A personal status law to administer the matrimonial and succession affairs of non-Muslim expatriate residents of every emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) takes effect on 1 February 2023.

Each emirate will establish a civil family court to determine personal disputes in a fully secular manner in line with global practices, as has been the case in Abu Dhabi since early in 2022. These courts will have jurisdiction where disputes arise for resident expatriates or those with past working addresses in the UAE, where a civil marriage was concluded or a child is based in the jurisdiction or where either of the parties has a home or a work address there. The relevant disputes are those where the parties are non-Muslims, where marriage and divorce were concluded under the new law; where a non-Muslim expatriate holds a resident visa and a passport of a country that does not apply the principles of Shari’a; or where the marriage was concluded in a country whose family law does not apply the principles of Shari’a law...