Pre-Nuptual Agreements Slow to Catch on
Pre-Nuptual Agreements Slow to Catch on
In the latest attempt by the Uzbek authorities to tell people how to lead their lives, the justice ministry has called for the use of pre-nuptual agreements. However, NBCentralAsia analysts say the idea has not met with a warm response, as people prefer to make marriage and property arrangements according to time-honoured tradition, without tying themselves town to legal contracts.
In late May, Uzbek state television aired a programme in which justice ministry officials called on people to sign legal contracts before getting married. They noted that this would allow married couples to be clear about rights and responsibilities when it came to household outlay, shared business ventures, and in case of divorce.
Prenuptial agreements in Uzbekistan are signed and notarised, and are only recognised as legal when the marriage is recorded by a civil registrar, as opposed to a Muslim cleric.
The possibility for such formal agreements has existed in family law since 1998, but although there are no official statistics to show how many have been concluded, the figure is likely to be low as the concept is alien to Uzbek customary tradition.
“It’s hard to imagine a traditionally-educated Uzbek girl demanding that her fiancé sign a written agreement on [property] relationships within the family, as she would risk being seen as having dishnonest intentions,” said Rano Qodirova, a history teacher in the capital Tashkent.
Though Qodirova welcomed the ministry’s call for modern ways of governing family relationships, she doubted that the practice would become commonplace for some considerable period of time – not until a whole new generation grows up.
Abdurahman Oripov, 72, an elder in Tashkent’s Babur neighbourhood, agreed, adding that in fact Uzbek families already have their own tradition of concluding verbal agreements.
The way the custom works is that the families of prospective marriage partners agree in advance which side is to buy the furniture, who is to pay the wedding costs, where the newlyweds will live, and how the husband is to provide for his wife.
The traditional Uzbek marriage rite is performed by a mullah, with witnesses on hand to hear the obligations and agreements assumed by the couple. According to Oripov, that means “Uzbek couples don’t need to draw up any kind of written agreement”.
However, a marriage does not count as legal until the couple go through a civil ceremony as well. Legal experts say that in cases when a marriage is not legally recorded, it can be hard for the couple to prove what property they are entitled to if they get divorced.
The government’s statistical agency reported almost 250,000 marriages and 18,000 divorces last year.
An NBCentralAsia commentator in Andijan said that in some divorce cases, families were unable to divide property and agree education and maintenance arrangements for the children, because of misunderstandings and resentment on both sides. The witnesses from the traditional wedding ceremony are not much help, as they will be relatives of the couple.
Saida, a woman from Andijan, has personal experience of a marriage contracted only by a religious ceremony, and says many of her friends are in the same position. When she got divorced, she found that her husband refused to honour his commitments.
No court will handle such cases, since in the eyes of the law, the state has never recognised the marriage.
“It is good if the government wants to protect the rights of marriage partners, but how can it do so in the case of customary weddings?” asked Saida.
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
In late May, Uzbek state television aired a programme in which justice ministry officials called on people to sign legal contracts before getting married. They noted that this would allow married couples to be clear about rights and responsibilities when it came to household outlay, shared business ventures, and in case of divorce.
Prenuptial agreements in Uzbekistan are signed and notarised, and are only recognised as legal when the marriage is recorded by a civil registrar, as opposed to a Muslim cleric.
The possibility for such formal agreements has existed in family law since 1998, but although there are no official statistics to show how many have been concluded, the figure is likely to be low as the concept is alien to Uzbek customary tradition.
“It’s hard to imagine a traditionally-educated Uzbek girl demanding that her fiancé sign a written agreement on [property] relationships within the family, as she would risk being seen as having dishnonest intentions,” said Rano Qodirova, a history teacher in the capital Tashkent.
Though Qodirova welcomed the ministry’s call for modern ways of governing family relationships, she doubted that the practice would become commonplace for some considerable period of time – not until a whole new generation grows up.
Abdurahman Oripov, 72, an elder in Tashkent’s Babur neighbourhood, agreed, adding that in fact Uzbek families already have their own tradition of concluding verbal agreements.
The way the custom works is that the families of prospective marriage partners agree in advance which side is to buy the furniture, who is to pay the wedding costs, where the newlyweds will live, and how the husband is to provide for his wife.
The traditional Uzbek marriage rite is performed by a mullah, with witnesses on hand to hear the obligations and agreements assumed by the couple. According to Oripov, that means “Uzbek couples don’t need to draw up any kind of written agreement”.
However, a marriage does not count as legal until the couple go through a civil ceremony as well. Legal experts say that in cases when a marriage is not legally recorded, it can be hard for the couple to prove what property they are entitled to if they get divorced.
The government’s statistical agency reported almost 250,000 marriages and 18,000 divorces last year.
An NBCentralAsia commentator in Andijan said that in some divorce cases, families were unable to divide property and agree education and maintenance arrangements for the children, because of misunderstandings and resentment on both sides. The witnesses from the traditional wedding ceremony are not much help, as they will be relatives of the couple.
Saida, a woman from Andijan, has personal experience of a marriage contracted only by a religious ceremony, and says many of her friends are in the same position. When she got divorced, she found that her husband refused to honour his commitments.
No court will handle such cases, since in the eyes of the law, the state has never recognised the marriage.
“It is good if the government wants to protect the rights of marriage partners, but how can it do so in the case of customary weddings?” asked Saida.
(NBCA is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
