Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status, as amended (Personal Status law) governs the following personal affairs:

• marriage
• dissolution of marriage
• divorce
• fostering
• capacity (the competency to contract unless this capacity is withdrawn or limited by a provision of a law, due to several reasons including, insanity and minority)
• tutelage
• guardianship
• testaments (wills)
• succession and inheritance.

Scope of the law

The provisions of the Personal Status law apply to all UAE nationals. It will not apply to non-Muslim UAE nationals if they have special provisions applicable to their community or confession.

The Personal Status law applies equally to non-citizens in the UAE. However, they could ask for the law of their country to be applied. The application of the foreign law should not compromise Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 27 and 28 of the Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 of the Civil Transactions Law of the UAE, as amended.

Amendments to the Personal Status Law

Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status has been amended with the following regulations:

• Federal Law No. 8 of 2019 Amending Federal Law number 28 of 2005 on Personal Status(PDF, 250 KB, Available in Arabic only)
• Federal Decree Law No. 29 of 2020 Amending Certain Provisions in the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status (PDF, 350 KB)
• Federal Decree Law No. 5 of 2020 amending some provisions in the Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status (PDF, 500 KB, Available in Arabic only).