ABU DHABI // A man is suing his ex-wife for not paying him back her share of the costs of a villa they co-owned, the Cassation Court has heard.
The government had allocated a piece of land in Al Ain for T, an Emirati, and his ex-wife, A, in October 2001 while they were still married.
He then built a villa on the land after taking a loan from the bank, and he said that A did not share any of the costs of building the villa.
When they separated on June 2 last year, they sold the villa and each received a share. T then said he asked A many times “in a friendly way” to compensate him for building the villa, but she refused. So, he filed the lawsuit.
The ex-wife argued that he had been renting out the villa since 2005 for Dh115,000 a year until he sold it, having received a total of Dh 1.1 million. He used that money to pay off his loan. She said she did not owe him any money. T’s claims were not based on any legal documents and she presented copies of four contracts for renting the villa as well as the sales contract.
In February last year, the First Instance Court rejected the lawsuit, so T appealed. The Appeals Court also rejected the case, so he raised it with the Cassation Court.
The cassation court found his argument valid – stating that the lower courts’ had not investigated his claims and had not explained why it was rejected. The court accepted the case and sent it back to the Appeals Court.
hdajani@thenational.ae