ABU DHABI // A woman has been told by the Federal Supreme Court that she will not receive a conciliatory payment from her former husband because she was the one who requested the divorce.
The point of law that prevents her from receiving the Dh10,000 payment is contained in Article 140 of the Personal Affairs Law, which states: “If the husband divorces his wife by his own and sole will and without a request from her, she deserves a conciliatory payment other than the post-marriage allowance.”
But because it was the woman who requested the divorce, she is not entitled to the payment, the court ruled on Wednesday.
The woman left her husband and moved into her parents’ home after the marriage ran into difficulties and “damages” caused by her husband.
On June 26 last year, six months after moving out, she filed for divorce, and was granted custody of one of her four daughters. She was also granted Dh2,000 a month from her former husband for food, clothing and housing.
The woman appealed against the verdict, and her husband was ordered to pay Dh43,000 as a post-divorce dowry and housing allowance by the Appeals Court, hand over custody of her three other daughters, and provide a furnished house in Ajman.
In addition, she was said to be entitled to a Dh5,500 monthly allowance for child maintenance and have household water, electricity and housemaid expenses paid for by her former husband.
He appealed against the verdict at the Supreme Court, arguing that he should not be obliged to provide a house for her because she had been living at her parents’ home in Ras Al Khaimah and that she was the one who divorced him.
The court ruled that Dh10,000 of the Dh43,000 she was due to receive, as awarded by the Appeals Court, was a conciliatory payment to which she was not entitled, according to the wording of the divorce law.
hdajani@thenational.ae
