Securing UAE Jurisdiction in a High-Value International Divorce

George represented a high-net-worth individual residing in Abu Dhabi in a cross-border divorce dispute involving parallel proceedings in the United States and the UAE. The client and his former spouse were United States nationals who had married in Texas. The client had initially commenced divorce proceedings in Texas but later withdrew them and instructed George to pursue a unilateral, no-fault divorce before the Abu Dhabi courts under Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 on Civil Marriage and its Effects in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The opposing party sought to have the dispute determined in Texas, where she intended to pursue claims against the client’s assets. The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal initially found that the UAE courts lacked jurisdiction, relying in part on the proceedings previously commenced by the client in Texas. George challenged those decisions before the Court of Cassation and secured a favourable judgment overturning the jurisdictional findings. Following the cassation judgment, the proceedings returned to the lower court and the client was granted a divorce under the Abu Dhabi civil family law framework. The result protected the client from having the divorce determined exclusively in Texas and preserved his position against foreign asset-division claims potentially worth several million dollars.