Okay I know some people are probably tired of me asking questions about marrying my Egyptian boyfriend but I still have a lot of questions... as usual your feed back is always greatly appreciated.
One of the things I would like to do is have a marriage contract written before we get married. We live in the US, not Egypt, so how could I do this? I don't believe the type of marriage contract I am referring to would be equivalent to a pre-nuptual agreement we have in the US would it? Can anyone explain the marriage contract to me more... is it based in Islam, Egyptian law, or would a pre-nuptual agreement work just as well?
2007-06-25 10:26:51 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Africa & Middle East ➔ Egypt
Step 1: Get a lawyer
Step 2: Don 't skip step 1
2007-06-25 10:35:06 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hello, ok I am going to answer this on the assumptin that he is indeed a muslim. As a muslim marrying you, you will have what is called a 'nikah' it is indeed Very much like a prenuptial agreement. It is the contract of marriage. In it are such things as the dowry...you are free to ask for any amount of money/gold or goods/service. Of course he can negotiate based on his ability. U can also defer a portion or all of it to a later date. For example my wife (egyptian) recieved 1 usd. But if I divorce her i must pay her 10,000 egyptian pounds....this is done in Islam to protect the woman, and make the man think twice. Many things can be placed in the contract, such as where the couple will live, her right of divorce, etc...the list is too long to really go into here. What cannot be in the contract is anything that contradicts Islam. Such as the children would be raised Christian or something.....ok how to do it....it is usually done by the local Imam or Shiek. It is written down and witnessed by 2 adult sane muslim males. Ok now an Islamic wedding, which follows the contract is a LEGAL wedding in the U.S. U can get the marriage license and just have the same 2 witnesses sign it....I dont know about yur state but here in CA it doesnt need to be signed by a licensed Imam, just any 2 witnesses (muslim/male) Now, as for a word of caution/advice. A muslim man cannot and must not have a girlfriend. Until you are married he is a stranger to you. He should approach you thru your father or uncle or brother etc. Best thing to do is call the local mosque and speak to someone with the full wealth of knowledge, butI hope i was able to help you.
2007-06-25 11:11:44 · answer #2 · answered by Adam 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The Islamic Marriage is very much a contract arrangement, and is valid in both the US as a Pre-nup and in Egypt. (I checked this part out already, was referred to an Egyptian Sharia lawyer with a good grasp of English.)
Your Marriage contract is usually composed before the actual ceremony. It is filed with the mosque after signature and you should each keep a copy of it as well. Under US law, the Nikah acts as a Pre-nup, and is legally binding. You should talk to the Imam and see if he knows a local attorney familiar with Sharia (Muslims become lawyers all the time, and most of them work in that bridge between US Law and Sharia). You can talk to the attorney about Nikah contracts and how they are built. He can probably also give you some boilerplate to see what they look like.
2007-06-26 02:53:05 · answer #3 · answered by lystrayel 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
OK now let me tell u this ( as an egyptian and muslim girl) egyptin men marry american girls mainly for the green card and once they get it u will be history. if u marry under the american law then the contract with all it's conditions will be applied only in the US. but if u come to egypt it is useless.
so u better get a lawyer and go to the egyptin embassy and get married according to the egyptian law. (and also get married accrding to the US law ) .the contract is something like the pre-nub but mainly it states how much u will get in case divorce.( here u don't get 50% of the assets in case of divorce). and now accordingto he new law u write down the amount of your dowry so if u asked for divrce then u'll have to pay it back. also if u ended up living in egypt and he died you will get nothing of his money if u r of differnt religons and his family could take the kids as well. and if u got divroced he'll take the kids (according to the egyptian law) so u will end up kidnaping your own kids and go back home. so let your lawyer write down everything that you feel will protect you. and a piece of advise egyptian men in forgien countries behave dieffrentllay than in egypt (the oriental way of thinking will role) so think a million times before u do it ( by the way my mother is european and she got divorced a very long time ago and i know many people with the same situation so i know what i'm talking about)
2007-06-25 13:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by moon 1 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Actually a marriage contract is necessary in a jurisdiction subject to Napoleonic law. In North America, couples being married in the Province of Quebec, Canada before 1979 needed to enter into a marriage contract prior to taking their vows.
The essence of Napoleonic law is that the husband is the head of the household and the wife is his chattel. It creates a scenario where the wife is responsible for the debts of the husband even if she had no knowledge of the debt. Once a contract is effected, the wife then becomes the husband's first creditor ... and a "preferred" one, at that. They are no longer "Common" as to property or "Common" as to debt.
The contract would have no effect if you continued to live in North America but it would be invaluable if you ever decided to move to Egypt or if he has assets in Egypt and you suddenly became his heir-at-law (God forbid).
2007-06-25 10:43:12 · answer #5 · answered by Jack 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
both of you are in the state, so you don't need to sign the marriage contract in Egypt. Just get married in USA, and you can even do the drive thur marriage in vegas.
USA government has better women's right on it, such as child's support (government automatically take his pay check to your bank as long as he is working), and women mostly have the children after divorce. and after divorce, you can spread half of his wealth.
Egypt can divorce women in the next day of marriage. Muslim rule is "saying I divorce you 3 times and waiting for 3 months."
you don't have pre-nuptual agreement, and make sure the lawyer can get exactly what your will is on the marriage contact.
since most Egyptian govenment are protecting men not women. also, divorce women enver seem to have a decent life in Egypt.
2007-06-25 21:20:46 · answer #6 · answered by Tracy But 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
That sounds kind of unrealistic. During the course of your marriage there is bound to be yelling. You could just make it a part of your vows and live by that. I am sure if you are serious, there is some type of lawyer who would make up papers, or write something yourself and go to a notary.
2016-05-20 01:39:22 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In an Islamic marriage, you should have a contract. you may stipulate certain expectations as well as financial arrangements, like if he divorces you, you get x amount of dollars. If you contact a local mosque, hopefully they will have an imam that could help you. Make sure it is notarized to be legal in the US.
2007-06-28 18:08:22 · answer #8 · answered by MBC 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think you have to go to the Egyptian ebmassy to get a copy of the marriage contract and a copy of the law controlling marriage and other personal issues.
If you don't have the time to do, then get a lawyer to help you.
Good Luck!
2007-06-25 11:47:56 · answer #9 · answered by s_elhaddad 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
be very careful here. You seem to be doing the ground work. What is he doing to help you understand marriage ? If he is a muslim he knows the ground rules for marriage.
2007-06-26 10:54:15 · answer #10 · answered by anne b 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋