How to File for Divorce in Abu Dhabi: Expat and Muslim Routes

Divorce in Abu Dhabi: Two Routes, One Judicial Department

Everything family-related in the emirate runs through the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), but which court you file in depends on your religion and the law you fall under. Muslim couples use the Abu Dhabi Personal Status Court under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 (in force 15 April 2025, which fully replaced the old Law No. 28 of 2005). Non-Muslim foreigners have a second option that no other emirate pioneered in the same way: the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, created under Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 with executive Regulation No. 8 of 2022.

The two routes are genuinely different in speed and procedure, so picking the right one matters. The figures below are indicative and drawn from the current law and law-firm cost guides, not an official fee schedule.

Expats in Abu Dhabi: Which Route Applies to You

Religion and nationality decide your route, not your visa. Non-Muslim expats normally divorce at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court; Muslim expats divorce at the ADJD Personal Status Court. A wrong assumption about which court hears your case is the most common reason expats lose weeks in Abu Dhabi, so start here.

Who the civil court covers

Article 5 of the 2022 Regulation lists who the civil rules apply to: non-Muslim UAE citizens; foreigners who hold the nationality of a country that does not mainly apply Islamic law in family matters, according to a list in the ADJD's guidance manual (for dual nationals, the nationality used for UAE residence counts); couples who married in such a country; and couples who married under the civil marriage rules. The ADJD's Civil Family Court page adds that citizens of Arab League member states may be asked for an official document proving religion. If you married at the court itself, see our civil marriage in Abu Dhabi guide.

Residence and jurisdiction

There is no minimum residence period in the 2022 Regulation. What matters is a link to the emirate: the court hears civil family cases where the parties have a domicile, residence, or current or former place of work in Abu Dhabi (Article 4). Even if the respondent lives abroad, it keeps jurisdiction over a civil divorce where Abu Dhabi is the residence, workplace or domicile of either spouse, over civil marriages concluded in the emirate, and where the wife is the claimant and lives or works there. The ADJD's own page summarises eligibility for a no-fault divorce as Abu Dhabi residents or anyone who married at the Civil Family Court.

Mixed or unclear cases

If one spouse is Muslim, or you hold the nationality of, or married in, a country that applies Islamic family law, the civil route may not be open to you and the Personal Status Court may be the correct venue. A foreign couple can ask that their home-country law be applied where one of them insists on it (Article 1(3) of Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024). Take advice before you file: the civil court must decline a case on its own initiative if it lacks jurisdiction (Article 4 of the 2022 Regulation). Our guide to divorce for expats in the UAE covers the wider choices, including divorcing in your home country.

Route A: Filing at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court (Non-Muslims)

This is the standout Abu Dhabi option for non-Muslim expats. Under Law No. 14 of 2021, the Civil Family Court grants divorce on the request of either spouse without needing to prove fault, harm or grounds (Article 6), at the first hearing after the case is registered, with no referral to Family Guidance (Articles 7 and 15). The ADJD says the court aims to finalise the case within one month of registration. All forms and procedures are bilingual in Arabic and English (Article 17), and the court may run the whole case in English if the parties do not speak Arabic (Article 44 of the 2022 Regulation).

1. Confirm eligibility and gather documents

   Check you qualify for the civil route (see the section above) and are connected to Abu Dhabi by residence, domicile, work or a civil marriage concluded there. The ADJD lists the core documents as a copy of the marriage certificate in English and Arabic, and copies of both parties' passports and Emirates IDs. See the full documents for divorce checklist.

2. Submit the application at a typing centre

   The ADJD's Civil Family Court page says the no-fault divorce application is submitted at one of the typing centres in Abu Dhabi, on the bilingual application form. It must be submitted by you or by a special representative (Article 13 of the 2022 Regulation), and the prescribed fee is AED 5,000. A lawyer can lodge it for you under a power of attorney if you cannot attend. For video hearings, electronic service and tracking a case from abroad, see online divorce in the UAE.

3. Approval, notice and the defence form

   The court checks the application, especially its jurisdiction. Once it is approved, the divorce hearing is set at least 30 days after approval and both spouses are notified (Article 14). Urgent requests in the file go to the judge the day after registration. The other spouse may file a defence form, mainly on jurisdiction, no later than 10 working days before the hearing.

4. First hearing and divorce judgment

   At the hearing the judge issues the divorce after confirming that the applicant attended and still wants the divorce (Article 14(6)). No evidence of why the marriage broke down is needed (Article 12). Joint custody of any children is set automatically in the divorce ruling (Article 26).

5. Deal with custody, alimony and assets

   Joint custody applies until the child is 16 unless a parent waives it or asks the court to remove the other (Articles 25, 29 and 32); our guide to child custody in Abu Dhabi covers schedules, travel and relocation. If you cannot settle finances, the wife can apply for alimony after the divorce judgment (Article 8 of Law No. 14 of 2021), and either spouse can be ordered to pay the other a lump sum (Article 16 of the 2022 Regulation). While that is decided, a divorced wife can ask for temporary alimony on six months of bank statements (Article 21); see temporary alimony in the UAE. When estimating the financial compensation due after divorce, Article 18 lets the court and its accounting expert be guided by a cash figure of no less than 25% of the husband's last monthly income multiplied by the years of marriage, alongside his property and any joint account. It is a guide the court can raise or lower, not a cap, and it is specific to Abu Dhabi. See spousal maintenance in Abu Dhabi for how awards are worked out.

6. Appeal limits on money judgments

   A judgment on alimony or post-divorce financial rights for less than AED 500,000 is final and enforceable as soon as it is issued (Article 49), and can be challenged only for a breach of the rules of jurisdiction or because the judgment or the procedure was void (Article 50). Prepare your financial evidence for the first round, because there may not be a second.

7. Collect and, if needed, attest the decree

   The divorce is recorded at the point of judgment. To use the decree abroad, it usually needs attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and legalisation for the destination country. Our divorce in UAE overview covers what happens next with visa status and finances.

Route B: Filing at the Abu Dhabi Personal Status Court (Muslims)

Muslim divorces in Abu Dhabi, for Emiratis and Muslim expats alike, follow the Sharia track under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024. Compared with the civil route, the judge may put a Family Guidance stage at the front, proceedings are in Arabic, and the process is closer to the procedure used across the other emirates.

1. Get legal advice and confirm your grounds

   Confirm whether your case is uncontested or contested and what outcomes are realistic on custody, maintenance and assets. Under the 2024 law, recognised forms include talaq, khula (Article 65), judicial divorce on grounds such as harm (Article 71), failure to maintain (Article 77) or a spouse's addiction (Article 80), and annulment. Muslim expats should also decide early whether either spouse will insist on their home-country law (Article 1(3)).

2. Register the case; Family Guidance if the judge refers it

   You register the case through a typing centre or ADJD Smart Services and bring your marriage certificate, passports, Emirates IDs and proof of residence. Under Article 8 of the 2024 law the supervising judge may refer the spouses to Family Guidance if a settlement looks feasible (under the 2005 law referral was mandatory). Urgent and temporary orders on alimony and custody, and cases to prove a divorce, are not referred, and the law sets no fixed period for the stage.

3. Settlement or return to court

   A counsellor meets both spouses. A settlement is recorded in a report signed by both spouses and the counsellor, approved by the supervising judge and enforceable like a court order (Article 8(2)). If there is no settlement, the case goes on to the court. In contested divorces for harm or discord the court can appoint two arbitrators, whose work the 2024 law caps at 60 days from their appointment (Article 72; it was 90). None of this applies to the civil route.

4. Register for hearings and file your claims

   With the referral letter, the case is registered for court hearings. This is where you lodge claims for custody, child support, spousal maintenance and, where relevant, division of assets and debts.

5. Court hearings

   Uncontested cases often need a single substantive hearing. Contested cases run through several hearings over months, sometimes with a court-appointed accountant assessing finances or an expert on custody.

6. Divorce decree and registration

   The court issues the judgment. If the husband pronounced talaq outside court, he must document it before the court within 15 days (Article 58); if he does not, without an excuse the court accepts, the wife is entitled to compensation equal to her alimony from the date of the divorce to the date it is documented. The duty does not make an undocumented talaq void, and the wife can file her own case to prove the divorce. Appeals in personal status matters must be filed within 30 days (Article 9).

Custody under the 2024 law now continues to age 18 for both boys and girls (Article 123), and a child aged 15 or older may choose which parent to live with unless the child's interest requires otherwise (Article 122).

Civil Family Court vs Personal Status Court: Side by Side

The practical differences are what make Abu Dhabi distinctive. Here is how the two routes stack up.

Documents You Will Need

Missing or incorrectly attested paperwork is a common cause of delay in Abu Dhabi. Gather these before you file. At the Civil Family Court, expats do not have to translate English documents into Arabic (Article 44 of the 2022 Regulation). At the Personal Status Court, foreign documents need a legal Arabic translation and, if issued abroad, attestation.

The exact list varies by court, route and whether your case is contested. Our documents for divorce in the UAE guide breaks down attestation and translation requirements in detail.

Cost of Divorce in Abu Dhabi (Indicative)

Two official figures are fixed. The civil no-fault divorce application at the Civil Family Court costs AED 5,000 (Article 13 of the 2022 Regulation). At the Personal Status Court the ADJD tells you the fee before you complete registration, and its FAQ lists alimony cases and family guidance cases among those exempt from court fees; an interim order in the Personal Status Division costs AED 100, with alimony requests exempt. Lawyer fees are not regulated: the ranges below are indicative figures from law-firm cost guides and vary widely by case and firm.

Filing From Abroad: Power of Attorney

You do not always have to be physically in Abu Dhabi to divorce here. If you have left the country or cannot attend in person, you can appoint a licensed UAE lawyer through a power of attorney to prepare and lodge the application and represent you at hearings.

The power of attorney generally needs to be notarised where you sign it, authenticated in that country (in apostille countries this first step is often an apostille), then legalised by the UAE embassy or consulate there and attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and translated into Arabic for the Personal Status Court (the Civil Family Court accepts English). An apostille on its own is not enough, because the UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. Once that is in place, a divorce lawyer in Abu Dhabi can handle most steps, though some stages may still require your appearance or that of your representative.

A Note on ADGM and DIFC

Abu Dhabi hosts the ADGM free zone, and some marketing sites frame it as a family-court venue. It is not. ADGM is a common-law financial free zone whose courts hear civil and commercial cases; its family-related role is limited to non-Muslim wills and succession, not granting divorces. The DIFC Courts are in Dubai and have no divorce, custody or maintenance jurisdiction either. For a non-Muslim divorce in Abu Dhabi, the correct venue is the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court under Law No. 14 of 2021.

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