UAE: The New Personal Status Law N’ 41 for the year 2024

The Decree-law emphasize the importance of the family and its united, in addition to the care and protection of the children, and stands out by introducing provisions for issues that are being regulated for the first time and have a direct impact on the society.

 

First of all, The Decree-law has amended the old law N’ 28 for the year 2005, and amended the competent court to look over any dispute related to the Decree-law subject, as the old law determine Sharia Court as competent authority where the new law has determined a new court under the name of “The Family Courts” however, both laws kept the Reconciliation Process between the parties before the dispute is adjudicated as mandatory initial step for any dispute related to family matters.

 

As a great development of the litigation and reconciliation process, the Decree-law has exempted few matters from registration before the Reconciliation Committee prior to proceed with court procedures such as wills, inheritance, and the like, as well as summary and temporary lawsuits and orders for alimony, custody, guardianship, and lawsuits in which reconciliation is not conceivable, such as lawsuits to prove marriage or divorce, from being presented to the Family Guidance Committees, to expedite the resolution of these urgent disputes and protect the involved parties from not fulfilling legal requirements from formal perspectives.

 

Article 19 of the Decree-Law determined that the legal age and capacity of marriage is 18 years old, and that the court must not register any marriage contract for those who are younger than 18 years old or the age difference is more than 30 years without the approval of the competent court.

 

Furthermore, the old law has determined that the custody will remain applicable until the children reach the legal age of 11 years for male and 13 years for the female, whereas the new law has changed fundamentally the case of the expiration of the custody, when the children reach the legal age of 18 years old without differentiation between the male and female as per Article 156 of the Decree-Law, and the children will have the right to change the custodian once the children reach the age of 15 years old as per Article 122 of the Decree-Law.

 

The will: The decree-Law has also amended the old law regarding the Will, as the old law did not approve the will if the religion of the testator is different than the religion of the legatee, however, Article 182 of the Decree-Law has approved a great development by approving the will even if the testator and legatee are from different religions, and in the event that the applicable regulations do not approve the ownership of the legatee of the property, then the court will ensure the sell of that property and hand over the price to the legatee.

 

In conclusion, it is obvious the intention of the legislator in UAE, that the new amendments in the Decree-Law on personal status issues reflect a strong commitment to safeguard individual rights and promote social justice, in addition to reflect the position of UAE as international hub where citizens and residents from more than 190 countries live together in harmony.