Khula in Saudi Arabia: Conditions, Compensation, Effect and Documentation

Khula is one of the ways spouses separate under the Personal Status Law, alongside divorce, dissolution of the marriage contract, the death of a spouse and li'an (mutual imprecation) (Article 76). The Law defines khula as a separation between spouses at the wife's request and with the husband's consent, in return for compensation paid by the wife or by someone else (Article 95). This guide covers the conditions and compensation for khula, how it differs from divorce and dissolution, its effect, and how it is documented and proved.

Conditions and Compensation for Khula

• Both spouses agree to end the marriage contract and each has full legal capacity, in which case the khula is valid without a court judgment (Article 96).
• There is compensation. A khula without compensation does not take effect, and if a husband grants his wife a khula without compensation it is not treated as khula and the provisions on divorce apply (Article 99).
• Words that indicate separation. Khula takes place by any words indicating separation, spoken or written, or by an understandable gesture if neither is possible (Article 97).

The compensation is paid by the wife or by someone else (Article 95). Anything that can validly count as property can be the compensation, but it may not be the waiver of any right of the children or of their custody (Article 100). Where the compensation is the dower (mahr), it is limited to handing over the part of the dower that was received, and the rest of the dower lapses, even if it was deferred (Article 101).

If the Spouses Do Not Agree

Khula rests on the agreement of both spouses (Article 96), and the khula chapter of the Law contains no provision on who sets the compensation if they disagree about it. Where they do not agree, the Law provides for asking the court to dissolve the marriage contract in specified cases, and every separation by court judgment is a dissolution (faskh) (Article 103). One such case is where the wife asks for dissolution before consummation or private seclusion (khalwa) and the husband refuses to divorce her or grant her a khula: the court dissolves the marriage if she returns the dower she received and reconciliation is not possible (Article 112).

Another is harm: the court dissolves the marriage at the wife's request where the husband has harmed her in a way that makes it impossible to continue married life on reasonable terms, if the harm is proved (Article 108). If the harm is not proved, the discord continues and reconciliation is not possible, each spouse chooses an arbitrator from their family within a period the court sets, failing which the court appoints the arbitrators (Article 109). If the arbitrators cannot reconcile the spouses, they decide on separation with or without compensation; in every case the compensation paid by the wife may not exceed the dower, and the arbitrators submit a report to the court on what they did and the view they reached (Article 111).

Khula, Divorce and Faskh Compared

• Divorce (talaq) is ending the marriage contract by the husband's will, using words that indicate it (Article 77), whereas khula takes place at the wife's request with the husband's consent, in return for compensation (Article 95).
• Khula is treated as a dissolution of the marriage contract even if the word divorce is used, and it is not counted among the three divorces (Article 97). In divorce, by contrast, the divorce that completes the three ends the marriage with a major irrevocable separation (Article 86).
• Khula is a minor irrevocable separation (Article 97). A divorce in a valid marriage is revocable, except the divorce that completes the three and a divorce before consummation or khalwa (Article 86), and after a revocable divorce the husband may take his wife back until the waiting period (iddah) ends (Article 87).
• Khula takes effect whatever the wife's state, including during menstruation, postnatal bleeding and a period of purity in which her husband had intercourse with her (Article 98), whereas a divorce does not take effect in those states if the husband knew of them (Article 80), although the validity of a divorce cannot be challenged on that ground once it has been documented under the prescribed procedures (Article 82).
• Khula is treated as a dissolution of the marriage contract (Article 97), and every separation by court judgment is also a dissolution (Article 103); both are minor irrevocable separations that are not counted among the three divorces. They differ in that khula is valid by the agreement of spouses with full legal capacity, without a court judgment (Article 96), while a judicial separation is made by a court judgment (Article 103).

Effect of Khula and the Iddah

• Khula is a minor irrevocable separation and is not counted among the three divorces (Article 97).
• Outside the case of death, the waiting period (iddah) is due where the separation follows consummation or khalwa in a valid marriage (Article 117), and it runs from the time the khula takes place (Article 118).
• The iddah of a pregnant woman ends when she gives birth, where the pregnancy has passed eighty days (Article 120). For a woman who is not pregnant, it is three menstrual cycles if she menstruates, and three months if she has reached menopause or has not menstruated; if she menstruates before it ends, her iddah starts again on the basis of menstruation (Article 121).
• Khula is an irrevocable separation (Article 97), and the Law provides that a woman in the iddah of an irrevocable separation is not owed maintenance unless she is pregnant, in which case maintenance is due until she gives birth (Article 53).
• If the husband dies while the woman is in her iddah from a khula, she completes that iddah and does not observe the iddah of death (Article 123).

Documenting Khula on Najiz

Khula must be documented, and the spouses, or either of them, must document it under the applicable rules (Article 102). The Ministry of Justice offers a khula documentation e-service on the Najiz platform, which it describes as an online service for documenting khula and issuing an official khula document; its published conditions require the applicant to have full legal capacity under Sharia. The steps published on the service page and in its user guide are as follows:

1. Sign in to Najiz through the National Single Sign-On service (Nafath), then choose all electronic services, the Social Affairs package and the khula documentation service.
2. Enter the applicant's capacity, the details of the husband and wife, of the marriage contract and any revocation (raj'a), of the khula and of the place where it took place, attach the documents requested, and submit the request. The applicant receives a text message with the request number and the date it was submitted.
3. The parties to the request authenticate it, and accepting it is done by entering a verification code sent to the mobile number registered with Absher.
4. Once the parties have authenticated the request and the notary has approved it, the document is issued. The applicant receives a text message with a link to download it, and the husband and wife can view it in their Najiz accounts.

Proving Khula and Bringing a Claim

Any person with an interest may ask for a khula to be proved by any means of evidence (Article 102). Personal status courts hear all personal status matters, including proof of marriage, divorce, khula and dissolution of marriage, and the claims arising from them (Article 33 of the Law of Civil Procedure). Where there is a dispute over whether a khula took place or over its compensation, or the wife asks for the marriage to be dissolved, the claim is brought before these courts.

This is general information based on the cited laws when this page was prepared. It may change, and it is not legal advice on a specific case.