Guiding Manual for Personal Status Lawsuits

Chairman of the Judicial Department Decision No. (9) of 2020

Decision No. (9) of 2020 was issued by the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department on 26 February 2020, approving the Guiding Manual for Personal Status Lawsuits, mandating compliance by concerned entities, repealing conflicting decisions, delegating the Undersecretary to introduce necessary amendments, and enforcing the decision upon issuance and publication in the Official Gazette.

Objectives and Scope of Application

The manual aims to maintain regular judicial proceedings, achieve expeditious justice and family peace, accelerate rulings in personal status matters (alimony, custody, visitation) subject to expedited enforcement by law, and unify objective criteria for assessing maintenance from the family guidance stage to enforcement.

The scope encompasses: family guidance and conciliation, case registration, case preparation, travel bans, assessment of maintenance and its components, custody and visitation disputes, orders on petitions, enforcement procedures, and standard forms and reference tables.

First: Family Guidance

The Family Guidance Judge issues comprehensive maintenance orders for wives and children, and waiting period (Iddah) maintenance upon divorce along with comprehensive child maintenance (food, clothing, medical care, transport, water, electricity, and internet) pursuant to Article (107) of the Personal Status Law and attached tables, excluding fees (housing, custody, service allowance). The judge also regulates housing allowances, domestic worker allowances, confirms maternal custody under Article (146) with immediate enforceability, and determines visitation schedules and conditions.

Duties of Family Counselors and Judges

The family counselor must operate strictly within the family dispute, avoiding non-jurisdictional commercial or financial matters, while documenting attendance, party details, and children. The counselor seeks conciliation and accurately drafts agreements with amounts in words and numbers, payment terms, and methods.

The Family Guidance Judge oversees counselors, verifies agreement compliance with Sharia and public order, ratifies settlement records conferring executive force, handles orders on petitions, and determines allowances for maintenance, housing, service, and education based on sibling schools or local averages and payer solvency. Judges are prohibited from issuing orders if a prior lawsuit or judgment exists before the competent court.

Second: Registration of Lawsuits, Permissions, and Petitions

The manual specifies lawsuits filed before personal status circuits (maintenance, divorce, interdiction, obedience, paternity, guardian refusal, custody, and visitation). It lists statutory provisions governing minor assets petitions (continuing business, appointing guardians, loans, real estate transactions, bank account management, and minor marriage) and authentication applications (marriage declaration, paternity confirmation, wills, revocation of wills, declaration of majority, and inheritance certificates).

Third & Fourth: Case Preparation and Travel Ban Rules

The Case Preparation Section schedules a session within one week of referral to interview parties and complete a comprehensive financial questionnaire covering income, regular liabilities, dependents, and cessation dates, supported by salary certificates or bank statements. For expatriates, travel bans in maintenance cases should be avoided if the obligor intends to permanently return to or relocate children to their home country.

Fifth: Mechanism for Assessing Maintenance and Its Components

Maintenance covers essential living needs (food, clothing, medical care, transport, utilities, internet) assessed against the payer's income, beneficiary status, and local economic conditions within reference limits without creating piecemeal allowances. Solvent mothers are obligated to support children if the father is incapacitated or deceased (Article 80).

Custody housing allowance is evaluated based on income, room requirements, and local rental indexes, and is not payable if the custodian owns suitable housing or receives free corporate housing. A single service allowance is determined regardless of the number of workers, and school expenses follow past enrollment, sibling institutions, or local averages.

Sixth & Seventh: Custody, Visitation, and Orders on Petitions

Custody and visitation disputes are substantive matters and only handled via summary petitions upon urgency. Judgments must explicitly order the physical handover of children, establish effective maintenance dates, and grant administrative authority before public bodies and schools (except international travel without judicial leave). Child best interests govern decisions regarding visitation obstruction or maternal remarriage to a non-relative.

Orders on petitions require urgency without prejudice to substantive rights, and post-judgment petitions must be heard by the original bench to avoid contradiction.

Eighth: Enforcement Procedures

Maintenance rulings are enforced following service and a 7-day notification period; insolvent debtors may be granted up to 6 months or until employment. Enforcement judges may modify visitation times for child safety, and all enforcement files between the same parties are merged into a unified accounting record.

Ninth: Standard Templates

The manual provides templates for family guidance agreements (child support, divorce entitlements, housing, domestic worker, visitation), judgment pronouncements, police enforcement directives, salary deduction orders, and supervised visitation through social support centers.

Enforcement Templates and Family Intake Forms

The manual provides official templates for monthly salary deduction letters addressed to employers, standard visitation and day-visitation execution letters via social support centers, and physical custody handover orders issued by enforcement judges.

It also incorporates the comprehensive Family Guidance and Case Preparation data sheet for maintenance claims, detailing family profile, claimant demands, party residences, children ages and employment status, maintenance payment history, payer verified income (salary, banking, recurring loans, other dependents), and housing allocation status, certified by party signatures.

Tenth: Reference Tables for Spousal and Child Support

The schedules delineate comprehensive spousal and waiting period maintenance based on income brackets and presence of children. For incomes below AED 10,000, amounts range between AED 1,000 and 1,500, scaling progressively up to AED 3,500–4,000 with children, and AED 4,000–4,500 without children for income brackets exceeding AED 60,000.

Reference Tables for Child Support and Housing Allowances

The tables prescribe comprehensive basic child support (food, clothing, transport, healthcare, utilities, internet) proportional to income and child count, ranging from AED 1,000–1,500 for one child at income below AED 10,000, up to AED 12,000 for more than 5 children at income exceeding AED 60,000.

Housing Allowance per Rental Index

Annual housing allowances are indexed by income bracket, child count, and geographic zone:

• Abu Dhabi City: Ranges from AED 18,000–24,000 for one child in the lowest bracket, up to AED 120,000–140,000 for 5+ children in the bracket exceeding AED 60,000.

• Al Ain and Al Dhafra Regions: Ranges from AED 12,000–18,000 for one child in the lowest bracket, up to AED 100,000–120,000 for 5+ children in the highest income tier.

Table of Contents

The index outlines the document structure from Article 1 and administrative provisions through the final schedules for service and recruitment allowances.

Domestic Worker and Recruitment Schedule & Index Conclusion

The manual fixes biennial domestic worker recruitment costs and monthly salary allowances according to payer income tiers:

• Income below AED 10,000: Not entitled to service or recruitment allowance.

• AED 10,000 to 20,000: Recruitment costs AED 8,000; monthly salary AED 900.

• AED 20,000 to 30,000: Recruitment costs AED 9,000; monthly salary AED 1,000.

• AED 30,000 to 40,000: Recruitment costs AED 10,000; monthly salary AED 1,000.

• AED 40,000 to 50,000: Recruitment costs AED 12,000; monthly salary AED 1,200.

• AED 50,000 to 60,000: Recruitment costs AED 13,000; monthly salary AED 1,300.

• Above AED 60,000: Recruitment costs AED 15,000; monthly salary AED 1,500.

The guide concludes with the final section of the table of contents covering enforcement forms and supplementary reference tables.