MARRIAGE

It will be possible to register a marriage in court (previously, non-Muslims could register a marriage through the consulate in the UAE, provided that at least one of the future spouses is a UAE resident and in a Christian or Catholic church) subject to the following conditions:

• The spouses must be at least 21 years of age;

• Mutual consent must be present;

• There must be no family relationship between the spouses;

• The spouses must not have any other registered marriages (if a spouse is permitted to have multiple wives, he must provide information on all registered marriages).

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

A marriage may be dissolved upon the application of either spouse without stating the grounds for divorce.

INHERITANCE

Under the new law, in the event of the death of the testator (in the absence of a will):

• half of his property will pass to his wife;

• the remaining half of the property will be divided equally among the children, regardless of gender (if there are no children, the property will pass to the testator's parents. If one of the parents has died, the share due to that parent will pass to the deceased's brothers).

Thus, these changes will help bring greater clarity to marriage and inheritance matters for non-Muslims in the UAE in the absence of a will.