Dubai Cassation Court: deferred dowry remains payable in fault-based divorce — UAE married couples

Dubai: The Court of Cassation has ruled that a husband who proves serious marital harm may be exempt from paying certain divorce-related financial entitlements, such as waiting-period maintenance and compensation, but remains legally obligated to pay the deferred dowry unless it has already been settled or expressly waived. The judgment came in a contentious family dispute in which a husband petitioned for divorce, alleging that his wife had caused him harm, neglected him and their three children, sent abusive text messages, and refused to resume married life despite a prior court order requiring her to return to the marital home. He asked the court to dissolve the marriage on grounds of harm and to relieve him of all financial obligations arising from the divorce, including the deferred dowry and other entitlements typically awarded to a wife upon dissolution of marriage. At first instance, the lower court granted the divorce and accepted the husband's argument that he had been subjected to harm. It exempted him from paying the wife's deferred dowry, waiting-period maintenance, and divorce compensation , while also ordering the wife to pay legal costs. However, the Court of Appeal later partially amended that ruling. It upheld the divorce and confirmed that the husband was exempt from paying waiting-period maintenance and compensation, but ruled that he remained obligated to pay the deferred dowry. The wife subsequently challenged the decision before the Court of Cassation, arguing that the lower courts had misapplied the law and that there was no sufficient legal basis to deprive her of her financial rights arising from the dissolution of marriage. The Cassation Court rejected her appeal in full. In its reasoning, the court stressed that the applicable law is determined by the date of the events in dispute, not the date of the judgment.