Arbitrary Divorce and Compensation for It under Jordanian Law
A divorce sometimes happens without warning and without a reason the wife can understand, and she leaves the marital home believing that compensation for arbitrary divorce is a right paid to her along with the deferred dower, only to discover that it does not reach her except through a separate lawsuit that may succeed or may be dismissed. Article 155 of the Jordanian Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019 grants compensation to a wife divorced arbitrarily, but it ties it to conditions that are not met on their own: the divorce must come from the husband, it must be without a reasonable cause, and the wife must ask the judge for compensation. Because a "reasonable cause" is a matter the court assesses from the evidence before it, a review of the file by a lawyer who specializes in Sharia cases before the lawsuit is filed is what determines whether the claim has a basis to stand on, and how it should be built.
1. What Arbitrary Divorce Is under Jordanian Law
Arbitrary divorce under Jordanian law is a divorce (talaq) pronounced by the husband without a reasonable cause, to which the law attaches compensation for his divorced wife if she requests it, under Article 155 of the Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019. Divorce is the husband's right, but the legislature did not leave it without limits when it is used where it should not be.
Two consequences follow from this, and they are often confused. The first is that describing a divorce as arbitrary does not void it or restore the marriage; the text assumes the divorce has taken place, and then provides compensation for it. The second is that what the court awards here is compensation for the divorced wife herself, not a fine paid to the treasury or a fee, since the text is explicit that it is awarded "for her against her former husband".
The law did not set a closed list of the causes that make a divorce arbitrary. It was content with a single example, that he divorces her "without a reasonable cause", and left everything beyond that to the judge's assessment in each file separately. That is why the compensation lawsuit rests on proof and assessment, and its outcome cannot be settled in advance with a number.
2. The Conditions for Compensation as Set by the Text of Article 155
The text of Article 155 combines three elements, and compensation is due only when all three are present.
The first is that the divorce comes from the husband. The text speaks of a husband who "divorced" his wife; a separation that comes at the wife's request, or by a court judgment on another ground, has its own rules, among them khula and its effect on the wife's financial rights. Identifying the route by which the marriage ended, and whether it falls within the scope of Article 155, is the first thing the lawyer looks at when reviewing the file.
The second is that the divorce takes place without a reasonable cause, and most of the dispute revolves around this element.
The third is that the wife asks the judge for compensation. The court does not award it on its own initiative merely because the divorce is proven; if it is not requested, it is not awarded, even if the divorce was in truth arbitrary.
3. The Amount of Compensation and How the Court Assesses It
Article 155 provides that the compensation is "not less than one year's maintenance and not more than three years' maintenance", and that in setting it the court takes into account "the husband's circumstances, in hardship and in ease". It also provides that it is paid in a lump sum if the husband is well off, and in installments if he is in financial hardship.
This means that the distance between the minimum and the maximum may amount to two full years of maintenance, and that where the judgment falls between the two limits cannot be known in advance by a calculation. It depends on what is proven before the court about the husband's financial circumstances, and on the assessment of the maintenance (nafaqa) on which the compensation is based in the first place. At this stage, the lawyer examines the evidence concerning the husband's income and means, because it determines both the amount and the method of payment.
The following table brings together the elements of compensation as they appear in the text, and what the lawyer assesses for each of them:
| Element | What the text of Article 155 provides | What the lawyer assesses in the file |
|---|---|---|
| Legal nature | Compensation awarded to the divorced wife against her former husband | Distinguishing it from the other financial claims in the lawsuit |
| Source of the divorce | A divorce pronounced by the husband | Whether the marriage ended by a divorce from the husband or by another route |
| Cause of the divorce | That it is "without a reasonable cause" | What evidence each party holds about the cause |
| How it becomes due | On the wife's request to the judge, not automatically | The timing and wording of the claim |
| Amount | Not less than one year's maintenance and not more than three years' maintenance | The evidence that brings the judgment closer to one of the two limits |
| Standard of assessment | The husband's circumstances, in hardship and in ease | Proving the husband's actual financial position |
| Method of payment | A lump sum if the husband is well off, installments if he is in hardship | The effect of the financial position on enforcing the judgment |
| Other rights | The compensation does not affect the divorced wife's other rights | Separating each claim from the others so that no right is lost |
4. "Reasonable Cause" and the Burden of Proof
The law did not define a reasonable cause, nor did it list its forms. The phrase is a flexible standard that the judge weighs in light of the facts of each marriage, and what is seen as a reasonable cause in one file may not be so in another. That is why a wife should not measure her file against someone else's, and a husband should not assume that stating some reason is enough on its own to defeat the lawsuit.
The general rule is that the burden of proof lies on the claimant, and the wife is the plaintiff in the compensation lawsuit. However, the lawsuit rests at its core on a negative, namely that the divorce had no reasonable cause, which makes the division of proof between the two parties, and the evidence each of them presents, a delicate legal question. Assessing whether the available facts are enough to bring the lawsuit is itself a legal point that merits consultation before any step.
Among the points the lawyer examines here: the circumstances in which the divorce took place, the disputes or lawsuits that preceded it, the documents or witnesses each party has, and how all of this is presented before the Sharia Court in a way that serves the client's position.
Practical note: People repeat phrases such as "every divorce without a reason carries three years' compensation", which is inaccurate: the text sets a minimum and a maximum, ties the amount to the husband's circumstances, and requires proof that there was no reasonable cause as well as a request from the wife. The lawyer relies on the text of Article 155 and the facts of the file together before assessing the lawsuit's prospects, a matter on which what circulates among people is not enough without consulting a specialist lawyer.
5. Compensation Does Not Replace the Other Rights or Merge with Them
Article 155 ends with the phrase "and this does not affect her other rights". Compensation for arbitrary divorce is therefore a separate right added to the others, and it is not deducted from the deferred dower or from 'idda maintenance. However, each of these rights has a different basis and a different cause, and mixing them in the claim may weaken the whole lawsuit:
| Right | Its basis in the Personal Status Law | Cause of entitlement | Does it depend on proof of arbitrariness? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation for arbitrary divorce | Article 155 | A divorce by the husband without a reasonable cause, at the wife's request | Yes |
| Deferred dower | Articles 42 and 43 | The arrival of its term; if no term was set, it is deferred until divorce or death | No |
| 'Idda maintenance | Articles 151 and 152 | The husband's obligation toward his wife observing the waiting period after a divorce or annulment, and it is like spousal maintenance | No |
| Half the dower before consummation (the situation that legal scholarship addresses through mut'a) | Articles 44 and 46(b) | A divorce after the contract and before consummation or valid seclusion: half the named dower, or half the proper dower (mahr al-mithl) if no dower was named | No |
Compensation is the only one of these rights that rests on an assessment of the husband's conduct in pronouncing the divorce, while the other rights rest on the contract or on the waiting period. That is why the compensation lawsuit differs in its structure and its evidence from a claim for the dower or for 'idda maintenance, even though the claims may be brought together in one file. For the rules on maintenance itself and how it is assessed, see spousal maintenance and the conditions for entitlement, because the amount of maintenance is the unit by which the compensation is measured.
6. The Compensation Lawsuit from the Husband's Side
A lawsuit for compensation for arbitrary divorce does not concern the wife alone. The husband, as defendant, faces a claim that may reach three years' maintenance, whose amount is set by what is proven about his financial circumstances, and whose fate is set by what is proven about the cause of the divorce.
Among the matters the husband's lawyer examines: whether the divorce actually took place in a form that falls within the scope of Article 155, what evidence is available that there was a reasonable cause, how the husband's real financial position is presented so that the assessment is not built on an inaccurate picture, and what effect this has on the method of payment, whether a lump sum or installments.
Whether you are the husband or the wife, do not sign any settlement or release of rights before a lawyer has reviewed it, because a single phrase in a release may extend to rights that were never meant to be waived.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
When is a divorce arbitrary under Jordanian law?
Under Article 155 of the Personal Status Law No. 15 of 2019, a divorce is arbitrary when the husband pronounces it without a reasonable cause. The law did not set a list of these causes; the matter is left to the judge's assessment in each file according to its evidence, which makes the lawyer's assessment of the facts a step that comes before any claim.
What is the position of a husband who divorces his wife without a reason?
The divorce takes place and produces its effects, but the husband becomes exposed to a compensation lawsuit if the wife claims it and it is proven that the divorce was without a reasonable cause, in addition to her other rights to the deferred dower and 'idda maintenance.
How much is compensation for arbitrary divorce in Jordan?
It is not less than one year's maintenance and not more than three years' maintenance; in assessing it, the court takes into account the husband's circumstances, in hardship and in ease, and it is paid in a lump sum if the husband is well off and in installments if he is in hardship. Where the judgment falls between the two limits depends on the evidence in each file.
Is compensation awarded automatically with the divorce?
No. The text requires the wife to ask the judge for compensation; if she does not claim it, it is not awarded to her, even if the divorce was in truth arbitrary.
Does the compensation affect the deferred dower or 'idda maintenance?
No. Article 155 states expressly that the compensation "does not affect" the divorced wife's other rights; it is added to them and not deducted from them.
Is compensation for arbitrary divorce a fine or a fee paid to the court?
It is neither a fine nor a fee. It is compensation awarded to the divorced wife against her former husband, and it is paid to her. The court fees for the lawsuit are a procedural matter separate from the right itself.
Is a wife who obtained khula entitled to compensation for arbitrary divorce?
The text of Article 155 speaks of a divorce pronounced by the husband, whereas khula rests on the wife's request and has its own financial rules. The lawyer examines precisely how the marriage ended before identifying the rights that can be claimed.
Legal Consultation
An arbitrary divorce lawsuit is a sensitive file on both sides: the divorced wife needs to prove that the divorce took place without a reasonable cause and to keep this right separate from her dower and her 'idda maintenance, while the husband faces a claim that may reach three years' maintenance, its amount set by what is proven about his financial circumstances. Any mistake in describing how the marriage ended, in the timing of the claim, or in signing a release, may lose a right that cannot be recovered. For a consultation in divorce and marital rights cases, or to read related topics such as the discord and dispute lawsuit and the situations in which spousal maintenance ends, you can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy.
