The Status of Marital Property in an Interfaith Marriage Following the Death of the Husband

Abstract

This article examines the status of marital property following the death of the husband in a marriage that was initially solemnized under Islam but subsequently became an interfaith marriage because the husband reverted to Christianity while the wife remained Muslim. There was no record of divorce or a court judgment terminating the marriage before the husband's death. Following the death of the husband, the child who followed the father's religion took control of the property, while the wife received no share of the property acquired during the marriage. This study employed a normative legal research method using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. The case was treated as a case construction based on the chronology in the source manuscript and the available supporting records, rather than as a published court judgment. The findings indicate that a change of religion does not automatically terminate a marriage. In the absence of divorce or a court judgment, property acquired until the termination of marriage upon death remains presumed to be marital property. The wife's share must be separated before the distribution of the inheritance, whereas the estate includes only the husband's share of the marital property and his separate property. The inheritance regime is determined by the husband's religious status at the time of death, but religious differences do not extinguish the wife's proprietary rights in marital property. Legal protection may be pursued through an action for the determination and division of marital property, proof of the origin of the property, preservation of the disputed property, and enforcement of the judgment.