Husbands cannot drive family out after divorce

Dubai: A lawyer has warned that some divorced Emirati mothers and their children are being forced out of houses provided by the Shaikh Zayed Housing Programme when their former husband allows new wives to share the accommodation.

The Shaikh Zayed Housing Programme (SZHP) provides housing to Emiratis. Under housing assistance agreements, any husband can keep his divorcee living, along with their children, in the same house.

"Article 4/10 of SZHP's housing assistance agreements stipulates that husbands can allow ex-wives and their children to remain living in the housing unit after divorce & Some husbands are abusing this article by bringing in new wives to share the accommodation or bringing over their family members (brothers/sisters) to upset their divorcees and force them to leave the house.

"Some ex-wives are being forced to leave the accommodation and resort to the government for new housing assistance, hence forcing the government to provide two houses for the same family.

"This costs the government extra budgeting as well," advocate Mukhtar Mohammad Al Garib, of Al Garib Associates Advocates and Legal Consultants, told Gulf News.

His warning followed a recent ruling issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation which ordered an Emirati retiree to leave the SZHP-provided accommodation to his former wife and children. The Cassation Court barred the husband and his new wife from sharing the accommodation in the Al Jafiliyah district.

The judge also prevented the former husband from bringing anyone to the house, not even his relatives, and keep his divorcee, six children and housemaid living in the accommodation.

Al Garib strongly suggested to the authorities that the matter of allowing a divocee and her children remain in the accommodation 'shouldn't remain optional'.

"The article 4/10 should be amended and oblige former husbands to leave their houses to their divorcees and children & otherwise if it remains optional, it would keep former wives under the mercy of their husbands and under the risk of leaving a decent accommodation," cautioned the lawyer.

Al Garib, who defended the former wife in this case, argued before the court that his client and her six children were forced to leave the villa as soon as her former husband brought in his new wife to share the accommodation.

"He also admitted to accommodating his brothers and sisters and who eventually came to upset my client and force her to leave. He even offered my client and her children to stay in one room although it's a two-storey villa," the advocate claimed in his lawsuit.

In her primary claims before the court, the former wife had claimed Dh180,000 for annual accommodation plus Dh90,000 furniture allowance to be paid by her former husband every five years.

In her secondary claim, she asked the court to oblige the former husband to leave the house to her, her children and the nanny.

The Court confirmed that the husband should leave the house to his divorcee and children and ordered him to pay court and lawyers' fees.