(Stuff) The first New Zealand case of a woman seeking the return of a $212,095 dower from her ex-husband after being divorced in an overseas court has begun in Wellington.
The pair married in the United Arab Emirates, under Islamic or Sharia law, in December 2013.
A dower is a payment from a husband to a wife, while a dowry is from the wife to the husband.
Under the marriage contract signed in Dubai, Rafid Salih, a Wellington dentist, was to pay a dower of about $12,000 to Rahla Hussein Amin Harder Almarzooqi at the start of their marriage.
If they divorced, he was to pay a deferred dower of $212,095.
