UAE Ministry of Justice: 378 men married a second wife last year
According to Ministry of Justice data on marriage contracts based on marital status at the time of marriage, registered in the electronic marriage system, 378 men, including 158 residents, got married for the second time in four emirates last year: Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah.
According to statistics released by the ministry on its website, there were 3995 unmarried contracts. The husbands' marital status prior to the marriage contract was split between 25 widows, 3587 bachelors, and 383 divorced, while the wives' marital status was split between single, widowed, divorced, and divorced prior to entry.
New personal status law
In a parallel vein, the new Personal Status Law has created restrictions on marital housing. According to Article 104 on matrimonial housing, unless the marriage contract specifies otherwise, the wife must reside with her husband in the proper matrimonial housing. The law's Article 105 outlines four types of arrangements that can be made in a married home: first, the husband can live with his wife in the marital home of his parents and his children from other people when he is responsible for their maintenance, as long as the wife doesn't harm them; second, the wife can live with her children in the marital home that the spouses jointly owned, rented, or provided; neither of them can have anyone living with them unless the other party agrees; and fourth, the husband may have multiple wives in the same building, as long as the residence is suitable and each wife has nearly total independence in the house in all areas, such as sanitary and service facilities, entrances, and exits; the court may impose additional requirements at the affected wife's request.
The wife's right to refuse to enter and move into the marital residence is upheld by Article (50), which states that, first, she may not enter and move into the marital residence until she receives her dowry right away and the husband gives her suitable housing based on his financial capacity; second, if the wife agrees to enter before receiving her dowry right away, a debt is still available for her to claim whenever she pleases; and third, she may not abstain after he has given her suitable housing.
Nursery fees
First, according to Article (119) on foster carer fees, a foster carer is not eligible for custody fees if she is the wife of the foster carer's father or an abuser who, in her case, deserves alimony from him. Secondly, unless the foster carer owns a home where she resides or is intended for her housing, the person responsible for paying for the foster carer's maintenance must also pay for the foster carer's dwelling. A judge may make a decision regarding the upkeep of a dwelling car to the extent that it covers the costs of housing the foster car with her.
Last October, the Personal Status Law was issued by Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024, which went into effect on April 15. Most importantly, unlike the previous law that determined the termination of custody of women by the ages of 11 and 13, this law raises the age of termination of custody by the age of 18 and unifies it for both males and females.
In contrast to the previous law that stipulated that custody of a non-Muslim mother ends when the custodians complete five years, a provision has also been introduced that grants custodians the right to choose residence with any of their parents after they reach the age of fifteen. If the custodian is a mother who does not practice the custodians' religion, the decision has been reviewed so that it is up to the court's discretion according to what is required by the custodians' interests.