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New UAE personal status laws: Up to Dh100,000 fines for unauthorised travel with minors, neglecting parents

The regulations will take effect on April 15 and are designed to safeguard both children and elderly

Under the new UAE personal status laws, violators could face fines of up to Dh100,000. The laws protect vulnerable groups and include penalties for custodians who travel with a child under their care without the consent of the child's guardian or the court. Additionally, the decree imposes fines on individuals who abuse, neglect, or refuse to care for their parents.

According to the law studied by Khaleej Times, these regulations will take effect on April 15 and are designed to safeguard both minors and elderly parents. Custodians who violate the travel provisions can face imprisonment and fines ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh100,000.

Furthermore, the legislation addresses financial misconduct, penalising those who embezzle, squander, or unlawfully manage the funds of minors.

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The law underscores the importance of familial duty; anyone who abuses, assaults, neglects, or refuses to care for a parent, or who leaves them without care despite having the ability to provide it, faces the same penalties of imprisonment and fines between Dh5,000 and Dh100,000. Those who neglect to support their parents financially when required by a court ruling are also subject to these penalties.

The law also establishes serious repercussions for individuals who conceal, squander, destroy, or fraudulently seize any part of an estate's property, regardless of whether they are an heir. Offenders may face imprisonment and fines ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh100,000, or may incur either penalty.

Other notable amendments include granting judges the discretion to expedite cases through family reconciliation centers and setting the legal age for marriage at 18. Additionally, the law emphasises the best interests of children, allowing them to choose which parent to live with upon reaching the age of 15.

The new law introduces several important revisions regarding marriage and custody provisions. It clarifies the rules concerning the return of gifts and dowries if an engagement is broken. Returnable gifts include those that were conditional on the marriage being completed and any valuable gifts exceeding Dh25,000, provided they still exist. If such gifts are no longer available, their equivalent value or the amount at which they were received will be considered, except for consumable items.

Additionally, the decree-law facilitates the transfer of marriage guardianship to the court, allowing women the right to marry a suitable partner of their choice, particularly if their guardian refuses to grant permission. This change also eliminates the need for a guardian's approval for Muslim residents women whose nationality does not require a guardian for marriage contracts.

To streamline the process for annulment lawsuits related to marriage contracts due to harm, the law reduces the arbitration period from 90 days to 60 days, after which a ruling will be issued.

In terms of custody, the age at which custody terminates has been raised to 18 years for both boys and girls, unifying the previous disparities where custody for boys ended at 11 and for girls at 13.

Moreover, a new provision allows children in custody to choose which parent to live with upon reaching the age of 15. The law also reevaluates the rights of non-Muslim mothers as custodians, granting courts the discretion to make custody decisions based on the best interests of the child, unlike the previous law which stipulated that a non-Muslim mother's custody ended when the child reached five years old.

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