Child Custody in UAE, Everything You Need To Know

Posted by AlSaadi on August 15th, 2019

When child custody disagreement arises among parents, cases will be fought by Family lawyers in UAE for the custody decisions that are based on Islamic (Sharia) law.

According to Child Custody Law's in UAE, a custodian should have the following manners:

• Capable of taking care and raising a child
• Sensible and practical
• Honest
• Should be mature enough and have achieved the age of adolescence
• Should not have any transferable disease
• Not have been punished for an offense of ‘dignity’

If guardianship goes to the mother, then she must have the features given below:

• She is not allowed to remarry except the court makes a decision that whether it’s in the best welfare of the child or not
• Share the same religion as the child

If the custody goes to father, then he must have:

• Share the same religion as the child.
• He should have a suitable woman living in his home to take care of the child like a female family member

What's the difference between guardian and custodian in the UAE?

The UAE law differentiates each very separately when handling divorce cases and child custody here. A guardian of a child financially maintains the child, makes important decisions about the child’s education and upbringing, and generally takes care of the child’s affairs. Which means, a child's guardian is responsible for where the child lives, their education, their financial needs, education, housing and general living expenses. The custodian, on the other hand, is concerned with the child’s day to day life; the custodian has actual, physical custody of the child and must raise, take care, and up bring the child

Most often the mother is awarded custody, whereas the father is always considered the guardian; however, everything is dependent on the child’s best interests.

A mother would have custody of children on divorce until the boy is 11 and the girl 13. After this, custody could return to the father if he applies for it. If the court finds the mother "unfit," custody of a child, irrespective of his/her age, can be given to the father.

AlSaadi Advocates and Legal Consultants will be helpful in resolving your family disputes in front of the court by the assistance of expert’s Child custody lawyers and Divorce Lawyers in UAE.