In the Netherlands, court proceedings may sometimes be initiated based on obligations arising from religious agreements. This can lead to unexpected legal outcomes, as illustrated in the following case.
After their divorce, the ex-wife claimed that she was entitled to compensation from her ex-husband based on an Islamic wedding gift (dowry or “Mahr”) agreed shortly after the marriage.
The court first determined the applicable law:
- Dutch matrimonial property law applied, pursuant to Article 26(1)(a) of the European Matrimonial Property Regime Regulation;
- The statutory limited community of property regime therefore governed the spouses’ matrimonial property.
The court then held that:
- If the parties had intended the gift to create a private legal obligation, this should have been formalised through a nuptial agreement;
- As this was not the case, any potential claim by the ex-wife is offset by a corresponding obligation of the ex-husband, resulting in mutual cancellation.
On the merits, the court found that:
- The dowry (“Mahr”) should be characterised as a religiously based obligation rather than a legal gift;
- Under Dutch social norms, it does not give rise to a legally enforceable claim or debt independent of the marriage;
- It is not sufficiently personal to be excluded from the matrimonial property regime.
As a result, the court ruled that the ex-wife had no enforceable claim against the ex-husband in relation to the agreed dowry.
26 March 2026
By Joep Ertem, Westvaer Notarissen, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
