Understanding how to recover unpaid alimony starts with whether you already have an enforceable judgment. To recover unpaid alimony in the UAE, you open an execution file with the court that issued the judgment and ask the execution judge to use the enforcement measures the law allows. If you have no judgment yet, you file a maintenance claim first, and the Personal Status Law limits how far back you can claim. Read the law on the UAE legislation portal.
This guide follows the Personal Status Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024), which applies to UAE citizens where one or both parties are Muslim, to non-Muslim citizens unless special provisions or another permitted law apply, and to non-citizens unless one asks for his or her own law (Article 1). A section below covers non-Muslims.
Two Different Situations
Your route depends on whether a judgment already fixes the alimony.
For background on the amount awarded, see how alimony is calculated in Dubai.
| Situation | What You Do | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| A judgment or an approved settlement already fixes the alimony, and payments are missing. | Enforce it through an execution file. | The amount is already decided. The question is enforcement, not the right to alimony. |
| No judgment yet, or you want alimony for a period the judgment does not cover. | File a maintenance claim. | The Personal Status Law limits how far back a claim can reach, as the next table shows. |
How Far Back A Maintenance Claim Can Reach
The law sets time limits for a claim made without a judgment.
| Claim | What The Law Says | Article |
|---|---|---|
| A wife’s maintenance | A claim is not heard for a period exceeding two years, counted back from the date of filing. | 99(3) |
| A child’s maintenance from the father | A claim is not heard for a period exceeding one year, counted back from the date of the judicial claim. | 111(1) |
| Maintenance of relatives other than children | It is imposed from the date of the judicial claim. | 111(2) |
| Ongoing maintenance due from the date of filing for the wife, children, and parents | It is a preferential debt that takes precedence over all other debts, unlike past maintenance, which is subject to the ruling of other debts. | 98 |
| Temporary maintenance while the case runs | The court can order it on the wife’s request, and it is subject to immediate enforcement by force of law. | 100 |
| An increase in alimony | The ruling cannot have retroactive effect for more than six months. A decrease runs from the date of the ruling. | 97 |
| A wife’s right to maintenance | It is not waived except by payment or release. It lapses if she withholds herself, refuses to move to the marital home, or refuses to travel with him without a legitimate excuse | 99(2), 103 |
Article 98 ranks alimony among the debtor’s other debts. How that rank works in a particular enforcement, for example, against a debtor with several creditors, is decided by the execution judge under the Civil Procedure Law.
How To Recover Unpaid Alimony Explained
Start from the execution file and a clear statement of arrears.
- Gather the judgment or the approved settlement and the debtor’s identity, employer, and bank details if you have them.
- Prepare a month-by-month statement of what was due, what was paid, and what is outstanding.
- Open an execution file with the court that issued the judgment, and ask the execution judge to enforce it. The debtor is notified and given a period to pay.
- If he does not pay, ask for the measures you need, such as attachment of accounts or salary, or a travel ban.
- Deal with any objection. The debtor can raise objections in the execution file, and the execution judge decides them.
- For a period the judgment does not cover, file a maintenance claim within the limits in Articles 99 and 111.
The Tools Available To The Execution Judge
The Civil Procedure Law gives the execution judge the power to enforce a judgment against the debtor’s assets and income. These are the main tools.
| Tool | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Attachment of bank accounts and other assets | Freezes funds and property to cover the debt and can lead to a sale |
| Salary deduction | The employer pays part of the wage to the creditor. Under the Labour Law, a court-ordered debt can be deducted up to a quarter of the wage, and more where the debt is alimony, within an overall limit of 50% of the wage (Article 25(1)(g) and 25(2)). |
| Travel ban | Prevents a debtor from leaving the state where there are reasonable grounds to fear that he will leave |
| Cabinet-assigned collection | The Cabinet can assign collection of maintenance judgments to a government body or a private legal person, which pays the person awarded the maintenance and then collects from the debtor (Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024, Article 3) |
Your right to alimony is substantive: it comes from the Personal Status Law. Enforcement is procedural: it needs an enforceable judgment or order, an execution file, and notice to the debtor. A missing procedural step can delay enforcement even where the right is clear.
If The Payer Says He Cannot Pay
A claim of hardship does not erase arrears.
- A reduction in alimony is not retroactive. It runs from the date of the ruling, unless the ruling says otherwise (Article 97). Arrears before that date stay due.
- A request to change alimony is not heard until a year after the ruling becomes final, unless the court finds exceptional circumstances (Article 97).
- A husband who refuses to maintain his wife gets up to 30 days. If he claims inability and proves it, he gets up to 90 days, and the court then divorces him if he still refuses (Article 77).
Non-Muslims
Under the civil personal status law, the divorced woman can ask the court for alimony after divorce (Article 9). That law applies other laws in force to matters it does not cover (Article 15), so ask a lawyer how arrears are calculated and enforced in your case.
For guidance on preparing a support claim and choosing legal help, read our article on UAE family law firms handling alimony claims.
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If alimony is overdue, you can send us the judgment and your payment records on WhatsApp or through the Contact Us page.
Questions About Unpaid Alimony
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