Money after a divorce

Key facts

• When the husband asks for the divorce, the wife is owed: any unpaid part of the dowry, maintenance for the waiting period, and a consolation gift (mut'a).
• The court sets the consolation gift from the length of the marriage, the husband's means, the reasons for the divorce and how far he abused his right. There is no scale.
• During the waiting period the wife stays in the marital home or another suitable home. Failing that, the court fixes a sum for housing.
• In a discord divorce the court fixes the same dues and weighs each spouse's share of responsibility. The one at fault can be ordered to compensate the other.
• Dowry: all of it is owed once the marriage is consummated, half if the divorce comes before.
• The children's maintenance covers food, clothing, medical care and education. It is set from the payer's income, the children's standard of living before the divorce, and the cost of living.
• The children's housing is fixed separately. The father must house them or pay a rent set by the court, and they cannot be put out of the home before he has complied.
• A father owes maintenance until 18, or 25 for a child still studying. For a daughter it lasts until she earns her living or marries. For a child with a disability who cannot earn a living, it continues.
• If the father cannot pay and the mother is well off, she covers the part he cannot pay.
• Maintenance is owed from the day the payments stopped, not from the day of the judgment.
• The court can order maintenance to be withheld from the payer's salary. The Code says maintenance cases must be decided within one month.
• If the mother with custody remarries, the father no longer owes the child's housing or the custody pay. He still owes maintenance.
• Property: each of you keeps what is yours. There is no automatic sharing on divorce, unless you signed an agreement on property acquired during the marriage.