UAE Court Grants Equal Child Custody to Father in Landmark Ruling

In a major decision, the UAE court has granted a Belgian father equal custody of his three-and-a-half-year-old son after a months-long legal battle that tested traditional views of parental roles.

The story dates back to November 2024, when a Belgian man and his Italian wife, both UAE residents, finalised their divorce. Their son, born in 2021, became the centre of an emotional child custody dispute.

Initially, the mother was granted full custody on December 31, 2024, with the father restricted to just one hour of supervised visitation twice a month. The court reasoned that his demanding job as a co-pilot for a UAE airline made consistent parenting difficult.

An appeal to the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal was also dismissed on February 12, 2025, reinforcing the view that the father’s irregular work schedule disqualified him from active custody.

However, refusing to accept the limited access, the father escalated the case to the Court of Cassation, the UAE’s highest judicial authority. In a groundbreaking verdict delivered on April 23, 2025, the court ruled in favour of shared custody, rejecting the idea that an unconventional work schedule should prevent a parent from being fully involved in their child’s life.

The Court of Cassation declared:

"The mere fact that the father works as a pilot and has an irregular schedule cannot be used to marginalise his role. This is a profession, not a disqualification."

The ruling emphasized that both parents must coordinate in good faith to prioritise the child’s wellbeing, factoring in the school calendar and the father’s flight schedules to create a meaningful parenting plan.

This decision marks a significant evolution in child custody laws in the UAE, recognising that modern parenthood demands flexibility and that a parent’s devotion is not measured by a conventional nine-to-five job.

For the father, this victory is about much more than winning a case , it’s about sharing bedtime stories, enjoying school drop-offs, making weekend memories, and being an active, loving parent, despite the challenges of a dynamic profession.

 

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