Personal Status

1. Introduction.
2. Divorce.
3. Indemnifying "Khul'a".
4. Alimony.
5. Custody "Hadana".
6. Visiting the Children.
7. Obedience "Ta'aa".
8. Proving the Parentage.
9. Proof of Marriage.

· Introduction

Recently, the family disputes has significantly increased . Sometimes , these disputes are resolved within the family, but often the matter is referred to the courts.

Many specialists in the field of family disputes are dealing with the matter as a routine and usual and see the issue as if the family cases are limited and has no novel solutions.

In Korayem Legal Services, we realize that family disputes and the type of the filed litigation in the courts may vary according to each case , that the physical and social situation of the couple and whether there are children or not and a lot of other things determining how to fight our battle judiciary, which we always used to win.

Whether our client is the wife or husband , once he deals with us, we refer the whole matter to the Department of Personal Status, which shall in turn examine the situation according to all the data within a standard time to put a complete map of the type and how many suits that may be raised by us and we put a clear plan on how to confront and the probabilities of profit and loss , the matters about which we report our client in full honesty.

· Divorce

The basic principle in divorce that the it occurs through the sole will of the man, but women have the right to seek a divorce through the competent court where divorce is ruled by the court.

When the wife asks divorce from the court or rather when the divorce action raised by the wife against the husband, the court verify the validity of the reasons which the wife drafts in the lawsuit.

Among the cases in which the wife has the right to ask for a divorce, for example (divorce for the husband's absence divorce, divorce for the spouse's imprisonment, divorce for lack of the family sustaining, divorce for defect).

The advantage of the divorce judgment that it keeps the wife's full rights without detracting It which differs from " Khul'a" in that, the wife when obtaining the divorce judgment, she has the right to claim her rights of financial expense and the deferred dowry etc , the court ruling divorce is an irrevocable divorce. So, the husband can not redeem his ex-wife without her consent during the waiting period.

· Indemnifying "Khul'a"

"Divorce is twice. Then, either keep [her] in an acceptable manner or release [her] with good treatment. And it is not lawful for you to take anything of what you have given them unless both fear that they will not be able to keep [within] the limits of Allah . But if you fear that they will not keep [within] the limits of Allah , then there is no blame upon either of them concerning that by which she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allah , so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah - it is those who are the wrongdoers." (Surat Al Baqara, 229)

In many cases, the wife cannot continue in her married life and be willing to sacrifice whatever for the sake of salvation, and here she resorts to" Khul'a" (Indemnifying Divorce).

"Khul'a" (Indemnifying Divorce) is that woman releases herself from marriage through waiving all of her financial rights and repay to the husband the " dowry" he gave her at marriage.

The court rules " Khula" only after an attempt to reconciliate between the couple hoping to potential return of marital life to normal, but if the wife insists and acknowledges in court that she hates life with her husband and she exempts him which means that she waives her full financial rights so that the court rules "Khul'a" , but it does not mean she waives the rights of their children and the parent remains committed with them the children.

It is worth mentioning that the divorce here is through the wife's will aiming at terminating the marital relationship, such as divorce proceeding. However, each has both an advantage and a disadvantage, Khul'a is easier and faster, but it deprives the wife of all their rights while divorce is longer and harder and must have reasons convinced by the Court , but it keeps the wife all their rights.

· Alimony

"Let a man of wealth spend from his wealth, and he whose provision is restricted - let him spend from what Allah has given him. Allah does not charge a soul except [according to] what He has given it. Allah will bring about, after hardship, ease." ) Surat Aţ-Ţalāq, 7).

"Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand." (Surat Al Nisa', 34)

It is well known and acknowledged by Islamic Feqh Sharia law and also that alimony is the responsibility of the husband , but the Almighty developed a standard for this in the verse.

"Let a man of wealth spend from his wealth, and he whose provision is restricted - let him spend from what Allah has given him. Allah does not charge a soul except [according to] what He has given it.

Which means that the husband is obliged to spend within his income limits and physical capabilities.

Therefore, if the husband refrained from spending on his wife or children, they may sue the husband for claiming him to spend on them, as this Court estimates the expenditure in a way commensurate with the husband 's potential and physical conditions.

And when it is ruled with a specific amount for his wife and children, the husband is obliged to pay it , and in the case of failing to repay what was sentenced with , the wife will have the right here file a " imprisonment suit," to force the husband to pay. If he fails to do so, the judge sentences to imprison him for 30 days.

It is worth mentioning that the verdict does not mean that the husband will be exempted from alimony, but remains despite imprisonment, obliged with alimony.

The law has designed a way for the implementation of alimony debt through Nasser Social Bank. the law authorized the Bank for the right of retaining a part of the husband's salary at his work place that shall be the equivalent to the amount of what the rule assigned for the wife.

Alimony is a religion debt of special nature , which the law provided it with protection in different ways for fear that the wife shall not be able to sustain herself.

· Custody "Hadana"

Custody means that the children remain under the care of their mother and the young until they reach the age of custody( e g . reaching fifteen calendar years for male or female minor - according to the latest legislative amendments - and after they that Age , the judge makes them choose between staying with his mother or return to his father.

This custody has some results and commitments on the side of the husband , as being obliged with the minors living costs including food, clothes accommodation, medicine, education and etc according to the couple's financial and social conditions So, there is no fixed estimate of the alimony of any kind. The children's being in their mother's custody gives the mother the right to remain in the marriage house or ask for another for custody.

There are seven conditions which are set by law to give the divorcee to solely live in the marriage house in case that there are children.

1. An evidence of the minors' residence in the marriage house before divorce.
2. The wife's giving birth to a minor belonging to the husband.
3. The minor's reaching the custody age.
4. The divorced wife remain unmarried.
5. The minor's having no sufficient money for living.
6. The minor's or the custodian mother's lack of a rent or an owned house.
7. she did not claim a cash indemnification.

Custody may be reversed from the custodian mother in the some in some cases, as proving that she is not honest to the minors , married to another. In these cases , custody is transferred as follows:

To the mother's mother, and then to the sister of the mother and the father's sister, and if there is no custodian woman, custody is transferred to the father.

· Visiting the Children

Each of the parents is entitled to visit the minors . Similarly, grandparents have the same right. The visiting is often ruled for the man that the wife is often the custodian. In case there is no agreement on visiting, the judge may regulate it upon a lawsuit filed by the Visiting applicant provided that it shall not accomplished in a place which may cause psychological harm to the minors ( that is often done in youth centers), custody shall not executed oppressively, but if the custodian refrains from executing the judgment with no excuse, and repeats it, the judge may, through an enforceable judgment, transfer temporarily custody to whom follows according to the aforementioned rollout.

· Obedience "Ta'aa"

Obedience is the right of the husband over his wife, and this right requires a wife to obey her husband in all matters of life. it is not permissible for her to leave the house without his permission, and if his wife and left her home without her husband's permission , he is entitled to send her an Obedience Warning ( Inzar Ta'aa) by bailiff asking her it to return to her home Otherwise she is deemed "unobedient" (Nashiz)

In the case of not returning home despite being warned , all her financial rights such as alimony, deferred dowry ..etc shall be deprived.

But the wife may object to the Obedience Warning ( Inzar Ta'aa) within ten days through filing a lawsuit against the husband called " Objection to Obedience Warning) claiming that the marriage house is illegal or the husband is dishonest to the money of his wife. whatever is the reason, the wife shall mention it in her objection in the lawsuit filed by her.

If the court ruled for the wife in this case, she will be entitled to ask for divorce based on the court's ruling in the objection.

· Proving the Parentage

Sometimes, the issue of proving the child's belonging to his father appears, and we used to the face of that case in the non-documented, customary marriages. The father often deny the parentage in the case of customary marriages. In this case , the mother resorts to sue a lawsuit to prove the parentage of the father to her child.

In this case , it must be proved that the wife had given birth to the child between six lunar months to a year of their marriage, and this is the minimum and maximum duration set by the science of pregnancy all inclusive exceptional cases.

There are four conditions to prove parentage:

1. there shall be a current marriage contract even if it is invalid.
2. it shall be possible the wife can be pregnant from the husband.
3. the expiry of the duration of pregnancy.
4. the wife does give birth in the usual duration of pregnancy.

· Proof of Marriage

in the complex cases when the couple cannot get married through the routine marriage contract ,it is sometimes resorted to the court to prove marriage.

Most of these cases are related to the existence of a foreign party, whether husband or wife, that foreigners marriage has special rules and conditions differ from the Egyptians.

Because we , Korayem Legal Services, have wide experience about the foreigners marriage in general, which allowed us to identify the complex cases that require recourse to the court to prove the marriage and how to deal with them and their feasibility.