Divorce at the Request of the Wife Based on the Payment of Alimony with Illegitimately Acquired Assets

Divorce due to hardship (subject of Article 1130 of the Civil Code), divorce due to non-payment of alimony (subject of Article 1129 of the Civil Code), and divorce resulting from the husband's breach of conditions stipulated in the marriage contract are among the grounds for divorce at the request of the wife. According to jurisprudential and legal principles, the obligation to provide alimony to the wife lies with the husband, and failure to fulfill this obligation entails both civil and criminal consequences. Moreover, this alimony must be sourced from legitimate financial means. This study seeks to answer the question of whether a husband's refusal to pay alimony from legitimately acquired wealth and the inability to compel him to fulfill his religious and legal duties, can be one of the grounds for divorce at the wife's request. Can such alimony be considered as causing hardship for the wife, thereby equating it with non-payment of alimony and entitling the wife to request a divorce? Furthermore, can such conduct be deemed a violation of the conditions stipulated in the marriage contract (specifically the first and fifth conditions), granting the wife the right to divorce herself by proxy from the husband? This article by a descriptive-analytical method seeks to answer these questions. The findings indicate that there are no explicit references to this matter in jurisprudential and legal sources, and ambiguities exist in the interpretation of the relevant laws. Nevertheless, it appears that the refusal to pay alimony derived from illegitimate means can, for various reasons, be considered as one of the grounds for divorce at the wife's request. This article also proposes the recommendations for legal reforms and clarifying ambiguities.