Litigation

Mojdeh also said the couple had signed a “mehrieh,” a marital contract where the couple agrees on gifts given to the bride from the groom. Here, the mehrieh included 1,000 Iranian gold coins, which Mojdeh said her husband has withheld from her. She argued that the mehrieh is a valid contract subject to enforcement by the courts. Jamshid countered it is a religious document outside the court's scope. The judge said he lacked jurisdiction to enforce the mehrieh because it does not meet all the requirements of a valid agreement between a married couple under Domestic Relations Law ' 236(b)(3). He did, however, say that Mojdeh could seek enforcement of the mehrieh as an independent contract in a separate civil action. ' Andrew Keshner, New York Law Journal

Failure to Get Islamic Divorce Could Impact Distribution

A man's withholding of a religious divorce could result in his forfeiture of an award of equitable distribution and maintenance, a Brooklyn judge has ruled. In a case where Mojdeh M. began a divorce against her husband, Jamshid A., he has refused to accompany her to a mosque to obtain a religious divorce, without which she cannot remarry in accordance with Islam.

In Mojdeh M. v. Jamshid A., a Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice observed that Domestic Relations Law '236 (B)(5)(h) allows judges to consider a “barrier to remarriage,” like religious restraints, when determining equitable distribution. The judge gave Jamshid 45 days from his June 4 decision “to take any necessary steps to remove any barriers to the wife's remarriage.” Failure to do so would mean forfeiture of equitable distribution and the maintenance award Sunshine granted in the decision.

Mojdeh also said the couple had signed a “mehrieh,” a marital contract where the couple agrees on gifts given to the bride from the groom. Here, the mehrieh included 1,000 Iranian gold coins, which Mojdeh said her husband has withheld from her. She argued that the mehrieh is a valid contract subject to enforcement by the courts. Jamshid countered it is a religious document outside the court's scope. The judge said he lacked jurisdiction to enforce the mehrieh because it does not meet all the requirements of a valid agreement between a married couple under Domestic Relations Law ' 236(b)(3). He did, however, say that Mojdeh could seek enforcement of the mehrieh as an independent contract in a separate civil action. ' Andrew Keshner, New York Law Journal