Federal Law No. (28) of 2005 Regarding Personal Status (family and community law)

Article (1) 
1. The provisions of this Law shall apply to all events that occurred afte r the entry into force 
of its provisions. In addition, the provisions of this Law shall apply retrospectively to deeds of divorce and divorce proceedings for which a final judgement has not been issued.  
2. The provisions of this Law shall apply to UAE citizens unless non -Muslims among them 
have provisions specific to their religious community or denomination.  
3. The provisions of this Law shall apply to non- citizens unless one of them insists on the 
application of their law, without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 27 and 28 of the Law on Civil Transactions issued by UAELEG -FED -LAW 1985, 5 .

Article (2) 
1) Principles and rules of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) shall be referred to for understanding, 
interpreting and construing the legal texts herein.  
2) The provisions of this law shall apply to all the matters they deal with in terms of purport. Such matters shall be referred to the juristic doctrine they are derived from for interpretation 
and completion of their rulings.  
3) Where this law contains no relevant text, rulings shall be given according to the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  3 
 well -know rulings in the doctrines of Imams Malik, Ahmed, Shafie, and Abu Hanifa 
respectively.

Article (3) 
Lunar calculation shall prevail for the periods set forth here in unless stipulated otherwise.

Article (4) 
Matters for which no provision is contained herein shall be subject to the provisions of the 
Civil Procedures Law and the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions.  
  
Jurisdictions of Courts

Article (5) 
The state courts shall be competed to try personal status actions initiated against citizens or foreigners having a domicile, residence or workplace in the state.

Article (6) 
The state courts shall be comp eted to try personal status actions initiated against foreigners 
having no domicile, residence or workplace in the state in the following cases:  
1. If the action for objecting to a marriage contract to be concluded in the state.  
2. If the action is for dis solving, invalidating a marriage contract, or granting or asking for 
divorce if the actions is filed by a citizen wife or a wife who lost the state nationality, if any of them has a domicile or residence within the state, or if the action is filed by a wif e having a 
domicile or residence in the state against her husband who has a domicile, residence or workplace abroad or who has been deported from the state.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  4 
 3. If the action is for demanding maintenance for parents, the wife or the minor if they have 
a dom icile, residence or workplace in the state.  
4. If the action concerns the filiation of a child having a domicile or residence in the state, or 
if it concerns a matters of guardianship of the person or property if the minor or the person 
to interdicted has a domicile or residence in the state, or if the last domicile, residence or 
workplace of the absent person is in the state.  
5. If the action concerns a personal status matter and the claimant is a citizen or a foreigner 
having a domicile, residence or work place in the state if the respondent has no well- known 
domicile or residence abroad, or if the national law is to be applied in the state.  
6. If there are several respondents and one of them has a domicile, residence or workplace in 
the state.  
7. If the cl aimant has a chosen domicile in the state.

Article (7) 
In cases where the state courts are the competent authority pursuant to Article 6 hereof, the court having the claimant's domicile, residence or workplace within its precinct shall be the 
competent a uthority, otherwise such competence shall devolve to the court of the capital.  
Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status.doc  
1. The court of first instance composed of one judge shall be competent to decide on personal status matters.  
2. The judge of l egalizations shall be competed to legalize the certificates issued by the court.  
The minister of justice, Islamic affairs and wakfs shall issue regulations on the procedures of 
conducting attestations and their legalizations.  
  
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Article (8) 
1. The court of first instance composed of one judge shall be competent to decide on 
personal status matters.  
2. The judge of legalizations shall be competed to legalize the certificates issued by the court.  
The minister of justice, Islamic affairs and wakfs shall issue regulations on the procedures of 
conducting attestations and their legalizations.

Article (9) 
1. The court having the respondent's domicile, residence or workplace within its precinct shall be the competent authority. Where there are several respondents, competence shall 
devolve to the court having within its precinct the domicile, residence or workplace of any o f 
them.  
2. The court having within its precinct the claimant's or respondent's domicile, residence, 
workplace, or the conjugal house shall be competent to try actions filed by the children, 
wife, parents, nurturing female guardian according to conditions in the following cases:  
a. Maintenance, wages and matters regards as such.  
b. Custody, seeing and related matters.  
c. Dowry, paraphernalia, gifts and matters regarded as such.  
d. Granting divorce to the wife, redemptive divorce (khul), absolution, dissolution, and separation of the spouses of all kinds.  
3. The court having within its precinct the decendent's domicile, residence, workplace in the 
state shall be competent to verify the entitlement to inheritance proofs and testaments and 
liquidate the succession. Where the decedent has no domicile, residence or workplace in the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  6 
 state, such competence shall devolve to the court having a realty of the succession within its 
precinct.  
4. The local jurisdiction in the matters of guardianship shall be determined:  
a. depending on the domicile or residence of the guardian or minor in matters of 
guardianship, and on the last domicile or residence of the decedent or minor.  
b. depending on the domicile or residence of the person to be interdicted in matters of interdiction . 
c. depending on the last domicile, residence or workplace of the absent person in matters of absenteeism.  
d. If none of the persons mentioned in paragraphs a, b and c has a domicile or residence in the state, competence shall devolve to the court having in its precinct the applicant's domicile or residence or to the court having within its precinct the property of the person to 
be protected.  
e. The court that rules for interdiction or stripping off or discontinuing the guardianship shall 
refer the case to the court having within its precinct the domicile or residence of the minor in 
order to appoint someone to supervise him be he a curator or guardian if the domicile or residence of the minor or the person to be interdicted changes.  
5. If the respondent has no domicile, residence or workplace in the state, and no court of 
competent jurisdiction can be determined under the provisions of the above paragraphs, 
jurisdiction shall devolve to the court having within its precinct the claimant's domicile, 
residence  or workplace, otherwise to the court of the capital.

Article (10) 
1. In cases where the law requires obtaining the  court permission or approval or referring  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  7 
 the matter to the judge, the motion shall be submitted to the court having within its precinct 
the petitioner's domicile or residence on a petition order unless the law stipulates otherwise.  
2. Any interested part y may complain against such order within one week of the date he is 
served a notice thereof. The court shall deliver its judgment on the complaint to sustain, 
amend or rescind it, and such judgment shall be appleable by the means of appeal 
prescribed in th e law.  
3. The motion for appointing a curator shall be on a petition order, and the prosecution and 
potential successors shall be informed thereof.

Article (11) 
Any impediment connected with the execution of resumption of urgent or summary 
judgments, dec isions, executed or legalized reports or attested conciliation records 
pertaining to an alimony or custody shall not result in discontinuing the executions procedures unless the court decides otherwise.

Article (12) 
In case of demanding a ruling consider ing a person lost, litigation shall be addressed to 
potential successors of the lost person or his representative or the person who has appointed a representative for him and to the public prosecution.

Article (13) 
If the cassation court cassates the app ealed judgment in part or in whole, it shall decide on 
the matter.  
The provision of the above paragraph shall not apply:   
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 1. If the attacked judgment is cancelled on grounds of nullity and such nullity is due to a 
cause relative to the initiatory pleading, the court the shall decide, besides nullity, remanding the case to the court of first instance for trial after notifying the litigants. Filing appeals shall 
be regarded as notices of motions submitted in the case.  
2. If the attacked judgment has decided lack of jurisdiction or sustaining a subsidiary plea, this shall result in discontinuing the case or supporting the judgment appealed in both 
matters. If the court of cassation decides revoking the attacked judgment, it shall refer the 
case to the court that  has delivered the attacked judgment unless it decides that the case be 
heard by another circuit composed of other judges, or that it be referred to the court of competent jurisdiction for a new decision. The court above shall cassate the matter decided 
unless the appeal is submitted for the second time. If the court of cassation cassates the attacked judgment, it shall then decide on the matter.

Article (14) 
1. The respondent or the person to be notified sh all be sent a copy of the notice to his 
domicile, residence, workplace, chosen domicile or wherever he is found. Where it is 
impossible to inform him, the court may notify him by fax, e -mail, registered mail or any 
other means.  
2. If the notice server fails to find the person to be notified at his domicile, he shall deliver a copy of the notice to any of those persons living with him such as the spouse, relatives, or 
affines, or to his supervisor or the person who decides that he is his manager if he fails to 
find him at his workplace. In all cases, the copy of the notice shall be delivered only to the 
person whose appearance indicates that he has completed eighteen years of age and that 
neither he nor the person he represents has an evident interest that co nflicts with that of the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  9 
 person notified.  
3. If the notice server fails to find any right person to receive the copy or if a person of those 
mentioned therein refuses to sign the original for receipt or receive the copy after he has 
been identified, or if the place is closed, the notice server shall deliver the copy on the same 
day to the officer or deputy officer of the police station having within its precinct the 
domicile, residence or workplace of the person to be notified according to conditions. The 
sever shall also send the person to be notified within twenty four hours after delivering the 
copy to the police station a registered letter at his domicile, residence or workplace or his chosen domicile to inform him that the copy has been delivered to the  police station.  
4. By way of exception from the above paragraph, the court may order posting a copy of the notice on the notice board and on the door of the place where the person to be notified resides or on the door of the last place where he lived or p ublishing the notice in two dailies 
appearing in the state or abroad in Arabic and English, as appropriate, if required.  
5. If the court becomes sure that the person to be notified has no domicile, residence, 
workplace, fax, e ­mail or postal address, it sh all notify him through publication in two 
dailies appearing in the state or abroad in Arabic or a foreign language as appropriate. The 
date of publications shall be the date of serving the notice.  
6. In respect to persons having a known domicile, residence  or workplace abroad, the copy 
of the notice shall be delivered to the undersecretary of the ministry of justice to notify them 
by diplomatic means or by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.  
7. The notice shall be legally binding from the date o f communicating the copy, sending the 
fax or the e -mail, delivering the registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt or the date 
of publication according to the above provisions.  
   
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Article (15) 
1. The judgment shall be communicated to the convi ct in person or to his workplace or 
residence, failing which he shall be notified by the means prescribed in Article 14 hereof on 
the order of the court that has pronounced the judgment and at the request of the judgment 
beneficiary.  
2. The period for challenging the judgment shall commence from the day following the date 
of pronouncement if has been pronounced in presence, and from the following date of 
serving the notice on the convict if it is regarded as an in presence judgment.  
3. The period for object ing by appeal and cassation shall be thirty days each.  
4. The party receiving a favorable judgment of divorce, separation, nullity of contract or for considering the lost person dead shall notify the convict or the person the judgment is 
delivered against of such judgment if it is regarded contradictory in order to be subject to the 
period prescribed.

Article (16) 
1. Actions of person status matters shall be heard by the court only after they have been 
submitted to the family guidance committee, except ma tters of testaments, inheritance, 
matters regarded as such, urgent and summary cases, urgent and summary orders relative to alimony, custody, guardianship and actions concerning which conciliation can not be 
imagined such as those filed for proving marriag e or divorce.  
2. If the parties reconcile before the family guidance committee, this reconciliation shall be established in a report to be signed by the parties and the committee officer and approved 
by the competent judge, whereupon it shall have the powe r of the executive writ that may 
not be objected to by any means except if it contradicts the provisions hereof.   
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 3. The minister of justice, Islamic affairs and wakfs shall issue the executive regulations 
governing the mission of the family guidance commit tee. 
  
Book One  
 Marriage  
Part One  
 Engagement

Article (17) 
1. Engagement is a proposal for and promise of marriage, not considered actual marriage.  
2. No woman who is deemed "prohibited" (under Shariah law) may be engaged, even if such 
a prohibition is temporary. A woman observing a mourning period may, however, be 
engaged.

Article (18) 
1. Each party may withdraw from the engagement. However, if unnecessary prejudice results from either party' s withdrawal, the other party may claim indemnity for the prejudice 
he/she suffers. The party responsible for withdrawal shall be considered withdrawing.  
2. If either party withdraws from the engagement or passes away, the dowry paid in kind or 
its value s hall be redeemed on the day of payment if it cannot be returned in kind.  
3. If the fianc ée has bought paraphernalia with the amount of her dowry or a portion thereof 
and then the suitor withdraws, she may choose between refunding the dowry or delivering a portion of the paraphernalia equal to it at the time of purchase.  
4. Gifts presented customarily shall be considered part of the dowry.  
5. If one party withdraws from the engagement without any condition or usage, he/she shall  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  12 
 not be entitled to recover an ything he/she has presented to the other if there is no ground 
for such withdrawal, while the other party shall have the right to recover anything he/she 
has given.  
6. If one party withdraws from the engagement for some cause, he/she may recover what 
he/sh e has presented if existent, or on the day of payment if it has perished or is being 
consumed and the other party cannot recover it.  
7. If engagement is terminated because of the withdrawal of both parties, they may recover 
anything they have presented to each other if existent.  
8. If engagement is terminated because of death or a reason beyond the control of either party, or an impediment that prevents marriage, nothing of the gifts may be recovered.  
  
Part  Two  
 General Provisions on Marriage

Article (19) 
Marriage is a contract entitling one spouse to have legal enjoyment with the other in order to protect his/her chastity and build a stable family under the husband's care on grounds 
that enable them to muster its burdens in affinity and mercy.

Article (20) 
1. Husbands shall adhere to their conditions except any conditions that sanction anything prohibited or forbid anything permissible.  
2. If a marriage contract stipulates a contrary condition to its essence, the contract shall be 
invalid.  
3. If the marriage contract contains a condition that is not contrary to its essence but to its  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  13 
 purport or that is legally invalid, the condition shall be invalid while the contract shall be 
valid.  
4. If the marriage contract contains a condition that is not contrary to its essence or its 
purport and that is legally valid, the condition shall be valid and enforceable. If the party 
placed under such condition breaches it, the stipulating party may ask for dissolving the 
marriage whether on the part of the wife or husband. The husband shall be exempted from 
the waiting period (idda) alimony if the condition is breached by the wife.  
5. If one spouse requires a specific description in the other but he/she finds something contrary, the stipulator may ask for dissolving the marr iage.  
6. In case of denial, no conditions shall be valid except if it is expressly provided for in the legalized marriage contract.  
7. The right to dissolution shall abate if its holder extinguishes it or if he agrees to its breach 
expressly or implicitly.  The lapse of one year after the occurrence of violation while having 
knowledge thereof and irrevocable divorce shall be regarded as implicit consent.

Article (21) 
1. For marriage to be contracted, the man must be suitable for the women at the time of 
contracting only. Both the woman and her guardian shall have the right to ask for dissolving the marriage if such suitability is missing, whereas the loss of suitability afterwards shall not 
affect the contract.  
2. If both of the engagement parties are no t suitable for each other in age, i.e., if the suitor's 
age is double or more than that of the fianc ée, the marriage shall be contracted only with the 
consent and knowledge of both parties after obtaining permission from the judge who may 
forbid the marriage if it serves no interest.   
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Article (22) 
The criterion of suitability shall be the husband's religious righteousness. Usage shall be 
considered for determining suitability in matters other than religion.

Article (23) 
1. Suitability is a right that may  be required by the woman and her fully capacitated 
guardian.  
2. Distant guardians may not object to the lack of suitability except in the absence of close 
relatives or if they are incapacitated.

Article (24) 
If the man pretends to be suitable or affects  anything to give an impression of such 
suitability, or if suitability is stipulated in the contract and then he turns out to be unsuitable, both the wife and her guardian shall have the right to ask for dissolution.

Article (25) 
The right to ask for dis solution due to lack of suitability shall abate if the wife becomes 
pregnant, or a year elapses after learning about the marriage, or if the person having the 
right to ask for dissolution has agreed before to the marriage.

Article (26) 
The guardian may n ot ask for dissolution on the ground that the dowry is less than 
appropriate dowries.   
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Article (27) 
1. Marriages shall be officially legalized and may be established by legal proof for a specific 
fact.  
2. As a condition for concluding a marriage contract,  a report from a specialist medical 
committee formed by the minister of health shall be submitted confirming freedom from the 
diseases because of which this law allows for demanding separation.  
3. Marriage contracts shall be legalized by marriage solemnize rs concerning whom the 
minister of justice, Islamic affairs and wakfs shall issue the relevant regulations.

Article (28) 
1. No guardian may conclude the marriage contract of an insane or a mentally deficient 
person or persons having similar conditions w ithout the permission of the judge and after 
fulfilling the following conditions:  
a. The other party agrees to marry him after learning about his condition.  
b. His disease shall not be transmitted to his posterity.  
c. His marriage shall realize an interest  for him.  
2. Conditions mentioned in B and C shall be confirmed by a report from a competent 
committee to be formed by the minister of justice, Islamic affairs and wakfs in coordination 
with the minister of health.

Article (29) 
Males who reach the legal age may marry themselves even if they are or become prodigal. 
The guardian over the property may object in case of exceeding appropriate dowries. This  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  16 
 shall not include the forfeiture of the financial rights resulting from the marriage.

Article (30) 
1. Marriage eligibility shall be completed by reason of maturity and adolescence. The age 
of adolescence is eighteen years for those who have not been legally adolescent prior to 
that age.  
2. A person who is legally adolescent prior to reaching the age of eighteen shall not marry, except in accordance with the controls issued by a Cabinet resolution at a proposal of 
the Minister of Justice.  
3. A person who is eighteen years old wishing to marry but the guardian thereof refuses to 
let him marry may refer t he matter to the Judge.  
4. The Judge shall specify a period for the guardian, after being notified, to appear to present his statements. If he does not appear at all or if his objection is not convincing, 
the Judge shall allow the marriage.

Article (31) 
Any person who gets married according to Article 30 hereof shall acquire capacity in all 
matters relative to marriage and its effects, except forfeiture of financial rights resulting from 
marriage.

Article (32) 
A matrimonial guardian shall be the fathe r, then the Agnates by themselves according to the 
order of inheritance including the son, the brother and then the paternal uncle. Where any two guardians are equal in relationship, any of them may conclude the marriage on his  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  17 
 conditions and shall be the representative appointed by the fianc ée.

Article (33) 
A guardian must be male, sound in mind, major, not wearing the clothes of ihram for hajj or 
omra and Muslim if the guardianship is over a Muslim.

Article (34) 
If the closer guardian is absent perman ently, or if his whereabouts are not known, or if he 
cannot be called, guardianship shall devolve to the next guardian by the judge's permission, 
or to the judge himself in case of prevention from marriage.

Article (35) 
The judge shall be the guardian of  any person no guardian.

Article (36) 
The judge may not marry the person he is a guardian over to himself, his ancestors or 
descendents.

Article (37) 
1. Appointing a representative for concluding a marriage contract is permissible.  
2. No representative may marry his female constituent to himself unless this is stipulated in the proxy instrument.  
3. If the representative in marriage exceeds the limits of his proxy, the contract shall be pending.   
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 Part Three  
Elements and Conditions

Article (38) 
The elements of the marriage contract are:  
1. The contracting parties (the husband and the guardian)  
2. Object  
3. Proposal and acceptance  
  
Chapter One  
 Spouses

Article (39) 
The major woman's guardian shall conclude her marriage contract with h er consent and the 
marriage solemnizer shall sign the contract. Contracts concluded without a guardian shall be 
invalid. If marriage is consummated, the spouses shall be separated and the child's filiation 
shall be established.

Article (40) 
The woman must not be permanently or provisionally prohibited for the man to marry so that marriage can be valid.  
  
  
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  19 
 Chapter Two  
Contract Formula

Article (41) 
The following conditions must be fulfilled in the proposal and acceptance:  
1. They must be expres sed verbally in the terms of marriage.  
2. They must be binding, not indicative of timing. Marriages depending on an uncertain 
condition, or contingent marriages, or enjoyment marriages or temporary marriages shall not be valid.  
3. The acceptance must be ex pressly or implicitly congruent with the proposal and the 
contracting parties must remain eligible till finalization of the contract.  
4. There must be verbal consensus at the contract session among present parties and acceptance following the proposal, and  among the absent parties by acceptance at the 
session of reciting the contract before witnesses or letting them hear its content or informing the messenger. Acceptance shall not be considered slower than proposal if they are not separated by anything indicative of objection.  
5. The proposal must remain valid till the acceptance is expressed. The proposer shall have 
the right to withdraw before the acceptance is expressed.  
6. The contracting parties must hear the speech of each other and know that it is int ended 
for marriage even if the meanings of words are not understood.  
7. In case of inability to speak, speech shall be replaced by writing, otherwise by 
understandable signs.  
  
   
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 Chapter Three  
Prohibited Women  
First branch  
Permanently prohibited women

Article (42) 
It is prohibited for a person to marry because of blood kinship:  
1. His ancestors however high in lineage  
2. His descendents however low in lineage  
3. The descendents of either or both parents however low in lineage  
4. The first class of the descenden ts of one of his grandfathers or grandmothers.

Article (43) 
It is prohibited for a person to marry because of kinship through marriage:  
1. The woman who was married to one of his ancestors however high in lineag e, the wife 
of any one of his descendents however low in lineage.  
2. The ancestors of his spouse however high in lineage.  
3. The descendents of his spouse he consummates marriage with however low in lineage.

Article (44) 
It is prohibited for a person to marry his descendents from adultery however low in lineage 
or his daughter whose filiation to him is refuted by li'an.

Article (45) 
It is prohibited for a person to marry the woman he accuses of adultery after the spouses  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  21 
 have taken the oath.

Article (46) 
Women prohibited because of suckling shall also be prohibited because of blood kinship 
and marriage connection, except the legally excepted cases on two conditions:  
1. Suckling must take place in the first two years  
2. Suckling must reach five separate  times.  
  
Section Two  
Provisional Prohibition

Article (47) 
Cases of provisional prohibition:  
1. Combining two women even if in the waiting period, and if any one of them is supposed to be male, the man shall be prevented from marrying another woman.  
2. Combining more than four women.  
3. The woman married to another person  
4. The woman observing a waiting period for another person  
5. The woman divorced irrevocably; her divorcer may no t marry her until she has observed 
the waiting period after being divorced by another husband who has consummated a 
valid marriage with her.  
6. The woman wearing an Ihram for a hajj or an omra.  
7. The non -Muslim women unless she is a kitabiya (Jewish or Ch ristian).  
8. The marriage by a Muslim woman to a non -Muslim  
  
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 Chapter Four 
Conditions of the Contract

Article (48) 
1. As a condition for the validity of marriage, two witnesses of legal age and sound mind, 
capable of hearing the speech of the contracting p arties and understating that it is intended 
for marriage must be present.  
2. The witnesses must be Muslim. In case a Muslim marries a kitabiya, the testimony of two kitabis (Jewish or Christian) shall be sufficient.  
  
Chapter Five  
Dowry

Article (49) 
A do wry is the money or property offered by the husband to his wife for the purpose of 
marriage. There is no minimum for the dowry but its maximum limit is subject to the dowry determination law.

Article (50) 
The dowry is the woman's right that she can disp ose of the way she likes. No contrary 
condition shall be valid.

Article (51) 
1. If a dowry is properly specified in the marriage contract, it shall be due to the woman.  
2. If no dowry is specified in the contract or if a dowry is improperly specified or deleted, the woman shall be entitled to an appropriate dowry.   
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Article (52) 
1. The dowry may be paid promptly or it may be deferred wholly or partially at the time of 
concluding the marriage contract.  
2. The dowry shall be due if the marriage contract is valid and shall be confirmed upon consummation of marriage, valid seclusion, or death. The deferred part of dowry shall 
become payable upon death or an irrevocable divorce.  
3. A divorcee shall be entitl ed before the consummation of marriage to half the dowry if it 
is specified, otherwise the judge shall decide for her enjoyment maintenance not exceeding half the appropriate dowry.

Article (53) 
1. The wife shall have the right to prevent the consummatio n of marriage till she is paid her 
prompt dowry.  
2. If the wife agrees to the consummation of marriage before receiving her dowry from her husband, it shall become a debt due from him.  
  
Chapter Six  
 Mutual Rights

Article (54) 
Mutual rights and duties bet ween spouses:  
1. Each spouse shall have the right to enjoy the other within the legally permitted limits.  
2. Legal cohabitation  
3. Good treatment, mutual respect, kindness and protecting the welfare of the family.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  24 
 4. Caring for and educating the children t o ensure their good raising.

Article (55) 
The Wife's rights due from her husband:  
1. Maintenance  
2. Not preventing her from continuing her education.  
3. Not preventing her from visiting her ancestors, descendents or sisters and allowing them 
to visit her  with kindness.  
4. Not interfering with her personal properties . 
5. Not hurting her physically or morally.  
6. Treating her equally with the other wives if the husband has more than one wife.

Article (56) 
A Husband's rights on his wife:  
1. House supervision and maintaining its assets.  
2. Breastfeeding his children unless she has an excuse.  
  
Part Four  
Types of Marriage

Article (57) 
Valid marriage and invalid marriage. An invalid marriage includes void (batil) marriage and 
irregular (fasid) marriage  
   
  
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Article (58) 
1. A valid marriage is that the elements and conditions of which are fulfilled and the 
impediments of which are absent.  
2. A valid marriage shall produce its effects from the time it is concluded.

Article (59) 
1. An invalid marriage is that the conditions of which are beached.  
2. An invalid marriage shall not produce any effects before it is consumed.

Article (60) 
An invalid marriage shall produce the following effects after consummation:  
1. The lower of the specified or the appropriate dowries.  
2. The establishment of filiation.  
3. The prohibition of connection by marriage.  
4. The waiting period (idda)  
5. An alimony as long as the woman is unaware that the contract is invalid.

Article (61) 
1. A void (batil) marriage is that an element of which is breached.  
2. A void marriage shall not produce any effect unless this law stipulates otherwise.  
  
   
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 Part Five  
Effects of Marriage  
General Provisions

Article (62) 
1. A major woman shall be free to dispose of her property. The husband may not dispose of 
her property without her consent; each of them shall have impendent financial assets. If one 
of them shares the other in developing his/her property or building a residence, etc, he /she 
may claim his/her share from the other upon divorce or death.  
2. Equality shall be r equired in donations and matters regarded as such among the children 
and wives, unless a certain interest is determined by the judge. If no equality is observed, the 
judge shall achieve such equality and exclude this interest from the succession.  
  
Chapte r One  
 Maintenance

Article (63) 
1. Maintenance shall cover food, clothing, the house, treatment, a servant for the wife if she 
is served in her family's house and what is kindly required by conjugal relationship.  
2. Maintenance shall be determined accordin g to the financial ability of the maintainer and 
the condition of the dependent and the economic situations in terms of place and time. However, maintenance shall not be less than the sufficient limit.  
3. The exploration (inspection) certificate shall be s ufficient for deciding the kinds of 
maintenance, the amount of custody, the house and the conditions on which any decided 
thing of what is mentioned depends.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  27

Article (64) 
1. Maintenance may be increased or decreased according to any change in conditions.  
2. Actions for increasing or decreasing the maintenance shall be heard only after the elapse 
of one year after it has been imposed, except in exceptional cases.  
3. The increase or decrease of maintenance shall be calculated from the date of the judicial claim.

Article (65) 
A continuous maintenance shall have precedence over all debts.  
  
Section One  
Wife's Alimony

Article (66) 
The wife shall deserve alimony from her husband under the valid contract if she yields 
herself to him even if by a judgment.

Article (67) 
The wife's alimony shall start from the date the husband abstains from supporting her. It shall be considered a debt due from him without dependence on the judiciary or mutual consent, but it shall be extinguished by payment or absolution.  
Actions for calming alimony for a previous period exceeding three years from the date of 
filing the action shall not be heard unless it is imposed by mutual consent.  
  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  28

Article (68) 
The judge may at the wife's request decide her a provisional alimony and his d ecision shall 
be self -executing by the force of law.

Article (69) 
The woman observing a revocable divorce idda and the wife observing an irrevocable 
divorce idda while being pregnant shall deserve alimony and a residence, while the woman 
observing an irr evocable divorce idda without being pregnant shall deserve a residence 
only.

Article (70) 
No alimony shall be due to the woman observing a mourning idda, but she shall be entitled 
to live in the conjugal house during the idda period.

Article (71) 
The wife's alimony is forfeited in the following events:  
1. If she abstains from copulation with her husband without a legal excuse.  
2. If she refrains returning to the conjugal domicile without a legal excuse.  
3. If she prevents her husband from entering the conjugal domicile without a legal excuse.  
4. If a judgment or decision of the court is issued, restraining her freedom, in a matter to which the husband is not entitled, and said judgment or decision is being  enforced.  
5. If she breaches her conjugal obligations stipulated by law.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  29

Article (72) 
The spouses' departure from the house or to work in accordance with the law or Sharia or 
custom or necessity shall not be deemed as a violation to the conjugal obligations and the 
Judge must take into account the family's interest in this regard.

Article (73) 
The commitment to the wife's alimony shall lapse upon:  
1. Payment  
2. Absolution  
3. The death of one spouse unless a judicial ruling has been passed for it.

Article (74) 
The husband shall prepare his wife a residence in his domicile. The residence shall be 
suitable for their condition.

Article (75) 
The spouses shall live in the conjugal domicile unless otherwise stipulated in the marriage 
contract; and the Judge shall take into account the interest of the family in the event of a 
dispute between the  spouses.

Article (76) 
1. The husband shall be entitled to live with wife in the conjugal house and his children by 
his other wives if he is commanded to support them, as long as this shall not cause any harm 
to her.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  30 
 2. The wife may not allow her childre n by another husband to live with her in the conjugal 
house except if they have another custodian than her, or if they will suffer harm if they 
separate from her, or if the husband agrees expressly or implicitly, but he may refuse if he 
suffers any resulting harm.

Article (77) 
The husband may not allow his other wife to live with his wife in the same house unless she 
agrees. She may also refuse if she suffers any resulting harm.  
  
Section Two  
Maintenance for Relatives

Article (78) 
1. Maintenance of the youngster having no financial resource shall be borne by his father. 
Girls shall be maintained till they get married, while boys shall be maintained till they reach an age at which his equals can earn money, unless he is student pursu ing his study with 
usual success.  
2. Maintenance of the old boy who is unable to earn money due to an infirmity or another 
impediment shall be borne by his father unless he has a financial resource from which he 
can spend.  
3. The female shall be maintained  by her father if she is divorced or if her husband dies 
unless she has no financial resource or another person required to maintain her.  
4. If the boy's financial resource is not sufficient for maintaining him, his father shall be obligated to supplement such maintenance pursuant to the above conditions.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  31

Article (79) 
The costs of suckling the child shall be due from his father if his mother cannot suckle him. 
These costs shall be regarded as maintenance.

Article (80) 
The child's maintenance shall be due from his wealthy mother if he loses his father or has no financial resource, or if he cannot support himself. However, the mother may claim the 
amounts she pays from the father if he becomes solvent and if this payment is permitted by 
him or by the judge.

Article (81) 
1. The wealthy child, be male or female, old or young, shall maintain his parents if they have 
no financial resource from which they can support themselves.  
2. If the parents' financial resources are not sufficient for maintenance, the wealthy children 
shall supplement it.

Article (82) 
1. The parental maintenance shall be shared by the children according to their respect wealth.  
2. If one of the children maintains his parents willingly, he may not have r ecourse against his 
brothers.  
3. If maintenance occurs after passing a judgment of maintenance against them, he may 
have recourse against each of them by virtue of the judgment if he has maintained them 
with the intention of recourse.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  32

Article (83) 
If the money the child earns does not exceed his need and that of his wife and children, he 
shall join his parents who are entitled to maintenance to his family.

Article (84) 
The maintenance of any person deserving such maintenance shall be borne by his inheritors from among his wealthy relatives according to their order and inheritance shares. If the 
inheritor is poor, the maintenance shall be imposed on the next inheritor subject to the provisions of Articles 80 and 81 hereof.

Article (85) 
Where there  are several persons entitled to maintenance and the person required to bear 
the maintenance cannot maintain them all, priority shall be given to the wife's alimony, the parental maintenance, and the relative's maintenance respectively.

Article (86) 
1. The maintenance of the relatives excluding the children shall be imposed from the date 
of filing the judicial claim.  
2. Actions for claiming the children's maintenance from their father for a previous period exceeding one year from the date of the judicial claim shall not be heard.  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  33 
 Section Three  
Maintenance of persons having no maintainer

Article (87) 
The state shall be responsible for maintaining any person having no maintainer.

Article (88) 
A foundling of unknown parents shall be maintained from his f inancial resources, if any. 
Where there is no financial resource or where nobody volunteers to maintain him, the state 
shall bear his maintenance.  
  
Chapter Two  
Filiation

Article (89)  
Filiation shall be established by the matrimonial bed, acknowledgment, evidence or 
scientific methods if it is proved by the matrimonial bed.

Article (90) 
1. The child shall be filiated to the conjugal bed if the least pregnancy period has elapsed 
after concluding a valid marriage contract and the impossibility of a sexual intercourse 
between the spouses is not proved.  
2. The filiation of the child of a suspicious copulation shall be established if he is born after 
the minimum pregnancy period from the last copulation.  
3. Filiating any child to his mother shall be established as soon as delivery is established.  
4. If filiation is established legally, no action for refutation shall be heard.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  34

Article (91) 
The minimum pregnancy period shall be one hundred and eighty days, and the maximum 
period shall be three hundred and sixty five days, unless otherwise decided by a medical 
committee formed for this purpose.

Article (92)  
1. Recognizing filiation even in the last illness shall be proof of that filiation un less the child 
is illegitimate, subject to the following conditions:  
a. The recognizee must be of unknown paternity.  
b. The recognizer must be of legal age, sound mind and free -willed.  
c. The difference in age between the recognizer and the recognizee must  allow for believing 
the recognition.  
d. The recognizee must believe the recognizer, provided that he is of legal age and sound 
mind.  
2. Istilhaq is a recognition of filiation made by the father for a legitimate child. Filiation may 
not be recognized by th e grandfather.

Article (93) 
If the recognizer is a married woman or observing an idda, filiating the child to her husband shall be established only if he believes her or if she proves it.  
  
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  35

Article (94) 
If a person of unknown lineage recognizes paternity or maternity, this relation shall be 
established if the recognizee believes him or if evidence is produced as long as the difference 
in age admits it.

Article (95) 
Recognizing another relation than filiation, paternity or maternity shall apply only to the recognizer if he is believed or if evidence is produced.

Article (96) 
Li'an (accusing the spouse of adultery) shall occur only before the court and according to the 
legally prescribed rules.  
1. Separation due to li'an shall be permanent.

Article (97) 
1. The man may refute the filiation of the child to him by li'an within seven days from the date of learning about his delivery provided that he has not admitted his paternity expressly 
or implicitly. The li'an action shall be filed within thirty days from the date of learning about 
the delivery.  
2. If li'an is for refuting the filiation and the judge decides it, the filiatio n shall be refuted.  
3. If the husband takes the oaths of li'an and if the wife refuses to swear or appear or absents 
herself or if it is impossible to notify her, the judge shall issue a ruling refuting the filiation.  
4. The filiation of the child refuted by li'an after a ruling refuting this filiation shall be 
established if the man belies himself.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  36 
 5. The court may use scientific methods to refute the filiation provided that it has not been 
established before.  
  
Book Two  
Separation General Provisions

Article (98) 
1. The contract marriage shall be dissolved if it contains an impediment contrary to its requirements or if something prevents its legal continuation.  
2. Separation shall occur between the spouses by divorce, dissolution or death.  
3. The court shall try to reconcile the spouses before it decides separating them.  
4. If the divorced woman marries anther man, consummation of marriage shall destroy the 
repudiations of the previous husband.  
  
Part One  
Divorce

Article (99) 
1. Divorce is the dissolution o f the marriage contract in the legally prescribed form.  
2. Divorce shall occur verbally or in writing, or by an understandable sign in case of inability 
to express them.

Article (100 ) 
Divorce occurs from the husband or his legal representative holding a special POA, or from 
the wife or her legal representative holding a special POA in accordance to what was agreed 
in the marriage contract, and shall be registered in accordance with the followed procedures  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  37 
 at the court.  
Divorce is confirmed before the judg e by a testimony of two witnesses, or by 
acknowledgment, and the judge shall issue his decision after verifying the availability of 
either of the two conditions.  
Divorce is based on the date of acknowledgment, unless a previous date has been proven to the court, and the consequences of divorce by acknowledgment shall be referred to Sharia 
rules.

Article (101 ) 
1. The divorcer must be of sound mind and free -willed.  
2. The divorce pronounced by an inebriated person shall not be valid.

Article (102 ) 
Divorce  shall not apply to the wife unless she is validly married and is not observing any 
waiting period.

Article (103 ) 
1. Divorce made conditional on doing or giving up something shall not be valid unless the 
divorce means actual divorce.  
2. Breaking the oath  of divorce or tahreem (oath taken for not copulating) shall not result in 
divorce unless the divorce means actual divorce.  
3. Repeated pronouncements or repudiations coupled with a number, words, writing or 
signs shall result in one divorce only.  
4. No co ntingent divorce shall be valid.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  38

Article (104 ) 
Divorce is of two kinds: Revocable and irrevocable:  
1. The revocable divorce shall not terminate the marriage contract except if the waiting 
period elapses.  
2. The irrevocable divorce shall terminate the mar riage contract when it occurs. There are 
two kinds of irrevocable divorce:  
A. Minor irrevocable divorce: The divorcee may be taken in marriage by her divorcer after 
this divorce only under a new contract and for a new dowry.  
B. Major irrevocable marriage: The divorcee may not be taken in marriage by her divorcer 
after that marriage unless she observes a waiting period concerning another husband after 
actual consummation of a valid marriage with her.

Article (105 ) 
Any divorce shall be revocable except the third repudiation, the divorce pronounced before consummation and the irrevocable divorces provided for.

Article (106)  
(Repealed by FED DECREE BY LAW No. 5 of 2020)  
1. The divorce authorized by the husband shall be valid and shall be legalized by the judg e. 
2. Any divorce contrary to the above clause shall be proved before the court by evidence or declaration, whereupon the divorce shall be attributed to the date of declaration, unless the 
court finds a previous date. Effects resulting from divorce by reco gnition shall be governed 
by the rules of Islamic law.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  39

Article (107 ) 
After divorce occurs, the competent judge shall issue at the request an order specifying 
alimony for the wife during her waiting period and the maintenance of children and the 
person ha ving the right to custody and allowing the visit of the child taken in custody. This 
order shall be considered self -executing by the force of law. The party affected may 
challenge this order by the legally prescribed methods of appeal.

Article (108 ) 
The husband may restore his revocably divorced wife as long as she has not completed the 
waiting period. Waving this right shall not extinguish it. If the waiting period has elapsed, she may return to him without her guardian's permission if he refuses to marr y her to him, 
provided that her first marriage to him was concluded with the consent of her guardian or a court order.

Article (109 ) 
1. Restoration may be expressed in words or writing, otherwise by an understandable sign in 
case of inability to express them. Restoration may be also expressed by action and intention.  
2. Restoration shall be legalized and the wife shall be notified about it during the waiting period.  
  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  40 
 Part Two  
Khul (redemptive divorce)

Article (110 ) 
1. Khul (redemptive divorce) is a contr act under which the spouses mutually agree on 
terminating their marriage contract for some consideration paid by the wife or another 
person.  
2. The portion that may be specified in the dowry may be specified in the khul 
compensation, but it may not exclude  the children's maintenance or custody.  
3. If the khul compensation is not valid, the khul shall be valid and the husband shall be entitled to the dowry.  
4. Khul shall dissolve the marriage contract.  
5. By way of exception from the provisions of clause 1 o f this Article, if the husband refuses 
the khul due to obstinacy and it is feared that they may not observe the limits ordained by Allah Almighty, the judge shall decide this khul for some proper compensation.

Article (111 ) 
For the khul compensation to b e valid, the person paying this compensation must be 
capacitated and the husband must be eligible for divorcing.  
  
Part Three  
Separation by the Judge's Order  
Chapter One  
Separation for Defects   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  41

Article (112 ) 
1. If one spouse finds that the other has some d efect that is irremediable or disgusting such 
as insanity and leprosy, or that impedes sexual enjoyment such as Impotence, or vaginal 
occlusion, he/she may ask for dissolving the marriage whether such defect exits before or 
occurs after concluding the cont ract.  
2. The right to dissolution shall abate if the spouse learns about the defect before the 
contract and accepts it expressly or purportedly afterwards.  
3. The wife's right to ask for dissolution due to a sexual impediment shall not abate in any way.  
4. The court shall hear the action filed for dissolving the marriage due to a sexual 
impediment in a secrete session.

Article (113 ) 
If the defects mentioned in Article 112 hereof are irremovable, the court shall dissolve the 
marriage promptly without any respire.  
If they are removable, the court shall defer the case for a suitable period not exceeding one 
year. If the defect is not removed during that year and the claimant insists on dissolution, the 
court shall dissolve the m arriage.

Article (114 ) 
Both spouses shall have the right to ask for separation in the following cases:  
1. If deception leading to the conclusion of the marriage contract occurs from the other 
spouse or with his knowledge. Keeping intentional silence abou t a certain fact shall be 
considered an act of deception if it is proved that the deceived party would not have  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  42 
 concluded the marriage contract had he learnt about this fact.  
2. If it is proved by a medical report that the other spouse is sterile after rem aining married 
for five years and after medical treatment. The dissolution claimant must not have children, 
or exceed forty years of age.  
3. If the other spouse is convicted of adultery or a crime regarded as such.  
4. If it is proved that the other spouse is infected with a fatal disease such as AIDS or any 
disease regarded as such. If it is feared that the disease may transmit to the other husband or 
his/her posterity, the judge shall separate the spouses.

Article (115 ) 
1. A specialist medical committee shall be engaged to identify the defects due to which 
separation may be demanded.  
2. Separation meant in this chapter shall be considered dissolution.  
  
Chapter Two  
Separation for failure to pay the prompt dowry

Article (116 ) 
1. Separation shall be decided  for the wife whose marriage has not been consummated due 
to her husband's failure to pay her prompt dowry in the following cases:  
A. If the husband has no obvious financial resource the dowry can be taken from.  
B. If the husband is obviously unable to pay  and the term fixed by the judge for paying the 
prompt dowry expires without payment.  
2. No separation due to failure to pay her prompt dowry shall be decided for the wife after 
consummation, but the husband shall be indebted to her for this dowry.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  43 
   
Chapter Three  
Separation for Prejudice and Dissension

Article (117 ) 
1. Both of the spouses shall have the right to ask for divorce due to prejudice that makes the 
continuation of their kind associat ion impossible. They shall not forfeit this right unless their 
conciliation is proved.  
2. The family guidance committee shall try to conciliate the spouses according to Article 16 hereof. If it fails to do so, the judge shall offer them conciliation. If co nciliation is impossible 
and prejudice is proved, divorce shall be decided.

Article (118 ) 
1. If damage is not proved, and the dispute is continued between the spouses, the damaged 
party may file a new case, and if the Family Orientation Committee and t he Judge cannot 
reach reconciliation, the Judge shall issue a judgment appointing two Arbiters from the 
relatives of each, if possible, after asking each of the spouses to nominate his Arbiter as 
much as possible at the next session. Otherwise, the Judge m ay appoint someone who 
have the experience and ability to reconcile if a spouse fails to name his Arbiter or fails to 
appear at this session. The judgment shall not be subject to appeal.  
2. The judgment appointing Arbiters shall include the commencement and ending dates of the assignment provided that it shall not exceed ninety days, that may be extended by a decision of the court. The court shall notify the two Arbiters and the litigants of the 
judgment appointing the Arbiters and shall ask each of them to take the oath that he 
shall perform his assignment with equity and honesty.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  44

Article (119 ) 
The two arbitrators shall investigate the causes of dissension and exert their efforts to 
conciliate the spouses. The arbitrators' mission shall not be affected if either spouse refuses 
to attend the arbitration session after being informed of the session fixed or the sessions 
following if they are interrupted.

Article (120 ) 
1. If the two Arbiters are unable to reconcile, the court shall present the recommendation of 
both Arbiters to the spouses and invite them to reconcile before issuing the judgment of 
divorce. If the spouses reconcile after the recommendation of both Arbiters to divorce 
prior to the issuance of the judgment, the court shall establish such re conciliation.  
2. If it is not possible to reconcile between the spouses, and the abuse is all on the part of 
the husband, and the wife is the one asking for divorce, or each of them asks for divorce, 
the two Arbiters shall recomme nd one irrevocable divorce and a adequate 
compensation paid by the husband without prejudice to any of the wife's rights resulting 
from marriage or divorce.  
3. If it is not possible to reconcile between the spouses, and the abuse is all on the part of the wife, and the husband is the one asking for divorce or each of them asks for divorce, 
the two Arbiters shall recommend divorce with a compensation deemed adequate by 
them to be paid by the wife unless the husband adheres not to divorce her, and the court  
shall take into account the family's interest.  
4. If it is not possible to reconcile between the spouses and abuse is mutual, the two 
Arbiters shall recommend divorce without compensation or with compensation that is  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  45 
 proportionate to each one's share of  abuse.  
5. If it is not possible to reconcile between the spouses, and it is not clear as to who is the 
abuser among them, if the husband is the one asking for divorce, the two Arbiters shall 
propose to dismiss his case and if the wife or both of them ask for divorce, the two 
Arbiters have the right to decide what they deem suitable for the situation of the family 
and children whether to divorce them without compensation or to reject divorcing them.

Article (121 ) 
1. The two Arbiters shall submit to the Judge their reasoned recommendation, which 
includes the extent of the abuse of either spouse or one against the other.  
2. Subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) of article (120) of this Law, the Judge shall rule 
upon the recommendation of the two Arbiters if they agree and if they disagree, the 
Judge shall appoint other Arbiters, or combine a third judgment to decide which opinion 
to recommend. The court shall ask the new Arbiter or the umpire to take an oath that he 
shall perform his assignment with equity and honesty.  
3. The Judge shall amend the recommendation of the two Arbiters in the event of violation of the provisions of this Law.

Article (122 ) 
In actions filed for divorce due to prejudice, such prejudic e shall be proved by the legitimate 
ways of proof and the adjudications issued against any spouse.  
Hearsay testimonies shall be accepted as the court may decide if a witness testifies that the 
spouses' married life is well known for prejudice.  
Hearsay test imonies denying prejudice shall not be heard.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  46 
 The witness's testimony shall be heard, whether male or female, except the ancestors' 
testimony for descendents or the descendents' testimony for ancestors if the witness fulfills the legal requirements of test imony.

Article (123 ) 
If the wife asks for divorce before consummation or valid seclusion after returning the dowry she has received, the gifts she has taken and the money the husband has spent for 
marriage, and if the husband refuses to divorce her, the judge shall separate them on the 
basis of khul if he fails to conciliate them.  
  
Chapter Four 
Separation for Non Maintenance

Article (124 ) 
1. If the present husband abstains from maintaining his wife without having an apparent financial resource from which obligatory maintenance can be executed within a close 
period, his wife may ask for separation.  
2. If the husband claims that he is financially unable without proving his financial inability, the judge may divorce his wife from him immediately. If he does not claim that he is 
financially able or unable, or if he claims that he is financially able and insists on not 
maintaining his wife and his financial inability is proved, the judge shall give him a period 
not exceeding one month. If he fails to maintain her, the judge shall divorce her from him.

Article (125 ) 
1. If the husband is absent at a known place:   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  47 
 The maintenance judgment shall be e xecuted from his financial resources if he has any 
apparent financial resource.  
If he does not have an apparent financial resource, the judge shall warn him and give him a 
respite not exceeding one month plus the prescribed distance period. If he fails to pay or 
produce the maintenance, the judge shall divorce his wife from him after the period elapses.  
2. If the husband is absent at an unknown place, or if it is not easy to reach him, or if he is 
lost and it is proved that he has no financial resource from  which maintenance can be taken, 
the judge shall divorce his wife.

Article (126 ) 
The husband may avoid the forced divorce by submitting proof of his financial ability and capability of maintenance, in which case, the judge shall give him the respite pres cribed in 
Article 125 hereof.

Article (127 ) 
The husband may restore his wife within the waiting period if he proves his financial ability 
and shows his willingness for maintenance by paying the usual maintenance, failing which 
the restoration shall not be valid.

Article (128 ) 
If the action for non -payment is filed repeatedly more than twice and the court finds each 
time that no ma intenance is paid and the wife asks for divorce for non -maintenance, the 
judge shall divorce her irrevocably.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  48 
 Chapter Five  
Separation for Absence and Loss

Article (129 ) 
The wife may apply for divorce due to her  husband's absence whose domicile or residence is 
known. If he has a financial resource, maintenance can be charged from it. The wife shall not 
be granted this judgment except after warning the husband to reside with his wife, move her 
to him or divorce he r, provided that he shall be respited for a term not exceeding one year.

Article (130 ) 
The wife of the lost husband whose domicile is not known may apply for divorce, but she 
shall not be granted a favorable judgment except after investigation and search for him and 
the lapse of one year from the date of filing the action.  
  
Chapter Six  
Separation for Detention

Article (131 ) 
1. The wife of the husband sentenced conclusively to a custodial punishment for three years 
or more may apply to the court after the  elapse of one year after his detention for 
irrevocable divorce. If he has a financial resource, she may spend from it.  
2. If the wife is also detained and gets released before him, she may apply for separation after the elapse of one year after her releas e on the same conditions in item 1 of this Article.  
3. As a condition for granting the wife a favorable judgment in the above two cases, the husband must not be released from prison while the action is being heard or the remaining 
period of his detention m ust not be less than six months.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  49 
 Chapter Seven  
Separation for Ila'a and Zihar

Article (132 ) 
The wife  may apply for divorce if her husband swears not to have a sexual intercourse with 
her four months or more (case known as ila'a) unless he goes back on his oath before the 
elapse of the four months. Divorce in this case shall be irrevocable.

Article (133 ) 
The wife may apply for divorce due to zihar (a case where the husband likens his wife to his 
mother and hence regards her equally preposterous carnally).

Article (134 ) 
The judge shall warn the husband to atone for his zihar within four months from the  date of 
the oath. If he abstains for no excuse, the judge shall decide an irrevocable divorce.

Article (135 ) 
While trying the action for forced divorce, the judge shall decide the summary measures he 
deems necessary for guaranteeing the maintenance of t he wife and the children, and the 
matters pertaining to their custody and visitation at the request of any of them.  
  
 
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  50 
 Part Four  
Effects of Separation  
Chapter One  
Waiting Period (Idda)

Article (136 ) 
The idda is a compulsory waiting period the wife spends w ithout marriage following a 
separation.

Article (137 ) 
1. The waiting period shall start from the time of separation.  
2. In case of a suspicious copulation, the waiting period shall start from the last suspicious 
copulation.  
3. The marriage waiting period shall start from the date of abandonment or the judge -decided separation or the husband's death.  
4. In case of deciding a divorce, separation, dissolution, the nullity of the contract or 
adjudging the lost husband dead, the w aiting period shall start from the date the judgment 
becomes final.

Article (138 ) 
1. The wife whose husband dies after a valid marriage contract even before consummation 
shall spend a waiting period of four months and ten days unless she is pregnant.  
2. The pregnant wife's waiting period shall elapse upon delivery or abortion.  
3. The wife whose marriage is consummated under a null or suspicious contract shall spend a divorce waiting period if her husband dies and it is proved that she is not pregnant.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  51

Article (139 ) 
1. No waiting period for the woman divorced before consummation and valid seclusion.  
2. The non -pregnant divorcee's waiting period:  
a. Three full cycles for the woman who is still having a menstrual cycle.  
b. Three full months for the woman wh o has never had menstrual cycles or for the woman 
who has reached menopause, but if she menstruates before the end of the three months, 
she shall continue her waiting period for three additional cycles.  
c. Three months for the woman whose menstrual cycle is long if her menstrual cycle is irregular. If she has a regular cycle that she remembers, she shall calculate the waiting 
period accordingly.  
d. The lesser of the three cycles or one year without menstruation for the woman whose 
menstrual cycle stops befo re menopause.

Article (140 ) 
If the husband divorces his wife whose marriage is commutated under a valid contract with 
his individual will without her request, she shall deserve enjoyment maintenance plus the 
waiting period maintenance depending on the husband's condition and subject to a 
maximum of the maintenance of her equals. The judge may allow the payment in installments of this maintenance depending on the husband's financial ability and inability, 
but he shall also consider the prejudice caused to  the wife when he estimates it.  
   
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  52

Article (141 ) 
1. If the husband dies while the wife is spending a revocable divorce waiting period, she 
shall move into a mourning waiting period without calculating the period she spent.  
2. If the husband dies while the w ife is spending an irrevocable divorce or a dissolution 
waiting period, she shall complete this waiting period without being obliged afterwards to 
spend the mourning waiting period except if the divorce occurs in the last illness, in which 
case she shall s pend the waiting period of the furthest term.  
  
Chapter Two  
Custody

Article (142 ) 
Custody is keeping, bringing up and taking care of the child without interfering with the 
right of the guardian of the person.

Article (143 ) 
The custodian must be:  
1. of sound mind.  
2. of legal age and major.  
3. honest.  
4. capable of brining up, protecting and caring for the child taken in custody.  
5. safe from dangerous infectious diseases.  
6. He shall not have been convicted of any dishonorable crime before.  
  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  53

Article (144 ) 
In addition to the above conditions, the custodian:  
1. If she is a woman:  
a. must not be married to a foreign husband who has consummated marriage with her 
unless the court decides otherwise for the interest of the child.  
b. must unite with the c hild in religion subject to the provisions of Article 145 hereof.  
3. If the custodian is a man,  
a. he must have a female qualified for custody.  
b. he must be a mahram (unmarriageable) relative to the child if female.  
c. he must unite with the child in religion.

Article (145 ) 
If the custodian is a mother embracing another religion than the child's, she shall forfeit the 
right to custody unless the judge decides otherwise for the child's  interest, provided that her 
custodial period shall not exceed the time he competes five years, whether male or female.

Article (146 ) 
1. The right to the child's custody shall be awarded to his mother, then to mahram women, 
provided that maternal relatives shall have precedence over paternal relatives, that the 
closest relative on the two sides shall be considered except the father in the following order, and that the judge shall consider the child's interest when he decides this right:  
a. The mother  
b. The father  
c. The mother's mother however high in lineage.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  54 
 d. The father's mother however high in lineage.  
e. The sisters by giving precedence respectively to the full sister, the sister on the mother's 
side, and the sister on the father's side.  
f. The full sister's daughter.  
g. The daughter of the sister on the mother's side.  
h. Maternal aunts in the above order of sisters.  
i. The daughter of the sister on the father's side.  
j. The brother's daughters in the above order of sisters.  
k. Paternal aunts in the  said order.  
l. The mother's maternal aunts in the said order.  
m. The father's maternal aunts in the said order  
n. The mother's paternal aunts in the said order.  
o. The father's paternal aunts in the said order.  
2. If there is no custodian among those wome n or if none of them is qualified for custody, 
the custodial right shall pass to male agnates according to the order of entitlement to inheritance, and on the basis of giving precedence to the real grandfather over brothers.  
3. If there is no custodial amo ng those agnates, the custodial right shall pass to the child's 
mahram males other than the agnates in the following order:  
The grandfather on the mother's side, the maternal brother, the maternal brother's son, the 
mother's paternal uncle, maternal uncles  by giving precedence to the full maternal uncle, 
then to the father's maternal uncle, then the mother's maternal uncle.  
4. If any male or female having the right to custody rejects it, the right shall pass to the 
following person and the judge shall be no tified. If the judge refuses or fails to express his 
opinion within fifteen days, right shall pass to the following person and so on.  
5. In all cases, the custodial right shall not be awarded in case of difference in gender to the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  55 
 persons who are  not mahrams for the child, male or female.  
6. The mother shall have the right of her children's custody in case of a dispute over the 
custody unless the judge decided otherwise for the child's interest.  
7. Both of the father and mother may join the childr en to them if they have a dispute and the 
mother has left the conjugal house even if the their conjugal relation is still existent. The 
judge shall decide on their application depending on the children's interest.

Article (147 ) 
If parents are not existen t and the persons entitled to custody reject it, the judge shall choose 
a suitable person from the child's relatives or others or a qualified institution for such 
purpose.

Article (148 ) 
1. The  father or else another tutor of the fostered child must look after his affairs, discipline, 
orientation and education.  
2. Whoever is in charge of the fostered child's alimony must provide the rent of a dwelling 
for a woman fosterer unless the latter owns a dwelling in which she resides or allotted 
for this purpose.  
3. The woman fosterer is not entitled to remuneration if she is the wife of the fostered 
child's father or is in her waiting period during which she is entitled to alimony from him.  
4. As an exc eption from clause (1) of this Article, the foster mother shall have the educa-
tional tutelage over the fostered child in a way that achieves the interest of the fostered 
child.  
5. If there is a dispute concerning the interest of the fostered child, such dispute shall be 
presented by the relevant persons to the judge of summary matters in order to render his 
decision in the form of an order on a petition, taking into account the financial condition  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  56 
 of the tutor and without affecting the right of the foster m other concerning the educa-
tional tutelage.  
6. If the interest of the fostered child requires the transfer of the educational tutelage from 
the foster mother to the father or another person whose tutelage over the fostered child 
is proved, any one of them m ay present the matter to the judge of summary matters in 
order to render his decision in the form of an order on a petition concerning the person 
who should have the educational tutelage over the fostered child.  
7. If the right of fostering of the fostered  child is for females, within the prohibited degrees 
of kinship, other than the mother, and tutelage is for a male other than the father, the 
woman fosterer may, according to the interest of the fostered child, may present the 
matter to the judge of summar y matters in order to render his decision in the form of an 
order on a petition concerning the person who should have the educational tutelage 
over the fostered child.  
8. Provisions of this Article shall not violate the duty of alimony decided for the fost ered 
child subject to this Law.

Article (149 ) 
The custodian may not take the child for travel outside the state without the written consent 
of the guardian of the person. If the guardian abstains from approving, the matter shall be 
referred to the judge.

Article (150 ) 
1. The mother may not take her child for travel or move him from the conjugal house during the existence of a conjugal relation or during the revocable divorce waiting period without 
his father's written consent.  
2. After irrevocable divor ce, the mother may move with the child to another city within the 
state unless such movement affects the child's education or causes harm to the father or  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  57 
 makes him suffer unusual hardship or costs for visiting the child.

Article (151 ) 
1. If the custodian is another person than the mother, she may not take child for travel 
without his guardian's written consent.  
2. No guardian, father or otherwise, may take the child for travel in the custody period without the written consent of his cus todian.  
3. The irrevocably divorced mother's custody may not be extinguished just due to the 
father's movement to other than the residence town of the custodian except if such 
movements is for settlement, not aimed at harming the mother, and the distance b etween 
the two towns does not prevent the seeing of the child and returning on the same day by the 
ordinary means of transport.

Article (152 ) 
The custodians right to custody shall abate in the following cases:  
1. If one of the conditions mentioned in Art icles 143 and 144 is breached.  
2. If the custodian settles in a country where it will be difficult for the child' guardian to perform his duties.  
3. If the person having the right to custody fails to claim it six months for no excuse.

Article (153 ) 
Custo dy shall return to the person who loses it after the reason for forfeiting it disappears.  
  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  58

Article (154 ) 
1. If the child is in one parent's custody, the other shall have the right to visit and ask to be 
visited by the child as decided by the judge, provid ed that the place, time and the person 
responsible for brining the child are specified.  
2. If one of the child's parents is dead or absent, the child's mahram relatives shall have the 
right to visit him as decided by the judge.  
3. If the child is in the custody of other than his parents, the judge shall designate the mahram relative entitled to visit him.  
4. The judgment shall be executed compulsorily if the custodian refuses to execute it.  
5. The Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Wakfs shall issue the regulations determining 
the measures of seeing, delivering and visiting the child, provided that police stations and jails shall be excluded.

Article (155 ) 
If there are several persons  having the right to custody and being of the same degree, the 
judge shall choose the most suitable custodian for the child.

Article (156 ) 
1. The custody awarded to women shall terminate when the male child reaches eleven years of age and the female thir teen, unless the court decides for the child's interest to extend this 
period till the male becomes of age and the female gets married.  
2. The custody awarded to women shall last if the child is demented or infected with a disabling disease unless the child's interest requires otherwise.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  59

Article (157 ) 
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of article (149) of this Law, the tutor may keep with 
him the passport of the fostered child, except in case of travel, where he should hand it 
over to the woman foster er. 
2. The judge may order to keep the passport in the hands of the woman fosterer if the 
judge observes an obstinateness from the tutor's part to refuse delivering the passport to 
the woman fosterer in case of necessity.  
3. The woman fosterer may keep the originals, or true official copies of the birth certificate 
and any other evidential documents, pertaining to the fostered child, as well as his iden-
tity card.  
4. Whoever is (18) eighteen years old and does not have anything that prevents his full ca-
pacit y, whether a male or female, is entitled to keep his/her passport and any other evi-
dential documents, unless the judge decides otherwise.

Article (158 ) 
Judgments delivered for embracing, keeping, delivering the child to a trustee and separating 
the spouses and matters pertaining to personal status shall be executed compulsorily even if 
this execution leads to using force or entering houses. The execution officer shall follow the 
instructions given by the executor judge of the court having within its precinct the place 
where execution shall take place. Re -execution of the judgment may take place whenever 
necessary.  
No ruling issued against the wife for following up may be executed compulsorily.  
  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  60 
 Book Three  
Legal Capacity and Guardianship 
Part One  
Legal Capacity  
Chapter One  
General Provisions

Article (159 ) 
Any person shall have the legal capacity to enter into contracts unless his capacity is stripped 
off or  restricted by the force of law.

Article (160 ) 
The following persons shall be considered minors:  
1. The fetus  
2. The mad, idiotic and prodigal persons  
3. The lost and absent persons

Article (161 ) 
The following persons shall be considered incapacitated:  
1. The youngster who is incapable of discerning.  
2. The insane and idiotic persons.

Article (162 ) 
The following persons shall be considered incompletely capacitated:   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  61 
 1. The youngster capable of dis cerning.  
2. The prodigal person.

Article (163 ) 
The minor's affairs shall be handled by his representative who according to conditions shall 
be called a guardian or a trustee (including the chosen trustee and the judge's trustee) or a 
curator.  
  
Chapter T wo 
Provisions Concerning the Youngster

Article (164)  
The youngster may be capable or incapable of discerning.  
According to the provisions hereof, the discerning youngster shall be the person who has not completed seven years of age, whereas the undiscernin g youngster shall be the person 
who has completed seven years of age.

Article (165 ) 
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 30 and 31 hereof,  
1. The undiscerning youngster's verbal disposals shall be absolutely ineffective.  
2. The discerning youn gster's verbal and financial disposals shall be effective if purely 
beneficial for him, but ineffective if purely harmful for him.  
3. The discerning youngster's verbal and financial disposals ranging between harm and benefit shall depend for their effect o n approval.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  62

Article (166 ) 
1. The guardian may permit the minor who has completed eighteen years of age to receive 
all or some of his property for management.  
2. The court may after hearing the trustee's statements permit the minor who has completed 
eighteen years of age to receive all or some of his property for management.

Article (167 ) 
The youngster permitted to transact the disposal falling under the pe rmission shall be 
regarded as a major.

Article (168 ) 
If the discerning youngster has completed eighteen years of age and found that he is able to 
dispose wisely but the trustee abstains from permitting him to manage any part of his 
property, the matter s hall be referred to the judge.

Article (169 ) 
The person permitted by his trustee to dispose of his property shall submit the judge a periodical account of his disposals.

Article (170 ) 
The judge and the trustee may rescind or restrict the permission if  the youngster' child so 
requires.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  63 
 Chapter Three  
Majority

Article (171 ) 
Any person attaining the age of majority and enjoying his mental powers without being 
interdicted shall be fully capacitated for exercising his rights stipulated herein.

Article (172) 
The person shall attain the age of majority it he has completed twenty -one lunar years.

Article (173 ) 
After reaching the age of majority, the minor may hold the trustee responsible for his disposals during the guardianship period.  
 
Chapter Four 
Impediments of Legal Capacity

Article (174 ) 
Impediments of Legal Capacity  
1. Insanity: An insane person is the one who loses his mind completely or intermittently and 
suffers dementia.  
2. Prodigality: A prodigal person is the one who squanders his money fo r useless purposes.  
3. Last illness: The illness during which man cannot handle his usual business and in which 
he is most likely to die in this condition before one year. If his illness extends one year or 
more while he is in the same condition, his dispo sals shall be regarded as effective as those 
of a healthy person.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  64 
 4. Cases in which man is threatened with the danger of death and in most cases similar to 
which death is most probable even if he is not ill shall be regarded as last illnesses.

Article (175) 
1. The insane person's financial disposals shall be valid as soon as he recovers, but invalid 
after being interdicted.  
2. The prodigal person's financial disposals committed after being interdicted shall be governed by the provisions pertaining to the discerning youngster's disposals.  
3. The prodigal person's financial disposals committed before being interdicted shall be valid 
unless they are committed as a result of exploitation or conspiracy.

Article (176 ) 
The patient's disposals committed in the last illness and cases regarded as such shall be 
referred to the provisions of Islamic jurisprudence according to Article 2 hereof.

Article (177 ) 
The interdict shall have the right to file an action himself to lift his interdiction.  
  
Part Two  
Guardianship  
Chapter One  
General Provisions

Article (178 ) 
1. Guardianship includes guardianship of the person and guardianship of property.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  65 
 A. Guardianship of the person is the care for all the minor's affairs including supervising, 
protecting, raising, educating him, directing his life, preparing him well and agreeing to get him married.  
B. Guardianship of property is:  
1. The care for all matters relative to the minor's property, its protection, management and 
investment.  
2. Guardianship shall also include wardship , curatorship and legal representation.

Article (179 ) 
Subject to the provisions on the female's marriage contained in Article 39 hereof, the 
guardianship of the person shall apply to the youngster till he reaches the legal age and 
majority, and the insan e and idiotic adults.  
  
Chapter Two  
Conditions of Guardianship

Article (180 ) 
1. The guardian must be of legal age, sound mind, major, honest and capable of performing 
the guardianship requirements.  
2. The guardian of the person must be honest for the mino r, capable of handling his affairs 
and untied with him in religion.  
  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  66 
 Chapter Three  
Guardianship of the Person

Article (181 ) 
1. Guardianship of the person shall be awarded to the father, then to the agnate by himself 
according to the order of inheritance.  
2. If there are several persons entitled to guardianship of the same degree, same strength of relation and equal in majority, guardianship shall be awarded to the oldest among them. If they are differ ent in majority, the court shall choose the most suitable among them for 
guardianship.  
3. If there is no person entitled to guardianship, the court shall appoint a guardian of the 
person from the minor's relatives if it finds a suitable one among them for guardianship, 
otherwise from others.  
  
Chapter Four 
Stripping off the Guardianship of the person

Article (182 ) 
Guardianship of the person shall be stripped off in the following cases:  
1. If some conditions of guardianship stated herein are breached.  
2. If the guardian jointly with the minor or another person commits rape or indecent assault 
or leads the minor to debauchery or to any crime of a similar status.  
3. If the guardian suffers a decisive sentence for an intentional felony or misdemeanor 
commit ted by him or by another against the minor  
4. If the guardian is sentenced to a more than one -year custodial punishment.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  67

Article (183 ) 
1. Guardianship of the person may be stripped off totally or partially, permanently or 
temporarily, in the following cases:  
A. If the guardian is sentenced to a custodial punishment for a period of one year or less.  
B. If the minor's safety, health, honor, character or education is exposed to serious danger 
due to the guardian's maltreatment or bad example resulting from t he guardian's fame for ill 
conduct or addiction to intoxicants or drugs, or due to carelessness. In this case, no judgment punishing the guardian because of any mentioned reason shall be required.  
2. The court may instead of stripping off the guardianship in the foregoing cases entrust the 
minor to a specialist social institution without discontinuing the guardianship.

Article (184 ) 
In the cases mentioned in Articles 182 and 183 hereof, the court may of its own initiative or at the request of the investigation authority entrust the minor temporarily to an honest 
person or a specialized social institution till the guardianship is decided.

Article (185 ) 
If the guardian is stripped of the guardianship of some of the minors, guardianship of the 
others shall be also stripped.

Article (186 ) 
If the court decides to strip off or limit or discontinue the guardianship of the person, the 
guardianship shall pass to the one following him in order if he is eligible. If he refuses or if he 
is not eligible, the court may entrust the guardianship to any person it deems eligible even if  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  68 
 he is no relative of the minor, or it may entrust this guardianship to a specialized  social 
institution.

Article (187 ) 
In other than the cases where guardianship is stripped off compulsorily, the court may 
restore to the guardian of the person his guardianship it has stripped off partially or totally at 
his request, provided that six mo nths has elapsed for the disappearance of the reason for 
this stripping off.  
  
Chapter Five  
Guardianship of Property

Article (188 ) 
The guardianship of property shall be granted to the father alone, then to his trustee if any, then to the real grandfather, then to his trustee if any, then to the judge. None of those may assign his guardianship without the court permission.

Article (189 ) 
The guardianship of property shall not include whatever devolves to the minor by donation if the donor so stipulates.

Article (190 ) 
The minor's property or benefits may not be lent or donated. If anything of these is disposed 
of, the disposal shall be void and resultant in responsibility and security.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  69

Article (191 ) 
The guardian may not dispose of the minor's property in a way resulting in alienation or a 
real right from it without the court permission and unless it shall serve an apparent necessity 
or interest estimated by the court.

Article (192 ) 
The guardian may not borrow for the minor's interest without the court permission and without contravening the rules of Islamic Sharia (law).

Article (193 ) 
The guardian may not lease the minor's real estates for a period extending one year after his 
becoming major without the court permission.

Article (194 ) 
The guardian may not continue carrying on any trade devolving to the minor without the 
court permission and within the limits of such permission.

Article (195 ) 
The guardian may not accept any donation for the minor or any will burdened with obligations without the court permission.

Article (196 ) 
1. The guardian shall prepare a list of the minor's property and devolutions and deposit such 
list at the clerical of fice of the court having within its precinct his domicile, within two  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  70 
 months from the start of guardianship or devolution of such property to the minor.  
2. The court may consider the failure to submit or delay in submitting such list exposure of 
the minor' s property to danger.

Article (197 ) 
The guardian may with the court permission maintain the minor from the minor's property if he is required to support him. He may also maintain the persons the minor is required to 
maintain.  
  
Chapter Six  
Stripping off the Guardianship of Property

Article (198)  
If the minor's property becomes endangered due to the guardian's misconduct or any other 
reason, the court shall strip or restrict his guardianship.

Article (199 ) 
The court shall decide to discontinue the guardianship if it considers the guardian absent, or 
if he is imprisoned in execution of a custodial punishment for one year or less.

Article (200 ) 
A judgment stripping off the guardianship of the minor's person shall result in forfeiting o r 
terminating as regards property.  
  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  71

Article (201 ) 
If the guardianship is stripped off, restricted or discontinued, it shall not be restored without 
a court judgment after making sure that the reasons calling for such stripping off, restriction 
or discont inuation have disappeared.

Article (202 ) 
Previously rejected motions for restoring the guardianship shall be accepted only after the elapse of one year from the final dismissal judgment.  
  
Chapter Seven  
Disposals of the Father and Grandfather

Article (203 ) 
The guardianship granted to the father over his minor child shall include safekeeping, managing and investing his property.

Article (204 ) 
The guardianship granted to the father shall include his son's minor children if their father is interdicted.

Article (205 ) 
The father's disposals shall be deemed effective especially in the following cases:  
1. Entering into contracts in his child's name and disposal of his property.  
2. Carrying on trade for his child's account in case of apparent benefits only.  
3. Accepting legitimate donations for his child's interest if they are free from detrimental  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  72 
 obligations.  
4. Spending from his child's property on those he is required to maintain.

Article (206 ) 
If the father's disposals shall be dependent on the court p ermission in the following cases:  
1. If he buys his child's property for himself, his wife or all his children.  
2. If he sells his own or his wife's or all his children's property to his son.  
3. If he sells his child's property to invest its price for hims elf.

Article (207 ) 
1. The father's disposals shall be void if it is proved that his disposal is bad or does not serve 
any interest for the minor.  
2. The father shall be responsible as regards his property for the serious error that results in harming his  child.

Article (208 ) 
The father's guardianship shall be stripped off or restricted if the judge finds that the minor's 
property has become endangered due to his father's disposal.

Article (209 ) 
The provisions prescribed for the father in this part shall apply to the grandfather.  
  
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  73 
 Chapter Eight  
Termination of Guardianship

Article (210 ) 
Guardianship shall terminate once the minor child attains majority unless the court decides 
continuing the guardianship over him.

Article (211 ) 
If a guardianship over any person is terminated, it shall not be restored unless a reason for 
interdiction arises.

Article (212 ) 
The guardian or his inheritors shall restitute the minor's property to him upon the 
termination of the guardianship through the competent court.  
  
Chapter Nine  
 Trustee

Article (213 ) 
1. The father may appoint a chosen trustee for his minor child or dormant gestation  and for 
the minor children of his interdicted son. This appointment may be exercised by the donor in the cases stated in Article 189 and trusteeship shall be submitted to the court for 
confirmation.  
2. Both of the father and the donor may retract such cho ice at any time.  
3. The choice and the retraction shall be established by an official or a customary document.  
4. If there is no chosen trustee or real grandfather for the minor or the dormant gestation,  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  74 
 the court shall appoint a trustee.  
5. The trustee ma y not dispose of the dormant gestation property till the fetus is born alive 
by delivering it to his legal guardian.

Article (214 ) 
The judge shall appoint a special or temporary trustee whenever the minor's interest so 
requires.

Article (215 ) 
The trust ee, whether chosen or appointed by the judge, must be just, competent, honest, 
fully capacitated, united in religion with the minor, capable of performing the trusteeship requirements. The following persons may not be appointed as trustees in particular:  
1. Any person the minor's father decides to deprive of such appointment before his death if such deprivation is built on strong reasons deemed by the court after verification as a 
justification and provided that such deprivation is established by an official or a customary 
document.  
2. Any person who has in person or one of whose ancestors, descendents or wife has a 
judicial dispute with the minor, or any person having enmity with the minor or his family if 
fear arises from all this for the minor's interest . 
3. Any person sentenced to a custodial punishment for a crime prejudicial to manners, honor or integrity. However, this condition may be overlooked in case of prejudice upon the 
elapse of five years.  
4. Any person having no legitimate means of livelihood . 
5. Any person divested of guardianship or removed as a trustee over another minor.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  75

Article (216 ) 
The trustee shall abide by the conditions and the tasks assigned to him under the trusteeship 
instrument unless they are illegal.

Article (217 ) 
The trustee may be a male or a female, a natural or an artificial person, several or joint, independent or together with a supervisor.

Article (218 ) 
1. If there are several trustees, none of them may dispose solely except if the legator has 
specified the ir respective authorities. If the will is created for a number of joint trustees, none 
of them may dispose without the others' consent. However, each trustee may take such procedures as necessary, urgent for, or resulting in a benefit for the minor, dispos e of any 
part feared for due to damage or delay, or dispose of undisputed things such as restituting 
the minor's fixed deposits.  
2. If a dispute arises among the trustees, it shall be referred to the court.

Article (219 ) 
The will shall be enforceable if it is accepted expressly or purportedly. No trustee may waive 
the will if he accepts it expressly or purportedly except through the competent court.

Article (220 ) 
If the father appoints a supervisor to monitor the trustee's acts, the supervisor shall tak e 
whatever is required for such purpose as required by the minor's interest. The supervisor  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  76 
 shall be responsible to the court for such acts.

Article (221 ) 
The conditions applying to the trustee shall apply of the supervisor.

Article (222 ) 
1. The p rovisions applying to the trustee shall apply to the supervisor as regards his 
appointment, removal, accepting his resignation, the wage for his acts and his responsibility 
for his omission.  
2. The court shall decide to terminate supervision if its reasons  disappear.

Article (223 ) 
The trustee shall manage, protect and invest the minor's property and shall exert as much care as that exerted for similar purposes.

Article (224 ) 
The trustee's disposals shall be controlled by the court; he shall submit it periodical accounts 
of his disposals concerning the management of the minor's property and the persons regarded as such.

Article (225 ) 
The trustee may not carry out the following ac ts without the court permission:  
1. Disposing of the minor's property by sale, purchase, barter, partnership, mortgage, or any other kind of disposal resulting in alienation or a real right.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  77 
 2. Disposing of instruments, shares or any portions thereof, or any significant movable or 
that is not feared for due to damage unless it is of low value.  
3. Assigning the minor's property or accepting any assignment to him if he is indebted.  
4. Investing the minor's funds for his own account.  
5. Borrowing funds for the  minor's interest.  
6. Leasing the minor's real estates.  
7. Accepting or rejecting conditional donations.  
8. Spending from the minor's funds on the persons he is required to maintain unless the maintenance is decided by an enforceable judgment.  
9. Perfo rming the current obligations due from the estate or the minor.  
10. Recognizing a right due from the minor.  
11. Concluding conciliation or arbitration.  
12. Filing actions unless their delaying them causes harm to the minor or the loss of his rights.  
13. Wa iving actions and not using the legally prescribed ways of appeal.  
14. Selling or leasing the minor's property to himself, his wife, any of their ancestors, 
descendents or to any person represented by the trustee.  
15. Paying the dowry or any other expenses  for the minor's marriage according to applicable 
laws.  
16. Educating the minor if he required maintenance.  
17. Paying maintenance to the minor for practising a specific profession.  
  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  78

Article (226 ) 
Neither the entity entrusted with handling the minors' af fairs nor any official thereof may 
purchase or lease anything for himself, his wife, any of their ancestors or descendents from 
the minor's property, or sell for the minor anything of what is owned by the minor, his wife, 
or any of their ancestors or desce ndents.

Article (227 ) 
Trusteeship shall be unpaid except if the court decides at the trustee's request to determine 
him a wage or grant him some remuneration for a specific task or if the trustee fixes himself 
a customarily acceptable wage.  
 
Chapter Ten  
Termination of Trusteeship

Article (228 ) 
The trustee's mission shall terminate in the following cases:  
1. If he dies, becomes incapacitated or incompletely capacitated.  
2. If his loss or absence is proved.  
3. If his request for renouncing his mission is acc epted or if he removed.  
4. If he fails to perform the duties of trusteeship.  
5. If the minor is considered major or if he becomes major and sound -minded.  
6. If interdiction is lifted.  
7. If the minor's father restores his capacity.  
8. If the minor or the interdict dies.  
9. If the task for which the trustee is appointed to perform or if the period timed for it  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  79 
 terminates.

Article (229 ) 
If the boy attains his adulthood in a state of insanity or untrustworthiness for his property, 
the trustee shall notify t he court to consider continuing the trusteeship after his adulthood.

Article (230 ) 
A judgment shall be issued for removing the trustee:  
1. If he has a reason rendering him non -eligible for trusteeship even if such reason exits at 
the time of his appointm ent.  
2. If he mismanages or neglects the minor's property or if his stay is dangerous for the minor's interest.

Article (231 ) 
1. The trustee shall when his mission terminates deliver the minor's property and all its 
related accounts and documents to the parties concerned under the court supervision no 
later than thirty days from termination. He shall deposit at the competent court clerical 
office within the said period a copy of the account and the property delivery report. The 
court shall observe the pro visions of penal responsibility if necessary.  
2. Any undertaking, release or quittance obtained by the trustee from the minor who 
reaches majority within one year from the date the account is legalized by the court shall be 
null and void.  
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  80

Article (232 ) 
If the trustee dies, is interdicted or considered absent, his successors or representatives or 
those taking possession of the property according to conditions shall notify the court 
immediately to take the necessary procedures to protect the minor's rights , deliver his 
property and submit the relevant account.  
  
Part Three  
The Absent and the Lost Persons

Article (233 ) 
1. The absent person is the one whose domicile or residence is not known.  
2. The lost person is the one who is not known to be alive or dead.

Article (234 ) 
If there is no representative for the absent or the lost person, a judicial representative shall 
be appointed to manage his property.

Article (235 ) 
The absent or the lost person's property shall be calculated when a judicial representative is appointed and shall be managed the way the minor's property is managed.

Article (236 ) 
Loss shall end:  
1. If the lost person's life or death is established.  
2. If a judgment is passed for considering the lost person dead.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  81

Article (237 ) 
1. The judge shall in all cases search for the lost person by all means to know if he is alive or 
dead before adjudging him dead.  
2. The judge shall adjudge the lost person dead if evidence for his death exists.  
3. The judge may adjudge the lost person dead in the cases where his death prevails, or if 
one year elapses after announcing his loss at the request of the persons concerned, or if four 
years elapse in normal cases.  
4. The  property of the lost person adjudged dead shall not be distributed except upon the 
elapse of fifteen years from the date of declaring him lost.

Article (238 ) 
The day the lost person is adjudged dead shall be the date of his death.

Article (239 ) 
If the lost person adjudged dead reappears alive,  
1. He may restore his wife in the following cases:  
A. If her second husband has not consummated her marriage under a valid contract.  
B. If her second husband learns about her first husband's life.  
C. If her  second husband marries her during the waiting period.  
2. He shall claim his estate from his successors save any perished portions.  
 
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  82 
 Book Four  
Wills  
Part One  
General Provisions

Article (240)  
A will is a disposal of an estate that is enforceable after deat h.

Article (241 ) 
Wills that are absolute, contingent, dependent on or restricted by a valid condition shall be 
valid.

Article (242 ) 
If the will is coupled with a condition contrary to the Islamic intents or the provisions hereof, 
the condition shall b e void while the will be valid.

Article (243 ) 
The will shall be executed within the third of the legator's estate, after paying the rights 
related thereto. Any excess above the thir d shall be executed from the shares of the legally 
aged inheritors who approve it.

Article (244 ) 
Any disposal occurring in the last death for the purpose of donation or preference shall be 
governed by the provisions on wills whatever the name given to such disposal.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  83 
   
Part Two  
Elements and Conditions of the Will  
Chapter One  
Elements

Article (245 ) 
Elements of the will are: The formula, the legator, the legatee and the bequeathed object.

Article (246 ) 
The will shall be concluded verbally or in writing, otherwise by an understandable sign if the 
legator is unable to express.

Article (247 ) 
In case of denial, actions for probating or retracting the will shall be heard only if such denial 
or probate is proved by the legally prescribed methods of p roof.

Article (248 ) 
1. The will created by persons having the capacity to donate even in their last illness shall be 
valid, provided that the provisions of Articles 174 and 176 hereof shall be observed.  
2. The will created by persons interdicted for prod igality or unconsciousness shall be valid 
by the court permission.  
3. The legator may amend or retract his will or retract in whole or in part.  
4. Loss by the legator of the bequeathed property shall be considered retraction from the 
will on his part.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  84

Article (249 ) 
Wills created for persons eligible for owning the bequeathed object shall be valid even if 
there is a difference in religion.

Article (250 ) 
Without prejudice to article (243) of this Law, a will may not be made to an heir unless in 
the follow ing two cases:  
1. If it is approved by other major heirs, and it is then executable on the share of the one 
who consented.  
2. If it is required by a likely interest acknowledged by the court. In this case, the will 
shall be executed even if other heirs do not approve it.  
 
Chapter Two  
Conditions of the Validity of Wills

Article (251 ) 
1. The will created for a specified person whether alive or a dormant gestation shall be valid.  
2. The will created for a specified or unspecified group of people shall be valid.  
3. The will created for legally permissible charitable purposes shall be valid.

Article (252 ) 
1. For the will created for a specified person to be valid, it must be accepte d after the 
legator's death or during his life, and this acceptance must remain after his death.  
2. If the legatee is a fetus or a minor or interdicted, his property guardian must accept the 
will, or he may reject it after obtaining the judge's permission.  
3. The will created for an unspecified person shall not need accepting, nor shall it be  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  85 
 rejected.  
4. The will created for entities, establishments or institutions shall be accepted by their legal 
representatives who may reject it after obtaining the judge 's permission.

Article (253 ) 
1. Accepting the will immediately after the legator's death shall not be required.  
2. If the legatee remains silent for a period of thirty days after he learns about the will, his 
silence shall be considered acceptance of the  will. If the will is burdened with an obligation, 
the period shall be extended to fifty days unless there is an admissible impediment for his 
failure to reply.

Article (254 ) 
The fully capacitated legatee may reject the will in whole or in part.

Article (255 ) 
If the legatee dies after the legator without expressing acceptance or rejection, the will shall devolve to the legatee's heirs unless it is burdened with obligations.

Article (256 ) 
1. The specified legatee shall possess the bequeathed object fro m the date of the legator's 
death subject to his acceptance.  
2. The successor of the legatee who dies before the division shall replace him.  
3. The bequeathed object shall be divided equally if there are several legatees unless the legator stipulates disparity.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  86 
 4. The survivor of the twins shall solely possess the object bequeathed for gestation if one of 
them is delivered dead.

Article (257 ) 
1. The will created for an unspecifiable group shall include in the future the persons of them 
who are prese nt on the day of the legator's death and those to be present.  
2. The number of the unspecified group shall be restricted if all their fathers die or if it is no longer hoped that any of those surviving of them will have children.  
3. If it is no longer hope d that any legatee is present, the bequeathed object shall be a 
succession.

Article (258 ) 
The present persons of the group that is not specified in the will shall utilize the bequeathed 
object. The shares of utilization shall change whenever a birth or a death occurs.  
Proceeds of the object bequeathed for the unspecified group who cannot be defined shall be distributed to the present persons of them.

Article (259 ) 
The object bequeathed for the unspecified group shall be sold if it is feared that it may be 
lost or decrease in value, and its price shall be used for buying something that can benefit the legatees.

Article (260 ) 
1. The will created for charities shall be paid for their legally permissible interests.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  87 
 2. Proceeds of the object bequeathed pote ntial institutions shall be paid to the most similar 
institutions till they exist.

Article (261 ) 
The bequeathed object must be owned by the legator and legitimate.

Article (262 ) 
1. The bequeathed object must be common or specific.  
2. The common bequeat hed object shall include all the legator's present and future 
property.

Article (263 ) 
The will concerning a joint share shall be executed if this execution takes place within the 
third of succession.

Article (264 ) 
1. The specific bequeathed object shall include properties and movables, fungible things, 
valuable things, realties, utilities and utilization of a realty or movable for a specific or 
unspecific period.  
2. Any legator who bequeaths a specific object to a s pecific person and then bequeaths the 
same object to another shall divide that object between them equally unless he intends by 
that act to retract the will has created for the first.  
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  88 
 Chapter Three  
Bequeathing Utilities and Lending

Article (265 ) 
1. If the  value of the specific property bequeathed for utilization or benefit is less than the 
third of succession, the realty shall be delivered to the legatee for utilization according to the 
will.  
2. If the value of the specific property bequeathed for utilizat ion or benefit, as well as the 
value of utilizing it for the specified period is more than the third of succession, inheritors shall be asked to choose between approving the will or giving the legatee a portion equal to 
the third of succession.  
3. If the w ill concerning the utility extends throughout the legatee's life, the will shall be 
estimated at the value of the realty.  
4. The will created for lending the legatee a defined amount of money shall be valid, but it 
shall not be executed in respect to any p ortion above the third of succession without 
inheritors' approval.

Article (266 ) 
The legatee bequeathed the utilization of a specific object may use or exploit this object even if in a different way from that shown in the will, provided that no damage sh all be 
caused to the realty.  
  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  89 
 Chapter Four 
Bequeathing an Equivalent of the Inheritor's Share

Article (267 ) 
If a portion equivalent to the share of a specific inheritor of the legator is bequeathed, the 
legatee shall be entitled to as much as the share of this inheritor plus the legal share.

Article (268 ) 
If the share of an unspecified inheritor of the legator or if a portion equal to that share is 
bequeathed, the legatee shall be entitled to the share of one inheritor plus the legal share if 
they inherit  on an equal basis. If they are preferred to one another, the share of the least 
inheritor shall be estimated plus the legal share.

Article (269 ) 
The legatee bequeathed as much as the inheritor's share, be he male or female, shall be entitled to a portio n not exceeding the third. Any portion in excess shall be executed from 
the share of the legally aged inheritor approving this excess.  
  
Chapter Five  
Nullity of the Will

Article (270 ) 
The will shall be null in the following cases:  
1. If the legatee retract s his will expressly or purportedly.  
2. If the legatee dies during the legator's life.  
3. If the legatee rejects the will during the legator's life or after his death.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  90 
 4. If the legatee kills the legator whether the legatee is the principal perpetrator, ac complice, 
or a causative party, provided that he is of sound mind, and attains the age of penal 
responsibility at the time of commission, whether killing occurs before or after creating the 
will.  
5. If the specific bequeathed object perishes or is deserved by a third party.  
6. If the legator or the legatee deflects from Islam without re -conversion.

Article (271 ) 
If the legatee acquires the capacity of the legator's inheritor, this shall make his entitlement 
dependent on the approval of all the other inher itors.  
  
Chapter Six  
Mandatory Wills

Article (272 ) 
1. Whoever dies even if according to a judgment and has a child, boy or girl, and this boy or 
girl dies before or with him, their grandchildren shall be entitled to the third of succession 
according to the  following portions and conditions:  
A. The mandatory will created for those grandchildren shall be estimated at their share of 
what their father inherits from his decedent ancestor on the assumption that their father 
dies following the death of his mention ed ancestor, provided that the share shall not exceed 
the third of succession.  
B. Those grandchildren shall not be entitled to the will if they are inheritors of their father's ancestor, whether the grandfather or grandmother, of if he has bequeathed or given them in 
his life for no consideration something equal to the share they deserve in this mandatory  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  91 
 will. If he has given them a lower portion, it shall be supplemented. If greater, the portion in 
excess shall be an optional will. If he confines the will to some of them only, the will be shall 
due to the others according to their shares.  
c. This will shall be due to the son's children and the daughter's children however low in 
lineage, one or more, the male deserving the share of two females, the ancestor excluding 
the descendent, and each descendent taking the share of his ancestor only.  
2. The mandatory will shall have precedence over the optional one for recovery from the 
third of inheritance.  
3. Killers and apostates shall be deprived of mandatory wills according to the provisions hereof concerning wills.  
  
Chapter Seven  
Overlapping of Wills

Article (273 ) 
If the third of inheritance is not sufficient for the wills of equal degree and the legally aged 
inheritors do not approve the portion in excess of the third, this portion shall be shared by 
them on a pro rata basis. If one of the wills concerns a specific ob ject, its value shall be 
subject to clearing so that the person entitled to it can take his share of the specific object, and the others take their shares from the remainder of the third.  
  
 
 
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  92 
 Book Five  
Estates and inheritance  
Part One  
Estates  
Chapter One  
Gen eral Provisions

Article (274 ) 
An estate is the property and financial rights the decedent leaves behind.

Article (275 ) 
The estate is subject to rights some of which have precedence above others according to the 
following order:  
1. Expenses for preparing the decedent for burial.  
2. Paying the decedent's debts.  
3. Execution of wills  
4. Distribution of the estate remainder to successors

Article (276 ) 
Confirmation of Death and Inheritance  
1. Applicants for probating death and inhe ritance shall submit a relevant request to the court 
of competent jurisdiction stating the date of death, the decedent's last domicile, names and 
addresses of successors, legatees and all movables and property of the estate.  
2. The clerks office shall notify the successors and legatees to appear before the court on the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  93 
 date to be determined for such purpose. The judge shall hear the testimony of a trustworthy 
person. He may also assign him to carry out the administrative enquires he determines.  
3. The proba tion of death and inheritance shall serve as evidence unless a ruling to the 
contrary is issued or unless the competent court decides to stop its determinative effect. The 
court shall issue an attestation for the limitation of successors and determination of the each 
inheritor's legal share in inheritance.

Article (277 ) 
Procedures for liquidating the estate  
1. If the legator has not appointed a trustee for his estate, any concerned party may ask the 
judge to appoint a trustee to be unanimously chosen by all successors from them or others, 
failing which the judge shall elect the trustee after hearing their statements.  
2. The provisions of special laws shall be observed if there is dormant gestation among 
successors or a person who is incapacitated, semi- capacitated or absent.

Article (278 ) 
If the legator has appointed a trustee for his estate, the judge shall confirm such 
appointment if requested by a successor. The trustee may relinquish this appointment.

Article (279 ) 
The judge may, at the request of a concerned party or the public prosecution or without 
being asked, remove the trustee and appoint another in his place if a justification for such 
act is established.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  94

Article (280 ) 
1. The court shall enter in a special record the orders issued for appoin ting or removing 
trustees for the estate if the legator appoints or removes them of they resign.  
2. This entry shall be effective for third parties who deal with the successors in respect of the 
estate realties.

Article (281 ) 
1. The estate trustee shall receive its property after his appointment and liquidate such 
property under the control of the judge for whom he may ask for remuneration to be 
determined by the judge.  
2. The estate shall sustain the liquidations expenses and such expenses shall have the lien 
right of juridical expenses.

Article (282 ) 
The judge shall, if necessary, take all necessary measures for preserving the estate. He may 
also order that funds, securities and valuable things be deposited in the treasury o f the court 
having within its precinct all or most of the estate property till the liquidation takes place.

Article (283 ) 
The estate trustee shall pay from the estate funds:  
1. Costs for preparing the decedent for burial  
2. An adequat e maintenance to the successor in need pending completion of liquidation 
after obtaining a court order for payment, provided that the cost taken by each successor 
shall be deducted from his share in the estate.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  95 
 3. The judge shall decide on any dispute in t his regard.

Article (284 ) 
1. From the time of appointing a trustee for the estate, creditors may not take any procedure 
regarding the estate or pursue any procedure they have taken except vis -`-vis the estate 
trustee.  
2. All procedures taken against the legator shall be discontinued pending settlement of all 
the debts of the estate once any concerned party so requests.

Article (285 ) 
No successor may, before receiving the certificate attesting his share in the net estate, 
dispose of the estate property o r recover the debts owing to the estate or conclude a debt on 
him as clearance with the succession debt.

Article (286 ) 
1. The estate trustee shall take all measures necessary for protecting the estate property, carry out all necessary administrative tas ks, represent the estate in actions and recover the 
debts owing to the estate.  
2. The estate trustee, even if he is not hired, shall be as responsible as a hired proxy. The 
court may ask him to submit an account of his administrative tasks at periodical in tervals.

Article (287 ) 
1. The estate trustee shall invite the estate creditors and debtors to submit a statement of 
their rights and debts within two months from the date of publishing this order.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  96 
 2. This order shall be pasted on the notice board of the court having within its precinct the 
last domicile of the legator and the court having within its precinct all or most of the estate 
realties and publish this order in a daily newspaper.

Article (288 ) 
The estate trustee shall deposit at the court issuing  the decision of his appointment within 
three months from the date of appointment an inventory statement of the estate assets and 
liabilities and an estimation of these funds. He shall also notify the persons concerned about 
this deposit by a registered le tter. He may also ask the court to extent this period if relevant 
justifications exist.

Article (289 ) 
The estate trustee may, for estimating and inventorying the estate property, seek the services of an expert and record the findings revealed by the legator's papers and the information he 
receives about them. Successors shall inform the trustee of all debts and rights of the estate 
they know.

Article (290 ) 
Any person who seizes by fraud anything of the estate property shall be liable to the penalty 
provided for the breach of trust in the penal code even if he is a successor.

Article (291 ) 
Any dissension concerning the validity of inventory shall be lodged before the court of 
competent jurisdiction within thirty days f rom the date of depositing the inventory  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  97 
 statement.  
  
Chapter Two  
Settlement of the Estate Debts

Article (292 ) 
1. Following the lapse of the period set for contending against the inventory statement, the 
estate trustee shall proceed with settling the estat e debts concerning which no litigation is 
raised after obtaining the court permission.  
2. Litigious debts shall be settlement after a final decision is issued on the succession validity.

Article (293 ) 
In case of insolvency or probable insolvency of the estate, the estate trustee shall discontinue settling any debt even if no litigation arises in respect thereof pending a final decision is issued on all litigations connected with the estate debts.

Article (294 ) 
1. The estate trustee shall settle the estate debts from the proceeds he collects from its claims and from the money of which they consist as well as the price of the movables of the estate, 
or from the price of the realty of the estate if these are not sufficient.  
2. The estate movables and realties shall be sold by public auction according to the terms 
and on the dates prescribed in mandatory sales in the Civil Procedures Law, unless 
successors agree on another method. If the estate is bankrupt,  the approval of all creditors of 
the method agreed by the successors shall be required. In all cases, successors shall have the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  98 
 right to participate in the auction.

Article (295 ) 
Debts not guaranteed by a real security shall fall due upon the legator's death. The judge 
may, at the request of all successors, decide the maturity of the debt guaranteed by a real 
security and determine the amount due to the creditor.

Article (296 ) 
Any successor may, after distributing the deferred debts guaranteed by a real security, pay 
the amount allotted to him before the due date.

Article (297 ) 
Creditors who have not recovered their rights because of not having been recorded in the inventory list or who have no security guaranteed by the estate property may not have recourse against any person who has acquired in good faith a real right on such property, 
but they may have recourse against successors within the limits of the enrichment they 
realize from the estate.

Article (298 ) 
The estate trustee shall, after settling the estate debts, implement the legator's wills, legacies 
and other assigned tasks.  
 
 
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  99 
 Chapter Three  
Delivering and Dividing the Estate Property

Article (299 ) 
After performing the est ate-related obligations, the remaining property of the estate shall 
devolve to the successors, each according to his/her legitimate share.

Article (300 ) 
1. The estate trustee shall deliver to the successors all the estate property that has devolved 
to th em.  
2. Immediately upon expiry of the period determined for litigations connected with the estate inventory, successors may ask to be handed the objects or moneys not required for 
liquidating the estate or receive some of them on an interim basis in return  for or without 
submitting a warranty.

Article (301 ) 
Each successor may ask the estate trustee to deliver to him his share sorted out from the legacy unless that successor is obligated to remain in the joint property according to an 
agreement or a provis ion of the law.

Article (302 ) 
1. The estate not consumed by debts may be divided before settling the debts owing from it, 
provided that a portion of the estate shall be allocated for paying the estate debts including 
those guaranteed by a real security.  
2. If the request for division is enforceable, the estate trustee shall carry out the division  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  100 
 amicably provided that it shall become final only after it is unanimously approved by the 
successors.  
3. If the successors fail to reach such unanimity, the estate trustee shall ask the court for a 
procedure according to the provisions of the law and the costs of the action shall be 
deducted from the successors' shares.

Article (303 ) 
The division of the estate shall be governed by the rules prescribed for division as well as the 
provisions of the following Articles:

Article (304 ) 
If the estate property comprises an agricultural, industrial or commercial enterprise that is 
considered an independent entity of others and the successors fail to agree on operating it 
any further and with which no right of a third party is connected, such enterprise shall be 
appropriated in its entirety to the successor who asks for it if he the most capable of 
handling it provided that its value shall be determined and deducted from his share in the 
estate. If the successors' abilities to handle the enterprise are equal, it shall be appropriated 
to the successor who offers the highest price provided that it shall not be less than that of a 
similar enterprise.

Article (305 ) 
If in dividing the estate property one of the successors exclusively assumes the task of paying a debt owing from the legacy, the rest of successors shall not guarantee such debt if he goes bankrupt after division unless they agree otherwise.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  101

Article (306) 
A testament dividing the estate realities among the testator's successors shall be valid, so 
that a part shall be defined for each one or some successors equal to his or their shares and 
shall be considered a bequest to a successor.

Article (307 ) 
A di vision enforceable after death may be retracted and shall be become imperative upon 
the death of the testator.

Article (308 ) 
If the division does not comprise all the testator's property at the time of his death, the 
property not included in the division shall devolve to the successors as a joint property 
according to the rules on inheritance.

Article (309 ) 
In the case of death of one or more potential successors included in the division before the testator's death, the shorted shares that has been appr opriated to the dead successor shall 
devolve to the remaining successors as a joint property according to the rules of inheritance without prejudice of rules of compulsory wills.

Article (310 ) 
A division enforceable after death shall be governed generally by the provisions of division 
except the provisions of injustice.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  102

Article (311 ) 
If the division does not include the debts of the estate, or if it comprises them but the 
creditors doe not accept such division, any successor, if no agreement is reached with the 
creditors, may ask the court to conduct the division and settle the debts provided that the 
division bequeathed by the testator and the considerations on which it based shall be 
considered.  
  
Chapter Four 
Provisions on the Non -Liquidated Estate

Article (312 ) 
If the estate has not already been liquidated according to the foregoing provisions, the 
ordinary creditors of the estate may levy an execution with their  rights or with those 
bequeathed to them on the realties of the estate that are disposed of or on which real rights accrue in favor of a third party if they have attached them against their debts before registering such disposals.  
 
Part Two  
Inheritance  
Chap ter One  
General Provisions

Article (313 ) 
Inheritance is an imperative devolution of property and pecuniary rights upon the death of 
their owner to their beneficiaries.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  103

Article (314 ) 
Elements of inheritance  
1. The legator (inheritee)  
2. The inheritor  
3. Th e inheritance

Article (315 ) 
Causes of inheritance: Marriage and kinship

Article (316 ) 
Conditions required for entitlement to inheritance:  
Death of the legator in realty or by a judgment  
The real or discretionary survival of his inheritor at the time of his death  
Knowing the sides of inheritance.

Article (317 ) 
Impediments to inheritance:  
Murdering the devisor intentionally whether the murderer is a principal perpetrator, or a 
causative accomplice. Murder must be committed without legal cause or e xcuse and the 
murderer must be of sound mind and of legal age.

Article (318 ) 
There shall be no inheritance if there is difference in religion.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  104

Article (319 ) 
If two or more persons who are allowed to inherit one another die but it is not known who 
died first, no one of them shall be entitled to inherit from the other's succession.

Article (320 ) 
Inheritance shall be distributed according to the shares fixed, then the rules of ta'sib or both, then according to kinship.  
  
Chapter Two  
Shares and their Ho lders

Article (321 ) 
1. Fard : A fixed share for the inheritor in the succession  
2. Fixed shares : A half, a fourth, an eighth, two thirds, one third, one sixth, the third of the 
remainder.  
3. Persons entitled to fixed shares : Parents, the spouses, the paternal grandfather, the grandmother, daughters, the son's daughters, sisters in general, the uterine brother.

Article (322 ) 
Persons entitled to the half:  
1. The husband provided that there is no inheriting descendant for the wife.  
2. The daughter provided that the decedent has no child, male or female.  
3. The daughter of the son however low in lineage provided that the decedent has no son, that there is no son's son equal to or higher than her in lineage.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  105 
 4. The full sister if there  is no brother, no other sister, no descendent inheriting the decedent, 
no father, or no paternal grandfather.  
5. The paternal sister if she is alone, or if there is no paternal brother, no brother, no sister, 
no descendant inheriting the decedent, no fath er or no paternal grandfather.

Article (323 ) 
Persons entitled to the fourth:  
1. The husband if there is a descendent inheriting the wife.  
2. The wife even if there are several wives and if the husband has no inheriting descendents.

Article (324 ) 
Person s entitled to the eighth:  
The wife even if there are several wives and the husband has an inheriting descendent.

Article (325 ) 
Persons entitled to two thirds:  
1. Two daughters or more if the decedent has no son.  
2. The two daughters of the son however low in lineage if there is no bodily son of the 
decedent, or a son's son equal to them in degree, or a son's son higher than them.  
3. Two sisters or more if there is no brother or a descendent inheriting the decedent or father or paternal grandfather.  
4. Tw o paternal sisters or more if there is no father, brother, sister, descendents inheriting 
the decedent, father or paternal grandfather.   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  106

Article (326 ) 
Persons entitled to the third:  
1. The mother when there is a descendent inheriting the decedent and there are not two or 
more of brothers or sisters in general. Unless the here inheritance is limited to one spouse 
and the father, she shall be entitled then to the remainder of the third.  
2. Two or more of the mother's sons if there is no descendent inheriting the decedent, or father or paternal grandfather. In this case, inheritance shall be divided equally, males and 
females having equal shares.  
3. The paternal grandfather if he has full brothers or paternal brothers or if both number 
than two brothers, or an equal number of sisters and there is no heir with a fixed share.

Article (327 ) 
Persons entitled to the sixth:  
1. The father if there is an inheriting descendent.  
2. The paternal gr andfather in the following cases:  
a. If there is a descendent inheriting the decedent with him.  
b. If there are heirs entitled to fixed shares with him and his share falls below one sixth or the remainder of a third, or nothing is left over from them.  
c. If there is an inheritor with a fixed share or if there are more than two brothers or equal 
sisters, full or paternal, and the sixth is better for him than the remainder of the third.  
3. The mother in the presence of inheriting descendents, two or more brot hers and sisters in 
general.  
4. The real grandmother however high in lineage, one or more, provided that no inheritor  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  107 
 excludes her from inheritance.  
5. The son's daughter whether there is one or more, however low her father is in lineage, in 
the presence of one own daughter or the son's single daughter higher in degree, if there is no 
son or son's son higher than or equal to her in degree.  
6. The paternal sister, one or more, in the presence of the single sister if there is no descendent inheriting the dece dent or father or paternal grandfather or full or paternal 
brother.  
7. One maternal brother or sister if there is no descendent inheriting the decedent or father 
or paternal grandfather subject to the provisions of Article 347 hereof.

Article (328 ) 
Persons entitled to the remainder of the third:  
1. The mother in the presence of one spouse and the father, if there is no descendent inheriting the decedent or two or more bothers or sisters in general.  
2. The paternal grandfather if there are heirs entitled t o fixed shares or more than two 
brothers or equal sisters, full or paternal, and if the remainder of the third is better for him 
than the sixth.  
  
Chapter Th ree 
Asabas (Agnates)

Article (329 ) 
1. Ta'sib is an indefinite entitlement in the succession.  
2. Agnates are of three types:  
a. Agnates by themselves   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  108 
 b. Agnates by others  
c. Agnates with others

Article (330 ) 
Agnates by themselves are four sides some of which have presence over the other according 
to the following order:  
1. Filiation including the  sons and the son's sons however low in lineage.  
2. Paternity including the father and the paternal grandfather however high in lineage.  
3. Fraternity including full or paternal brothers and their sons however low in lineage.  
4. Paternal unclehood includin g the decedent's uncles, parental or paternal, his father's 
uncles, the full or paternal uncles of the paternal grandfather however high in lineage, and 
the sons of the full or paternal uncles however low in lineage.

Article (331 ) 
An agnate by himself sh all be entitled to the succession in the absence of heirs entitled to 
fixed shares, and to the remainder of the succession in their presence, while to nothing if the fixed shares exhaust the succession.

Article (332 ) 
1. Precedence shall be given to the agnate who is the most precedent in the order mentioned in Article 330 hereof, then to the closest in the degree of kinship to the decedent when 
considering the lineage side, then to the strongest in the degree of kinship in case of equality 
in the degree.  
2. Agnates shall share in entitlement to their share of the succession when they are of the  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  109 
 same side and equal in the degree and strength of kinship.

Article (333 ) 
If the paternal grandfather is present in combinatio n with full or paternal brothers or both 
male or female or mixed, whether they have or don't have an inheritor with a fixed share, 
the grandfather shall inherit as an agnate on the consideration that he is a brother of the 
decedent unless the sixth or the remainder of the third is better for him subject to the 
provision of Article 346 hereof.

Article (334 ) 
1. Agnates by others:  
a. One daughter or more with one or more sons.  
b. The son's daughter however low in lineage whether one or more, in the presence of one son's son or more whether he is equal to or lower than her in degree if she needs him, but he 
shall exclude her if he is higher.  
c. One full sister or more with one full brother or more.  
d. One paternal sister or more with one paternal brother or mo re. 
2. In this case, the male shall inherit a share equal to that of females.

Article (335 ) 
Agnates with others: the full or paternal sister, whether one or more, with the daughter or the son's daughter, whether one or more. In this case, she shall be eq ual to the brother in 
deserving the remainder and excluding the other agnates.  
   
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Chapter Four 
Inheritors by Fard and Ta'sib (as persons entitled to fixed shares or as 
agnates)

Article (336 ) 
Inheritors by Fard and Ta'sib:  
1. The father or the paternal fath er with the daughter or the son's daughter however low her 
father is in lineage.  
2. The husband if the decedent's cousin takes his share by fard (the legally fixed share) and 
what he deserves by the filiation of unclehood as a residuary.  
3. The maternal br other, whether one or more, if the decedent's cousin takes his share by 
fard what he deserves by the filiation of unclehood as a residuary.  
  
Chapter Five  
Exclusion and Deprivation

Article (337 ) 
1. Exclusion: Depriving an inhe ritor of inheritance partially or totally because of the 
presence of another inheritor who is more entitled to inheritance.  
2. Exclusion is of two kinds: Total exclusion and partial exclusion.  
3. Persons excluded from inheritance may exclude the others.  
4. Persons deprived of inheritance shall not exclude the others.

Article (338 ) 
1. The real grandfather shall be excluded by the father and every agnate grandfather  
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 descending from him.  
2. The closer grandmother shall exclude the distant one unless kinship is on the father's side, 
in which case the distant grandmother on the mother's side shall not be excluded. The 
mother shall exclude the real grandmother absolutely. The father shall exclude the paternal 
grandmother, and the real grandfather shall exclude t he grandmother if she is his ancestor.

Article (339 ) 
The mother's sons shall be excluded by the father and the real grandfather however high in 
lineage, and the son and the son's son however low in lineage.

Article (340 ) 
Both of the son and the son's s on however low in lineage shall exclude the son's daughter 
lower in degree. She shall be excluded as well by two daughters or two daughters of the son higher in degree unless an agnate inherits with her.

Article (341 ) 
The father, the son and the son's son however low in lineage shall exclude the paternal 
brothers and sisters.

Article (342 ) 
The father, the son, and the son's son whoever low in lineage shall exclude the paternal sister. She shall be excluded as well by the full brother and the full sister if she inherits with 
other agnates subject to the provision of Article 335 hereof, and by the full two sisters if 
there is no paternal brother. Paternal brothers shall exclude the father, the son and the son's  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  112 
 son however l ow in lineage, and the full brother and the full sister if she inherits with other 
agnates.  
  
Chapter Six  
Radd and Awl

Article (343 ) 
Radd: A pro rata increase occurring in the shares of persons entitled to f ixed shares when the 
original question exceeds the total of its portions.

Article (344 ) 
If the fixed shares do not exhaust the succession and if there is no agnate through affinity, 
the remainder shall retuned to those entitled to fixed shares other than the spouses 
according to their shares. The remainder of the succession shall be returned to the spouses if there is no agnate through affinity or a person entitled to a proportional share or a blood relative.

Article (345 ) 
1. Awal: A pro rata shortage t hat occurs in the portions of the persons entitled to fixed shares 
when the shares exceed the original question of legacy.  
2. The shortage that occurs in the question shall be considered a basis on which the 
succession shall be divided.  
 
 
  
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 Chapter Seven  
Spe cial Questions  
Section One  
Akdariya

Article (346 ) 
The grandfather shall inherit as an agnate with the full or paternal sister, whereas she may 
not inherit with him as a person entitled to a fixed share except in Al- Akdariya, i.e., a 
question involving a husband, a mother, a grandfather, a full or a paternal sister.  
The father shall take the half, the mother the third, the grandfather the sixth. The sister shall 
be fixed the half that shall be added to the sixth of the grandfather, and the total shall be 
divided between them on the basis that the male shall take the share of two females.  
  
Section Two  
Mushtaraka (Shared Question)

Article (347 ) 
The full brother shall inherit as an agnate except in the question of Mushtaraka, i.e, a 
question involving a husb and, a mother or a grandmother, a number of maternal brothers, a 
full brother (full brothers).  
The husband shall take the half and the mother or the grandmother shall take the sixth. The 
third shall be divided between the maternal brothers and full brother s on the basis that the 
male shall take the share of two females.  
  
  
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 Section Three  
Malikiyat and Similar Doctrines

Article (348 ) 
The grandfather shall not exclude the full or paternal father except in the question of 
Malikiyat and similar doctrines:  
Malikiy at: In a question involving a husband, a mother, a grandfather, maternal brothers, a 
paternal brother, the mother shall deserve one sixth and the grandfather shall deserve the remainder as an agnate.  
Similar doctrines: In a question involving a husband, a mother, a grandfather, maternal brothers, a full brother, the husband shall deserve the half, the mother one sixth, and the 
grandfather the remainder as an agnate.  
  
Chapter Eight  
Inheritance of Blood Relatives

Article (349 ) 
Blood relatives are four types:  
First type:  
Sons of daughters however low in lineage and the sons of the son's daughters however low 
in lineage.  
Second type:  
Uterine grandfathers however high in lineage and uterine grandmothers however high in lineage.  
Third type:  
1. Sons of the material brothers and their sons however low in lineage.   
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 2. Sons of sisters in general however low in lineage.  
3. Daughters of brothers in general however low in lineage.  
4. Daughters of brothers' sons in general however low in lineage and t heir sons however 
low in lineage.  
Fourth type:  
This type includes six groups:  
1. The paternal uncles of the decedent on the mother's side, his paternal and paternal uncles 
and aunts in general.  
2. The sons of those males mentioned in the above paragraph ho wever low in lineage, the 
daughters of the decedent's paternal uncles on the side of one or both parents, the 
daughters of their sons however low in lineage, and the sons of those mentioned females however low in lineage.  
3. The uncles of the decedent's father on the mother's side, the maternal aunts of his father in general "paternal kinship), the paternal and paternal uncles and aunts of the decedent in 
general "maternal kinship".  
4. The sons of those mentioned in the above paragraph however low, the daug hters of the 
paternal uncles of the decedent on the side of one parent or both parents, the daughters of 
their sons however low in lineage, and the sons of those mentioned however low in lineage.  
5. The paternal uncles of the parents of the decedent's fath er on the mother's side, the 
paternal uncles of his father's mother, the paternal aunts of his father's parents, their 
maternal uncles and maternal aunts in general (maternal kinship), the paternal uncles of the 
parents of the decedent's mother, her patern al aunts, their maternal uncles and maternal 
aunts in general (maternal kinship).  
6. The sons of those mentioned in the above paragraph however low in lineage, the 
daughters of the parents of the decedent's father on the side of one parent or both parents,   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  116 
 the daughters of their sons however low in lineage, and the sons of those mentioned 
however low in lineage.

Article (350 ) 
1. Concerning the first type of blood relatives, the closest person of them in degree to the 
decedent shall have the most right to inheritance. If they are equal in degree, the son of the 
person entitled to a fixed share shall have precedence over the son of the blood relative. If 
they are all sons of a person entitled to a fixed share, or if there is no son of a person entitled 
to a fixed share among them, they shall share the inheritance.  
2. Concerning the second type of blood relatives, the closet person of them in degree to the 
decedent shall have the most right to inheritance. If they are equal in degree, precedence 
shall be given to the person who is an ancestor to a person entitled to a fixed share 
descends. If they are all equal in degree and none of them is an ancestor to a person entitled to a fixed share, of if they are all ancestors to a person entitled to a fixed share, the y shall all 
share the inheritance if they all descend from the mother's or father's side. If their sides are different, the paternal relatives shall take two thirds and the maternal relatives shall take one 
third.  
3. Concerning the third type of blood relatives, the closet person of them in degree to the 
decedent shall have the most right to inheritance. If they are equal in degree, and some of 
them are sons of an inheritor and some are sons of a blood relative, the former shall have 
precedence over the lat ter, otherwise precedence shall be given to the strongest in kinship. 
The person descending from both parents shall be more entitled than the one descending 
from one parent. The one descending from a father shall be more entitled than the one 
descending fr om a mother. If they are united by the same degree and strength of kinship,  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  117 
 they shall share the inheritance.

Article (351 ) 
1. If the paternal kinships including the uncles of the decedent on the mother's side, his 
aunts in general or the maternal kinship including the uncles of the decedent and his aunts 
in general are the only inheritors in the first group of the fourth type indicated in Article 349 
hereof, precedence shall be given to the strongest in kinship; persons descending from both 
parents shall be more entitled to persons descending from one parent, persons descending 
from a father shall be more entitled to persons descending from a mother. If they are equally 
strong in kinship, they shall share the inheritance. When the two parties are united, the 
paternal kinship shall take two thirds and the maternal one shall take one third. Shares of 
each party shall be divided as indicated above.  
The provisions of the above paragraph shall be applied to the third and fifth groups.  
2. Concerning the second type, the closet person in degree to the decedent shall have 
precedence over the most distant even if not from his kinship side. In case of equality and 
unity on the kinship side, precedence shall be given to the strongest if they are all an 
agnate's or a blood relative's sons. If they are different, the agnate's son shall be given precedence over the blood relative's son. In case of difference in the kinship side, two thirds 
shall be given to the father's kinship, and one third to the mother's kinship. The shares 
obtained by each side shall be divided among them in the above way.  
The provisions of the above paragraph shall be applied to the fourth and sixth groups.  
3. No consideration shall be given to the plurality of the kinship s ides of one inheritor from 
the blood relatives except if the side is different.  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  118

Article (352 ) 
With regard to the inheritance of blood relatives, the male shall have the share of two 
females except the sons of the maternal brother whose inheritance shall b e divided equally 
between males and females.  
  
Chapter Nine  
Inheritance by Judgment

Article (353 ) 
The lost person shall be allocated his share from the estate according to the judgment on his life. If he appears alive, he shall take his share. If he is adjudged dead, his share shall be 
restituted to his inheritor entitled to it at the time of judgment.

Article (354 ) 
Gestation shall be allocated from the estate the share of two males or two females, 
whichever is greater, on the assumption that it is twins.  The remaining inheritors shall be 
given the lesser of the two shares. After delivery, the estate shall be distributed according to legal shares.

Article (355 ) 
If the share allocated for gestation is le ss than the due share, the remainder shall be 
recovered from the inheritor whose share has been increased. If the share allocated for gestation exceeds the due share, the increase shall be returned to the deserving inheritor.  
  
  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  119 
 Chapter Ten  
Takharuj

Article (356 ) 
1. Takharuj is an agreement under which some inheritors relinquish their known shares of 
the succession to others for a known consideration.  
2. If one inheritor agrees to relinquish his shares to another, the latter shall deserve his share and replace him in the succession.  
3. If one inheritor agrees to relinquish his shares to the other inheritors, the shares of the 
relinquishing inheritor shall be deducted from the original question while the remaining 
shares shall remain unchanged if the am ounts paid to him are from the succession. If the 
amounts paid to him are from their funds without the takharuj agreement providing for a method for dividing the shares of the relinquishing inheritor, such amount shall be divided 
among them according to th e proportion he has paid. Where the portion paid by each of 
them is not known, the amount shall be divided among them equally.  
  
Chapter Eleven  
Miscellaneous Questions

Article (357 ) 
1. If the decedent recognizes in his life any person as his lawful heir, his recognition shall not 
affect the other heirs unless it fulfills the conditions of its validity.  
2. If the decedent recognizes in his life any person as his unlawful heir without proof 
according to Article 93 hereof or retracting his recognition, the pe rson recognized as such 
shall be entitled to the succession of the recognizer if he has not inheritor.  
3. If some inheritors recognize any person as a lawful heir of their devisor, the person  
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  120 
 recognized as such shall share the recognizer only in entitlemen t to inheritance unless he is 
excluded by him.

Article (358 ) 
An illegitimate son or the son of parents accusing each other of adultery shall inherit from 
his mother and her relatives. Similarly, the mother and her relatives shall inherit them.

Article (359 ) 
A hermaphrodite shall take a half of the two shares depending on estimating his masculinity 
or femininity.

Article (360 ) 
The succession of a decedent having no inheritor shall be allocated as a charitable endowment in his name for the poor, the nee dy, knowledge seekers under the supervision 
of the General Endowments Authority.

Article (361 ) 
Any circumvention of the provisions of inheritance by sale, donation, bequest or other disposals shall be null and void.  
  
Conclusive Provisions

Article (362 ) 
Any provision contravening or contradicting the provisions hereof shall be repealed.  
   
Federal Law of 2005 Regarding personal status  121

Article (363 ) 
This law shall be published in the official gazette and applied from the date of publication.  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahayan  
President of the United A rab Emirates  
 
 
 
Issued by us in the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi  
On 17 Shawwal 1426 A.H.  
Corresponding to 19 November 2005 A.D.