Is an agreement on Mahr valid in Sweden?
Dear whom it may concern,
I am an Iranian, living in Sweden, and going to marry with a lady who is in Iran now.
I have a question dividing properties after a probable divorce.
This question is a just to know case not a case which i am involved right now.
- Me and my future wife are Iranian. Maybe in future one takes Swedish citizenship.
- We will marry in Iran, Based on Iran's law. However, We will claim as a married couple in Sweden.
- There is a kind of financial support, gift, which man should pay in case of divorce in Iran. about one million SEK.
- She can ask it in Iranian court and I should pay it immediately and essentially. otherwise i will be arrested in Iran
- Does Swedish court consider the gift that payed in Iran as a part of property dividing in Sweden?
in another word, should i pay that in Iran and Split everything in Sweden also? or it is possible to provide a document about what i have payed in Iran and that money will be considered as a part of our properties?
I would mention the dividing properties can not be replaced with that gift in Iran. Based on Iran's law, that gift is promise which should payed in anyway.
Lawline svarar
Hello, thank's for contacting Lawline regarding your question.
I assume in my answear that the "gift" you were writing about is "Mahr".
Is an agreement on Mahr valid in Sweden?
The supreme court decided in the case T 2415-15 that an agreement on Mahr is not valid in Sweden if Swedish laws is applicable to the wealth relation. In the case, Swedish laws was assessed to be applicable since the spouse had his residence in Sweden and the spouses intended to live in Sweden jointly. The agreement on Mahr was assessed to be seen as a partial future estate division and was therefore not to be seen as valid in Sweden.
The outcome in your case.
Since you are living in Sweden and I assume both of you will live together here you can find guidence in the case mentioned above. In other words, if you and your wife would divorce in the future your agreement on Mahr, according to T 2415-15, will no longer be valid in Sweden and your wifes' right to claim the money would be lost. If you would divorce and apply Swedish law your wife will have a financial protection regarding the martial property and that it would be divided equally between you to. Observe, that Mahr, in the case T 2415-15, was assessed to not be seen as prenuptial agreement since payment obligation can not be agreed on in a prenuptial agreement. Your wife can therefore not claim, in case of a divorce, that your agreement on the gift should be seen as her private property (if you do not write a prenuptial agreement of course with a reservation that 1 million SEK is her private property).
To summarize, if you and your wife will live in Sweden your agreement on Mahr will not be valid and if you then divorce and apply Swedish laws the martial property would be divided between you.
I hope you got answers to your questions.
Kind regards,
