Ontario Court Holds Mahr Is Part of Family Property In Divorce

In Bakhshi v. Hosseinzadeh,(Ont. Ct. App., Nov. 2, 2017), the Ontario Court of appeal held that the Mahr in an Islamic marriage contract is to be counted as part of net family property.  The Family Law Act in the Canadian province of Ontario calls for equal division of family-owned property in a divorce.  Here the marriage contract called for the husband to pay the wife 230 gold coins (found by the court to be worth $79,580).  The Court of Appeals held that the wife is entitled to receive the Mahr payment from her husband, but that (absent a provision to the contrary in the marriage contract) this amount is then to be included as family-owned property in the equalization calculation. Law Times reports on the decision.