Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
My spouse and I are Muslims from two different countries but live in the UAE. We had previously signed a prenuptial agreement but I heard that these are not valid in the UAE. Is this true and, if so, can you please suggest and alternative and explain the procedure of executing it.
Prenuptial agreements are not be valid in the UAE. Instead, you may enter into a postnuptial agreement immediately after the marriage. This agreement can be executed in the Family Guidance Department of the Personal Status Court in the emirate you live in. Generally, a postnuptial agreement can include matters related to finance, the wife’s allowance and property. It does not include matters related to custody, maintenance for children or matters that are against public policy.
My husband and I were married two years ago. He treated me very well initially. He would give me jewellery and take me on expensive holidays but over the past year, beginning a few months after we married, he has become very distant. He now often does not come home for days at a time. He has also stopped giving me any money and I have had to ask my father for some instead. As a result, I want to divorce him. Can he demand that I return the gifts he gave me if I proceed with the divorce?
According to Article 649/A of the UAE Civil Transactions Law, a gift made by one spouse to another during a marriage cannot be revoked.
Article 62/1 of the UAE Personal Status Law states that, each person will retain the ownership of the properties they owned after the divorce. These assets are considered to be the individual property of the spouse who holds the title of the property. Having said that and based on the circumstances and facts of the matter, the court may exercise its discretionary power.
If you have a question for our legal consultant, email media@professionallawyer.me with the subject line “Family Matters”.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
Match info
Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')
West Ham United 0
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
