Many disputes arise regarding child custody after divorce. However, a recent question we received from one of our clients was: who has the right to Child Custody Before Divorce in Bahrain?
Is this a new issue that has started to appear among families, or is it a dispute created by one of the parties that requires an end to it? Let us discover together what the Bahraini Family Law has provided in this regard.
Are you experiencing an unofficial separation period and worried that the other party may take advantage of the absence of a divorce judgment to forcibly take your children or prevent you from seeing them? Do not wait until the situation becomes worse.
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Child Custody Before Divorce in Bahrain Provisions
According to Article (128) of the Bahraini Family Law, custody is considered one of the duties of both parents as long as the marriage between them remains valid. If they separate, custody shall be determined as follows:
- According to Sunni jurisprudence: Custody shall be granted to the mother, then to the maternal grandmother and above her, followed by the paternal grandmother, and then the father. It may also be granted to the sibling of the child in custody, then the maternal aunt, then the paternal grandmother, then the brother’s daughter, and then the sister’s daughter, unless the judge decides otherwise in the best interest of the child. Among all of them, preference shall be given first to the full sibling, then the maternal relative, and then the paternal relative.
- According to Jaafari jurisprudence: Custody shall be granted to the mother, then the father. If the father dies or loses his custody right, custody returns to the mother, then to the paternal grandfather. After that, it shall be granted to the paternal guardian if one exists, and then to the child’s relatives according to the inheritance ranks.
It should be noted that a judgment issued in an urgent custody claim results in granting the custodian all official identification documents of the child in custody. This judgment shall be subject to immediate enforcement according to Article (131) of the Bahraini Family Law.
In this context, we would like to clarify that custody under Bahraini law belongs to the mother and is not lost if she leaves the marital home due to a dispute or any other reason. Her right to custody is only lost if the judge decides otherwise based on convincing reasons. For example, if the child is young and cannot do without the mother, she shall be required to continue caring for the child according to Article (132).
Child Custody Claim Form for the Mother in Bahrain
The following is a sample child custody claim form:
Date: / /
Before the Court of ـــــــــــــ
Between:
For the Claimant: ــــــــــ
Place of residence: ــــــــــ
Full identification details: ـــــــــــ
// Against //
Defendant: ـــــــــــــ
Place of residence: ــــــــــــ
Full identification details: ـــــــــــ
Subject: Custody Claim
To the President of the Court of ــــــــــــ, may God protect him,
Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you,
I submit to your honour a request to register a claim against the defendant for the following reasons:
- The defendant was my husband from the date …./ …./ …. and I had children with him (mention the children, their ages, and genders), and the divorce took place on …/ …/….
- The defendant took my children with him and refused to return them to me, while I am still unmarried and have the necessary qualifications required for the custody of my children.
Based on the above, I request that you order the registration of the claim in order to proceed against him and issue a judgment granting me custody of my children in accordance with Islamic legal principles.
Name: ـــــــــــــ
Signature: ــــــــــــــــــ
It should be noted that if the request is submitted through a lawyer in Bahrain or legal representative, the following information must be added after the claimant’s details:
The claim is submitted by: ـــــــــ
Occupation: ــــــــــــ
Place of residence: ــــــــــــ
Civil Registration Number: ـــــــــــ.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most frequently asked questions regarding the subject of Child Custody Before Divorce in Bahrain include the following:
When Does a Custodian Lose the Right to Custody in Bahrain?
A custodian may lose the right to custody in Bahrain according to Article (136) if any of the custody requirements are no longer met. Custody may also be affected if the custodian settles in a country that makes it difficult for the legal guardian to fulfill their duties, without prejudice to Article (134) of the same law.
Does a Mother Lose Custody If She Leaves the Marital Home?
No. A mother does not lose her custody rights simply because she leaves the marital home due to a dispute or another reason, unless the judge decides otherwise based on valid reasons. This is in accordance with Article (132) of the Bahraini Family Law.
Is There Child Custody Before Divorce?
Generally, there is no separate custody arrangement before divorce. According to Article (128) of the Bahraini Family Law, custody is a joint responsibility of both parents as long as the marriage between them continues.
We have now reached the conclusion of our article, in which we discussed Child Custody Before Divorce in Bahrain and the provisions it includes that indicate who has the right to custody of children. For further inquiries regarding child custody in Bahrain, contact us through WhatsApp.
Also learn when: When Can Child Custody Be Lost in Bahrain Under the Law?.
A Bahraini lawyer and the founder of a legal consultancy firm established in February 2019. He holds a Higher Degree in Sharia and Law from Al-Azhar University. He has extensive experience in court representation and providing legal advice in criminal, personal status, civil, and commercial matters. He is known for delivering clear, practical, and effective legal advice aimed at protecting his clients’ rights and interests, and has achieved tangible results in notable cases, including commercial litigation and inheritance matters
