, both parents generally par - ticipate in joint custody following divorce under Article 10. Under the Abu Dhabi civil family law regime, Article 14 of Law No 14 of 2021 provides that the child’s pater - nity may be established by marriage or by the declara - tion of the father or mother. Once parentage has been established, the father generally participates in joint legal and physical custody under the Abu Dhabi civil family law framework, subject to any contrary court order.
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