Article Egypt: New Amendments Regulating Child Custody and Alimony Proposed

In July and August of 2023, members of Egypt’s House of Representatives proposed new amendments to the country’s Personal Status Law (Law No. 25 of 1929, as amended). The new amendments regulate child custody and post-divorce alimony.

Child Custody

One proposed amendment to the Personal Status Law that would regulate the custody rights of custodial and noncustodial parents was announced on August 3 by House member Nashwa el-Deeb. The amendment would grant noncustodial parents the right to spend more time with the child so that the child could get to know the noncustodial parent’s family better and spend a vacation with the parent.

El-Deeb indicated that the amendment would impose a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about US$160 to $645) on a custodial parent who prevented the noncustodial parent from seeing or spending time with the child. She also stressed that the new amendment would obligate both custodial and noncustodial parents to refrain from talking negatively about each other in the child’s presence.

Alimony

On July 30, 2023, Amal Salama, who is a member of the House’s Human Rights Committee, proposed an amendment to the Personal Status Law that would determine the minimum amount of post-divorce alimony. 

According to Salama, the proposed amendment stipulates that a husband who divorces his wife without her consent must, in addition to regular alimony, pay her another sum of money equivalent to two years of alimony, or a minimum of 1,500 pounds (about US$50) per month. If the husband divorces his wife after 10 years of marriage, in addition to the regular alimony, he must pay the wife a sum equivalent to five years of alimony, or a minimum of 2,000 pounds (about US$65) per month. Finally, if the divorce takes place after 15 or more years of marriage, in addition to the regular alimony, the husband must pay the wife a sum equivalent to seven years of alimony, or a minimum of 2,500 pounds (about US$80).

Amendments to Be Included in a New Unified Draft Law

The Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives is currently studying all the proposed amendments to include them in a new draft of the Personal Status law. The committee has announced that the draft law is expected to be discussed and approved in the next parliamentary session of the House of Representatives, which is scheduled to start in October 2023.