Court gives Australian father full custody of daughters

An Australian living in the UAE has been given full custody of his two daughters after a prolonged legal battle.

The ruling by Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court is believed to be the first in the region of an expatriate Muslim father being granted full custody of his children, with the mother receiving visiting rights.

Other foreign fathers have previously been given custody of their children by the court.

The Abu Dhabi resident and his daughters, who were seeking a child protection order against the mother, burst into tears when the ruling was announced.

It allows his daughters to live with him full-time.

The mother can see them only with agreement.

Speaking to The National under the pseudonym Peter, the father said: “For an Abu Dhabi court to take immediate action to protect my daughters means a lot to us.

“For an expatriate, it shows that the rule of law will prevail here and things will be done in the best interests of the children.

“This is comforting to expatriate families who have moved to Abu Dhabi and unfortunately have a parenting dispute … to have it resolved here, where both sides are heard, is really important.

“An important part of any decision to come here is the feeling that there is a rule of law, especially when it comes to protecting children.”

Peter moved to the UAE in 2017 and has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past year. His former wife is a US citizen.

The couple were divorced in 2019 and the children lived in the US with their mother.

Most court sessions were held online as the mother is in the US.

Before the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court was founded in 2021, such cases would have been subject to the Personal Status Law. This gives full custody to the mother, unless she remarries.

“This is a massive moment for the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court,” Byron James, a partner at Expatriate Law in Abu Dhabi, told The National.

“It means that, as an expatriate, you can have your cases dealt with here instead of your home country, where you may not have lived for years.

“It shows a court that is willing to engage with complex children cases involving expatriates. The judge deserves a lot of praise for being so brave and child-focused.”

Mr James said the Abu Dhabi legal system is “providing a jurisdiction for children in this situation and where no other jurisdiction exists”.

“We just cried,” Peter said of their reaction to the court’s decision.

The court is registering the order in California which, The National understands, would be the first time an order of the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court will be endorsed by a court abroad.

The case remains subject to appeal.