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The Minister of Justice Nasser Al-Sumait outlined the upcoming changes in an interview with Al-Qabas, emphasizing the need to safeguard the family unit amid rising concerns over divorce and domestic disputes. The reforms target five interconnected laws including personal status, family court, domestic violence, juveniles and the child law. Al-Sumait noted that available statistics point to a worrying trend in family stability that the new legislation aims to reverse through targeted interventions.
Under the revised personal status law, the minimum age for documenting a marriage will be set at 18 years for both spouses, a move that builds on Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 already published in the official gazette. The explanatory memorandum references Kuwait’s Constitution, Islamic Sharia and commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This provision prohibits notaries from authenticating contracts involving minors, the law states.
New provisions on child access will mandate smooth handover of children for visitation, including overnight stays where appropriate, with substantial fines imposed on parents who obstruct access without justification, Al-Sumait told Al-Qabas. The custody hierarchy has been adjusted to place the father immediately after the mother, followed by paternal then maternal grandmothers. These measures seek to minimize the use of children in parental conflicts, according to the minister.
The legislation will also establish a standardized method for calculating alimony to ensure fairness, while updating family court procedures to expedite resolutions. Amendments to the domestic violence and juveniles laws will strengthen protections for women and minors. Al-Sumait stressed that the package will include decisive penalties to deter behavior that harms family cohesion.
Separately, the government has updated the electronic transactions framework through Decree-Law No. 148 of 2025, which extends legal recognition to digital records and signatures in personal status cases, according to a legal update from GLA & Company. Electronic documents will carry equivalent weight to traditional paper ones if they meet criteria for integrity and identifiability. This development supports the family law reforms by allowing remote and digital processing of marriage, custody and visitation documents.
The new electronic rules require that records remain in their original form or one that accurately reflects the data, with parties able to use video conferencing for notarization under complementary decrees issued in November 2025. The Ministry of Justice is collaborating with the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority and the National Cyber Security Center on implementation. Such changes are expected to reduce administrative burdens and accelerate service delivery across legal departments.
Kuwait has examined regulatory models from the United Arab Emirates and European countries while drafting the child protection components, a high-level meeting on the National Family Protection Program reported in July 2026. The integrated approach combines family welfare measures with rules governing children’s use of online platforms. Omar Al-Omar, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, said the real challenge lies in effective implementation and enforcement, particularly with international technology firms.
