The Supreme Court in Saudi Arabia ordered a review of the case of a Syrian woman who had won a previous ruling proving a “secret marriage” to a late businessman, which authorized her to inherit a fortune estimated at 80 million riyals, equivalent to more than 21 million US dollars.
The newspaper explained,OkazThe local authority stated that the Supreme Court had decided to stop the ruling issued in favor of that woman about a year ago, and ordered the case to be returned again to the Personal Status Court in Jeddah, in the west of the Kingdom.
The newspaper stated that the wealth of the late husband, whose identity was not revealed, is estimated at 700 million riyals (about 186 million dollars), and that the share of the “Syrian widow” is 80 million, subject to increase after completing the inventory of the estate.
The details of the case go back to about 10 years, when a businessman died and left a large fortune, as the Syrian plaintiff (in her twenties) filed a lawsuit before the General Court in Jeddah, claiming that she was associated with her late husband, “Misyara”.
A misyar marriage is defined as a permanent marriage, in which the wife waives her right to housing, alimony, or to live with her partner permanently.
The plaintiff submitted to the court a copy of the marriage contract signed by the deceased, in the presence of eyewitnesses to the wedding. She also submitted successive notes before the Court of Appeal and obtained a ruling supporting the validity of her marriage contract and including it in the deed of determining the heirs, after the husband’s sons and daughters objected to that.
The newspaper stated that the wife had initially demanded 300,000 riyals (approximately 80,000 dollars) from the late’s wealth, before retracting and granting the court the right to inheritance in a ruling that gained finality from the Court of Appeal and was finally suspended by the Supreme Court to review a number of procedures.
On the other hand, the family and sons and daughters of the late businessman insisted on their refusal to recognize their father’s marriage to the Syrian woman, and challenged the validity of the document and witnesses and insisted on the invalidity of the contract.
For his part, Misfer Al-Shawoosh, the lawyer of the Syrian woman, confirmed that his client presented the legal evidence represented in the testimony of the deceased husband’s brother, as well as the testimony of the deceased’s nephew, who testified that the deceased confessed his marriage to the plaintiff.
Al-Shawoosh confirmed that the judiciary will prevail for his client to build the evidence that was presented to the court.