Question: I am a Muslim woman and my husband is planning to divorce me for very small issues that could easily be solved. Will the court accept his application for divorce?
Answer: Unfortunately, your husband has the right to opt for a divorce regardless of the reasons or grounds. However, you still would have the right to claim compensation, or "Nafakkit Muttaa", as per Article 140 of UAE Federal Law No 28 of 2005, the Personal Status Law. Article 140 states: "If the husband divorced his wife, who married him through a correct marriage without any reason or demand on her side, she would deserve compensation after divorce, in addition to the period of waiting expenses, according to the situation of the husband and of what does not exceed her counterpart's expense. And the judge has the right to allow the husband to pay by instalment according to the richness or the poverty of the husband." In addition to the above-mentioned compensation you also have the right to claim other financial rights such as unpaid dowry, waiting period (Iddat) expenses, unpaid financial support backdated to 36 months, et cetera.
Question: My son divorced his wife but he has not received the divorce papers yet. Can he get married now without having such papers or should he wait?
Answer: If your son is Muslim he has the right to marry again even if he has not received the final divorce papers. Nevertheless, he would need to wait for the Iddat period to finish if he is planning to marry the sister of his previous wife or if he has divorced his fourth wife. As long as the above situations do not apply to your son, he does not have to wait to receive the divorce documents before he marries.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
