How to Protect Your Assets in a Dubai Divorce?

Whether you are living in the Middle East or any part of the world, the impact of divorce is the same for everyone. It comes with emotional and mixed feelings. The tangible things involved in divorce create a great impact on the spouses. Finance is one of the aspects of divorce that needs to be taken into account. The couples have made joint contributions to the business, assets, and bank accounts. Legally separating all these things involves top lawyers. Under the UAE legal system, people and their assets are safe in one way or the other. Our lawyers or attorneys are experts in providing such legal information and legal assistance.

The UAE government ensures justice for the couple during their divorce. According to Federal Law No. 28 of 2005, known as the Personal Status Law, divorce, marriage, custody, and inheritance are governed by the Muslim residents in the UAE. However, non-Muslim expatriates can process their marriage, divorce, and asset division under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022. It is set as according to international standards, and there is no doubt in it.

Under these laws, disputes over; property, debts, and other financial arrangements are handled.

These laws give courts the authority to handle disputes over property, debts, and financial arrangements during a divorce. Hence, it is important to hire attorneys in Dubai to know which law applies to you when you are getting divorced in the UAE. We have best team of attorneys and legal consultants in Dubai.

1. Maintain Clear Ownership Documentation

The best way to protect your assets and investments is to keep them documented. Every property has a legal document that ensures your ownership over the property. However, the jointly owned assets are divided between both individuals when they are getting divorced. The qualified lawyers can help you in preparing those documents.

2. Consider a Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreement

A reliable method to keep your assets safe have a pre-marriage agreement that has all details of the finances, assets, and property in your name. In that agreement, rights on the property are mentioned. You must have the rights of that property, especially if it is solely given to you. The non-Muslims can have prenuptial agreements. They are governed under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022. For Muslim couples, Sharia laws are followed for these kinds of agreements. Because Pre-nuptials and Post-nuptials are not usually recognized under Sharia Law.

3. Keep Financial Matters Separate

The joint bank accounts might fancy many couples, but there are situations where these joint accounts may not look good. Divorce or separation causes an inconvenience to the joint account. If you want to protect your assets and investments, then you must maintain them, separately. Respectfully, one can get away securely with their finances during divorce, if they own the assets individually.

4. Safeguard Business Interests

If you are a business owner in Dubai, you will have to carefully take a look at the business structure that has legal compliance. There is a possibility that your business structure allows your spouse to claim some of the business shares, automatically. Therefore, you should carefully create a legal agreement for your business. However, your business and personal finances shall not clash and be recorded separately.

The attorneys in Dubai can do great things with your partnership documents and agreements with shareholders.

5. Be Aware of Hidden Liabilities

There could be hidden liabilities in your marriage. It may include the debt taken during the marriage, any credit card loans, or another kind of debt taken by both spouses. However, all these things will be distributed between the spouses. It does not matter if you were unaware of your spouse’s debts, you will still face the financial consequences.

It is advised to stay vigilant with finances and assets.

6. Seek Legal Advice Early

When you are filing documents for business or any asset, it is quite necessary to involve lawyers. They can make better agreements for you. However, you should also have a lawyer early in your divorce so you can protect assets and ask for fair settlements on time. Ideally, Emirati lawyers and legal consultants play a good role here.

The divorce proceedings are thought to be conducted amicably. But, if the matter is not resolved in a friendly manner, then it is taken to the UAE courts. Several factors would assess how assets shall be divided between the spouses. If the spouse owns anything financially, they should have a document as legal proof of the ownership.
The non-Muslim expatriates have to divide everything fairly, whereas the Muslims have to divide assets as per the ownership rights. The attorneys in Dubai can help people with the distribution rights of the assets.

Assets that are received as gifts or through inheritance are generally not opted for division unless they are shared. If the document specifies the ownership of one spouse only, then that spouse will have the rights of ownership. The courts will have to see how can financial contributions affect the divorce proceedings. Therefore, if you are inheriting any property or getting it as a gift you should have fully documented it.

If you are getting divorced, have you ever thought of financial stability at a later stage? You should look for better financial sustainability ideas. It means you should talk to the financial advisors, review the property titles, and revise your wills and inheritance plans.

The lawyers in Dubai can support you in making all those documents. However, you have to find a qualified legal professional who understands your situation, which includes your separation as well as your financial status. Without any legal help, it would be impossible for you to have financial stability in the UAE. Additionally, look out for more investment plans where you think that your finances are secure and you can get amazing returns. Never let your spouse take all your money, therefore, have a few assets in your name. Our lawyers can also provide you legal assistance for civil marriages in UAE. Learn more about Civil Marriage in UAE.