Mar 13, 2013
No matter your
religion, have you considered how your religious beliefs impact
your civil divorce? Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, or Christian,
you might wonder how a “Get” or “Mahr” might be reflected in your
separation agreement. We explore the impact of a religious
divorce on a civil divorce. What does this mean for
individuals who have a strong faith base in their religion and want
to follow those beliefs into their divorce. After all, when
they got married, they were able to incorporate the customs and
traditions into their marriage, but what does this mean for
divorce.
Our guest, Fareen
Jamal is a lawyer at Bales Beall LLP, practicing in
the areas of Matrimonial, Estate and Civil Litigation. And has
recently been nominated for the Ontario Bar Association's Heather
McArthur Young Lawyer's Award. Fareen is an
opinion leader on religious and cultural issues and divorce. The
issues and complexities are far reaching. With North
American increasing diversity, family legal services that have
historically been designed to cater to middle-class North-American
Caucasian families with a European heritage, must be refined and
re-evaluated to better meet the needs of a changing population.
Individuals may have very different notions of “family” in this
diverse and pluralistic society, which impacts the family law
system and its capacity to address family disputes.
Fareen helps us
understand how your religious beliefs and customs may be a part of
the Separation Agreement.
We explore:
- What is a "Get", "Agunah" and "Mamzer "?
- The meaning of a “Mahr”, “Maher”, “Mohr”, “Mehr”, and “Kafala”
- The different schools of thought in Islam and their impact on divorce
- What is the structure of the mahr – how is it enforced?
- What if the agreement was struck in one country, and the divorce begun in another country?
The issues are controversial and complex. This is further complicated in no-fault divorce jurisdictions. Courts may enforce mahr agreements irrespective of who initiated the divorce, or why, as the mahr agreements typically contain no reference to the different forms of divorce. Or, what happens when the husband doesn’t want to give his wife a get?
Don’t miss out on this
important and thought provoking discussion.
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