The Financial Relationship between Spouses Under Iranian Law – A Never-Ending Story of Guilt and Atonement?

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the steps taken by the Iranian legislature to re-shape the financial relationship between spouses. It considers the traditional instruments of financial security, such as marital maintenance (nafaqih) and dower (mahr), and investigates if and how the existing means of support, such as ujrat ul-misl as well as the wife’s newly introduced replacement claim for maintenance payments (hazīnih barāy-i makhārij-i mutaᶜārif-i zindigī-i mushtarak), have had an impact on the economic structure of the family. In addition, the concept of the matrimonial property regime is discussed as to its potential to level the financial relationship of spouses. Finally, the chapter looks at amendments to the intestate succession rights of surviving wives.

Generally, Iranian family law regulations rest on the Shiite school of law and largely reflect the traditional conception of husband and wife and their respective rights and duties. The conventional system of traditional Islamic law operates in its logic in interaction with all fields of family law: the man is the head of the family, bearing the financial burden of maintaining it and having a greater share in the estate, be it as the son of the deceased in relation to his sisters or be it as the surviving husband vis-à-vis his late wife. The rights and duties of the wife correspond to that scheme. What connects reciprocal spousal rights and duties is the question of fault: the party whose rights have been infringed can withhold performance of his or her own responsibilities. This mode of operation may have suited a traditional society with a clear distribution of roles. It is, however, disconnected from the reality of modern Iranian society in the 21st century. Women are increasingly literate, have entered the workforce, and provide for themselves and their families. The age of marriage has risen considerably, and the choice not to marry has become a real option for many women. The careful balance of the gendered family is under threat and a new young generation is formulating new demands. In particular, when maintenance is shouldered de facto by both spouses, the grounds for favouring men over women in succession law lose strength. The Iranian legislature chose to address these inconsistencies in an inherently Islamic discourse. Rather than opening the floor to a comprehensive re-evaluation of the system of family and succession law in consideration of the changing societal attitudes and realities, it operated on the basis of the traditional roles of man and wife: by strengthening the right of the wife to be compensated for maintenance and other services, it reinforced the idea of men as providers and women as being largely outside any familial financial responsibility, and as such it reinforced the notion of marriage as essentially a ‘providing institution’.

Keywords: Iran, Family and inheritance law, spousal relationship, financial relation of spouses, reforms in Iranian family law, Family Protection Act 2013