Divorced man ordered to pay child allowance

The Federal Supreme Court has ordered a divorced man to pay Dh1,500 to his ex-wife as child support allowance every month.

The woman had earlier filed for self-divorce in the Al Ain Shariah Court of First Instance demanding the estranged husband to provide a monthly child allowance of Dh4,500.

In her lawsuit, the woman said she had been bringing up the children on her own at first because it was she who had demanded divorce.

However, she was no longer able to meet the expenses of the children and that she had not officially assigned her uncle to finalise the self-divorce agreement with her former husband.

The Shariah Court as well as the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal rejected the demand. She then approached the Supreme Court, which accepted her plea and referred the case back to the Court of Appeal.

Once again, the Court of Appeal ruled the divorce null and void as it took place through a non-designated representative of the wife. It also asked the woman to get back to her husband. The woman filed an appeal at the Supreme Court for the second time.

Her lawyer argued that the verdict declaring her divorce null and void is illegal as the Shariah laws stipulate that the couple in such cases must remain divorced even if the self-divorce procedures are not conducted in the legal manner.
The Supreme Court agreed with the argument and said that the self-divorce is final and the husband must pay a monthly child allowance of Dh1,500. Source

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208 Shariah petitions filed in 2007

Altogether 39 Shariah petitions have been filed in the Shariah Court so far this year, while 208 were filed in 2007 and 158 in the previous year, said a judge who handles Shariah-related cases.

Judge Khaled Yahya Al Housny, the only judge who presides over the proceedings in Shariah-related cases, attributed the rise in marital disputes to the changing lifetsyles and increasing financial problems in daily life, including the high cost of living and spiralling rents, in addition to some social factors, primarily, extra-marital relationships.

According to Al Housny, the petitions, which may be filed by either of the spouses, are usually related to provisional custody, alimony, financial dues and delivery of personal belongings.

Divorce cases

“The petitioners in divorce cases usually seek urgent and provisional procedures awaiting verdict. On approval of the petition, the judge of the Shariah summary proceedings issues an express order to be executed within 48 hours,” the judge said.

Judge Al Housny further explained: “The petition can be filed and executed upon the judge’s order in the absence of the second party, that is, the spouse. Petitions like these necessitate a provisional measure to solve a situation or a circumstance, which may otherwise lead to a potential risk.”

The urgent order may be pertaining to a provisional custody of minors “when a toddler is left alone in a house without any proper care, when a husband leaves his family without power in the scorching temperatures during summer. Those factors are humanitarian and exceptional. Hence the spouse resorts to us for intervention,” Judge Al Housny pointed out.
Life risk factor

“The life risk factor should be mentioned in the petition, otherwise it would be beyond my competence to decide on giving the custody of the child to the petitioner. The custody is considered, in general, a right to which both parties are basically entitled,” he said.

Urgent order

The urgent order may also be related to a provisional seizure or delivery of personal belongings. “If the wife has any fear or doubts that her husband might leave the country before the divorce case is settled then she resorts to the Shariah summary proceedings,” he added.

“Pending the verdict in any Shariah case, I can issue an urgent and provisional order to restrain the husband from travelling, impose a provisional seizure of any of his belongings so that he pays the dues to his wife. The dues may include the alimony and the deferred dowry,” he said.

Judge Al Housny pointed out that the marital cases were usually subject to the Personal Status Law. “If there is no explicit text or article that could be made useful in the settlement of the dispute subject of the case then the judge might resort to the Civil Procedural Law.”

Papers, documents

According to him, the order the Shariah summary proceedings judge issues is based on the papers and documents he receives. Police intervention can be sought when the other spouse refuses to abide by the urgent order.

The police officers make sure the child is delivered to the petitioner or the due alimony or deferred dowry deposited in the court treasury. The other spouse has the right to challenge the petition before the same judge.

Judge Al Housny concluded by saying: “The judge of the Shariah summary proceedings usually abides by two principles: first the urgency factor, and second, not affecting the other party’s right.”
The judge of the Shariah Summary Proceedings is available at the Shariah Court from 7.30am to 2.30pm and from 5pm to 8.30pm. Source

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Higher upkeep amount if income of former husband increases

A man has to increase the maintenance amount he is paying to his former wife if his earnings go up, Minister of Justice Mohammed bin Nekhaira Al Dhaheri told Khaleej Times.
A divorcee, or any other person being paid the maintenance amount by a person, as per a court ruling, is entitled to a higher amount if the man, for example, gets a salary hike, or adds to his property, the minister said, while talking to KT here.

The minister made clear that the divorcee had the right for a hike in her maintenance amount because it’s directly proportional to the former husband’s income. “If the former husband’s income goes up, the maintenance amount should also go up,” said the minister. Source

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