UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Hassan Elhais, Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy
help, and all such amenities and conveniences necessary and suitable for a married couple. The above law protects a wife’s right to claim main - tenance, particularly if she does not have the means to support herself. However, there are no current provisions under UAE law for a husband to claim spousal support from the wife. Interim Maintenance Pending Divorce Article 68 of Federal Law No 28/2005 on Per - sonal Status (applicable until 15 April 2025 for Muslims) provides that a wife can request tem - porary maintenance. There is also a provision for temporary maintenance under Federal Decree- Law No 41/2022 on Civil Personal Status (appli - cable for non-Muslims in all Emirates except Abu Dhabi) and Abu Dhabi Law No 14/2021 on Civil Marriage and its Effects, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (applicable for non-Muslims in Abu Dha - bi). The petition for temporary maintenance can be submitted by the wife before the urgent mat - ters court. While deciding on the petition, this court may review the wife’s economic situation. Further interim maintenance could be decided by the substantive court while the case is ongo - ing. In practice, a party may request this during proceedings before the substantive court. Under Federal Law No 28/2005 on Personal Sta - tus (applicable until 15 April 2025 for Muslims), a wife is entitled to maintenance support during iddah , which could correspond to three men - strual cycles or three months, and could extend to the birth of a child if the wife is pregnant. The quantum of maintenance shall be subject to the husband’s financial ability, and should match the current situation. If the husband divorces the wife without her consent, the wife is enti - tled to compensation for up to one year of her maintenance expenses. Moreover, if, during the marriage, the husband has refused to support
the wife, the wife can claim reimbursement of backdated expenses. Under Federal Law No 28/2005, the period for reclaiming expenses was up to three years, but new Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2024 on Personal Status (applicable from 16 April 2025 for Muslims) changes it to two years. This provision was not significantly amended by Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2024 (applicable from 16 April 2025 for Muslims). Article 9 of Federal Decree-Law No 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status (applicable for non- Muslims in all Emirates except for Abu Dhabi) provides that a woman can apply to the court for alimony from her husband upon divorce based on certain factors, such as the duration of the marriage, her age, the financial conditions of the couple, the extent of the husband’s contribution to the divorce, physical or moral harm caused to either party as a result of the divorce, financial damage incurred by either party due to the other party’s decision to divorce, the presence of chil - dren, and whether the wife wishes to raise them. The total amount of alimony and its frequency may vary depending on the facts of each case. This amount could be one lump sum payment or a monthly payment for a certain period of time, decided by the court. Abu Dhabi Law No 14/2021 on Civil Marriage and its Effects (applicable for non-Muslims in Abu Dhabi) provides for additional financial rights for women upon divorce. The court may consider the following standards to calculate the financial rights: i) a minimum of 25% of the last salary multiplied by the number of years in the marriage; ii) a percentage of the market value of the husband’s assets, including, and not lim - ited to, real estate, shares and company stock, jointly-owned assets and the parties’ contribu -
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