Emirates: Question: I am a working lady from an Asian country. I am living alone here, and my husband is in his home country. Due to personal differences, he sent me a divorce in a voice note on WhatsApp. Please let me know what the UAE law says about divorce on WhatsApp.

Answer: It is assumed that you and your husband are Muslims, and earlier your husband was a resident of the UAE.

Furthermore, it is assumed that you intend to accept the divorce pronounced by your husband. 

In the UAE, a divorce is defined as the dissolution of the marriage contract by the will of a husband through words indicating such separation.  This is in accordance with Article 53 of the UAE Personal Status Law, which states, “Divorce is the dissolution of the marriage contract by the will of the husband through the word indicating it. There are two types of these words:

1. Explicitly, which is the word of divorce or a derivative thereof.

Metaphorically, which is a word that may mean divorce or something else if the husband intends to divorce by it.”

A divorce is recognised in the UAE if a husband pronounces it to his wife either by speech or writing. This is in accordance with Article 54(1) of the UAE Personal Status Law, which states, “Divorce is pronounced by the husband by speech or writing by any means, and if he is unable to do either, then by a comprehensible signal.”

However, a husband is required to document the divorce in the competent court within 15 days of the pronouncement of divorce. This is in accordance with the Article 58 (1) of the UAE Personal Status Law, “The husband shall document the divorce before the competent court within a maximum period of (15) fifteen days from the date of its occurrence, and this does not prejudice the wife’s right to file a case to prove the divorce.”

An individual may file a civil or personal case against his or her spouse, even though the spouse does not have residency in the UAE. This is in accordance with Article 4(2) of the UAE Personal Status Law and Article 20(4) of the UAE Civil Procedure Code, which reads as follows:

Article 4(2) of the UAE Personal Status Law - Competence of Courts in Cases Filed Against a Foreigner Who Has No Domicile in the State

“If the case is related to a request to revoke or annul a marriage contract, or to divorce or repudiation, and the case is filed by a state citizen wife or a wife who has lost the citizenship of the state, provided that she has a domicile or place of residence in the state, or if it is filed by a wife who has a domicile or place of residence in the state against her husband who had a domicile, place of residence or place of work in the state, provided that the husband has abandoned his wife and made his domicile or place of residence or place of work abroad, has been deported from the state or if his domicile abroad is unknown.”

Article 20 (4) of the UAE Civil Procedure Code

“The courts shall have jurisdiction over a foreigner who has no place of residence or domicile in the State in the following case:

- If the legal proceeding is instituted by a wife who has a place of residence in the state against her husband who had a place of residence therein”.

Additionally, a notarised foreign document may be enforced in the UAE. This is in accordance with Article 224 under Chapter 4 of Execution of Foreign Judgments, Orders and Instruments of the UAE Civil Procedure Code, which states,

“1. An order may be made for the enforcement in the State of notarised documents and Memoranda of Composition certified by the Courts of a foreign country on the same conditions laid down in the laws of that country for the enforcement of similar instruments issued in the State.

2. An application for an enforcement order in Clause (1) of this Article shall be requested by means of a petition submitted to the Execution Judge with the same procedures and conditions stipulated in Clause (2) of Article [222] of this Code. No order for enforcement may be made until after it has been ascertained that the conditions for the enforceability of the document or memorandum have been satisfied in accordance with the law of the country in which it was notarised or certified and that it contains nothing contrary to morals or public order in the state.”

Based on the above, a divorce pronounced by your husband via voice notes over WhatsApp outside the UAE may be valid if it fulfils the tests laid down in the provisions of UAE law mentioned hereinabove. If you have a consensus on the divorce pronounced by your husband, who is outside the UAE, you may request him to obtain a notarised document confirming the contents of the voice notes over WhatsApp sent to you, if the same is a valid procedure in his home country. Thereafter, once the said document is attested by the UAE embassy in the home country of your husband, it should  be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE. On completion of this procedure, you need to legally translate the divorce confirmation document mentioned above and attest it from the Ministry of Justice in the UAE.