Website code number
fa8356
Archive code number
8168
group
Laws and Jurisprudence
Summary of question
Is conditional divorce effective?
question
I have a question regarding divorce:
Is conditional divorce effective? For instance, if a husband tells his wife: “If you are lying, in that case, I divorce you”, and she is actually lying, will the divorce automatically have its affect?
Concise answer
One of the conditions of the validity and effectiveness of the divorce formula is for it not to be made contingent upon any condition. Consequently, if the husband says “If Zayd comes you are divorced”[1] or “If the sun rises you are divorced”, it will not be effective. Of course, if he makes it conditional on something that has already taken place and is true, like if he says “If so and so woman is my wife [and she is], then she is divorced”, it will apparently be effective [of course if all the other conditions for the effectiveness of the divorce formula are met].[2]