UAE Announces New Marriage Conditions Under Updated Personal Status Law

The Federal Law Decree No. (41) of 2024, issued by the United Arab Emirates , came into effect on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. This law provides a comprehensive legal framework to regulate personal status matters, aimed at supporting community cohesion, family stability, and protecting the essence of family life, thereby enhancing its role in society and its active participation in community development.

Requirements for Marriage According to the New Law

The new personal status law stipulates that the minimum marriage age is set at 18 years. However, the Cabinet has the authority to regulate marriage contracts for individuals below this age. Additionally, the decree allows minors to handle their marriage-related matters independently, without needing a legal guardian, thereby streamlining the process.

The decree introduces provisions to transfer the marriage guardianship to the court, ensuring that women have the right to marry their chosen partners and can seek judicial intervention if their guardian refuses to marry them off.

Seven Key Conditions Governing Marriage Contracts:

1. Both spouses can agree on conditions, except those that make what is prohibited permissible or vice versa.
2. If a condition contradicts the essence of the marriage, the contract is invalid.
3. If a condition does not contradict the essence but is unlawful, the condition is void, but the contract remains valid.
4. If a condition is neither contradictory nor unlawful, it is valid and must be fulfilled. Any breach allows the affected party to seek annulment unless they waive their right, impliedly or expressly. One year's silence on a violation denotes implicit consent, and divorce negates the right to annul.
5. If the husband breaches the contract, annulment occurs without compensation, whereas if the wife breaches, it shall not exceed the dowry.
6. Conditions allowing for annulment must be clearly written in the marriage contract.
7. Any claim relating to conditions not documented in the contract is inadmissible.
Furthermore, the decree states that marriage is established through explicit verbal consent, written documentation if unable to speak, or understandable gestures if both spoken and written consent is not possible.

Key Amendments to Note

The legislation emphasizes that repeated or numerically specified divorce does not count as more than one divorce, and the husband is required to officially document the divorce before the competent court within 15 days of its occurrence. The age of guardianship has also been raised to 18 years, unifying the age for both males and females, in contrast to the previous law which set different ages.
Moreover, the new law grants minors the right to choose to live with either parent upon turning 15 years old. The law also considers cases where the custodian is of a different religion; in such situations, the court will determine the best interest of the minor, differing from the past rule that ended the mother's custody once the child turned five.
The new personal status law introduces penalties up to imprisonment or fines ranging from 5,000 to 100,000 dirhams, or both, for actions such as mismanagement of minors' assets, traveling with minors without permission, and neglect or abandonment of parents when their support is due.
Additionally, the law permits postponing the dowry in full or in part. In cases where the contract does not specify the postponement, the dowry must be paid upon demand. The law stipulates conditions under which dowry obligations arise based on specified timelines.
Finally, the new law mandates both spouses uphold respectful coexistence, fostering compassion and respect while preventing any form of harm, be it material or moral. Also, the husband has a duty to provide adequate support, while the wife is required to comply with reasonable requests and provide nourishment to their children unless a valid legal reason prevents it.