Six matters that stay unresolved abroad — because they have to be run in Iran.

What the mahr legally is Iranian law

The mahr is not a symbol and not a gift. On conclusion of the contract it becomes the wife’s property (Art. 1082 Iranian CC); it is a claim against the husband that can fall due independently of whether the marriage continues or ends. Where it is measured in Bahar-e Azadi coins, the value follows the daily coin price; where measured in rial, the statutory adjustment for price movement applies.

Two clauses decide the burden of proof: ind-al-motalebe — payable on demand — and ind-al-estetaa — payable according to means. The second shifts the showing of ability to pay onto the wife. Alongside stands the right of retention (Art. 1085 Iranian CC), allowing the wife to withhold marital duties until the due mahr is paid.

Divorce — three different routes Iranian law

Iranian law knows divorce at the husband’s instance (Art. 1133 Iranian CC), divorce by mutual consent, and judicial divorce on the wife’s application — the latter in particular for intolerable hardship (Art. 1130 Iranian CC) or under the conditions agreed in the marriage deed itself. Which route is open is decided by the wording of the deed and the evidence, not by preference.

Hezānat and velāyat are not the same Iranian law

Hezānat is day-to-day care and custody. Under Art. 1169 Iranian CC it belongs to the mother until the child completes seven years, and to the father thereafter; the court may depart from that where the child’s welfare requires. Velāyat, by contrast, is legal representation in property and status matters and rests with the father and the paternal grandfather (Arts. 1180, 1181 Iranian CC). Whoever has care alone therefore cannot decide on the child’s passport, exit or assets.

No Hague return route Both

Iran is not a party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention. The treaty return mechanism therefore does not exist in relation to Iran. What remains are the instruments of the country of residence on one side and the Iranian proceedings on the other — both have to be thought through at once, or one works against the other.

What Iranian succession law fixes Iranian law

The shares are fixed by statute, not chosen. A will reaches only one third of the estate; beyond that it operates only so far as the heirs consent. The deceased’s parents are first-class heirs taking one sixth each — even alongside children. The widow’s share in real property follows its own rule, changed by the 2009 reform, and is in practice measured against value rather than the object itself.

Estate liabilities come before any distribution: the heirs’ position settles only once the deceased’s debts are paid (Arts. 868, 869 Iranian CC). An outstanding mahr owed to the widow is such a debt — and she inherits as well. Distribute before that, and the claim catches up with the heirs.

Where it fails in practice Iranian law

On the wrong sequence: skip the tax clearance and nothing can be transferred. On incomplete civil status data: an heir whose parentage is not properly recorded in the Iranian register needs a separate proceeding first. And on earlier informal divisions within the family that correspond to no paper and later cannot be explained either to a court or to a bank.

Registered deed or mere contract Iranian law

A substantial part of Iranian property dealing runs on privately written sale contracts — the qol-nāme or mobāye’e-nāme. Legally that is a valid contract; but it is not the same as a title entered in the land register. For already registered land the State recognises only the registered person as owner (Art. 22 Iranian Registration Act), and authorities and courts are directed not to accept unregistered instruments over such land as proof of ownership (Arts. 46–48 Iranian Registration Act).

The recurring situations Iranian law

Sale or transfer from abroad under a power of attorney; transfer of title to an inherited property once the estate procedure is complete; eviction and possession disputes where a relative or tenant will not give up the flat; tenancy matters and their termination; and the action to compel transfer of title where a seller will not complete a privately written sale in the register.

Two separate routes, not one Iranian law

For court proceedings an Iranian lawyer can act through the electronic judicial system; activation depends on an Iranian mobile number receiving the confirmation. For everything else — sale, inheritance, registry matters — a notarised power of attorney is required, executed at an Iranian mission abroad. Two matters, two mechanisms; confuse them and you lose weeks.

The documentary route without an apostille Both

Iran is not a party to the Apostille Convention. Iranian documents for use abroad therefore need the legalisation chain: certified translation, pre-certification in Iran, confirmation by the destination country’s mission. The reverse direction correspondingly. Procedures, competences and fees change; the current position is checked before every step.

Civil status and correcting the record Iranian law

A recurring and underrated area: spellings of names that differ between the Iranian and the foreign document; dates of birth recorded differently in the register than in the passport; entries on marriage, divorce or parentage that are incomplete. Every such discrepancy later stops an estate, property or banking matter — usually just when it has become urgent.

What can be pursued Iranian law

Cheque claims, which have their own accelerated route in Iran; claims from contracts and from loans between private parties; restitution from failed transactions; and the assessment whether a judgment given abroad can be recognised and enforced in Iran at all — which frequently has to be answered in the negative, making a fresh action in Iran necessary.

Enforcement — and its limit Iranian law

After judgment comes enforcement: attachment of accounts, real property, company shares and vehicles, together with the personal coercive means provided by Iranian law against the debtor. What decides the matter, however, is the prior question: does recoverable property exist at all, is it in his name, and is it unencumbered? A judgment against a debtor without assets is a piece of paper.