Haq Mehr (dower) in Pakistan

What Haq Mehr is, and what it is not

Dower is the wife’s right, owed by the husband, and it belongs to her alone: not to her parents and not to the household. It is a debt, so it does not lapse because she stays silent about it.

It is not dowry. Dowry (jahez) is what the bride brings from her own family, governed by separate law, and gifts from the husband’s family are different again. A claim can include all three, but each is proved separately.

Pakistani law sets no fixed minimum or maximum amount; it is whatever the spouses agreed at the Nikah.

Reading the Nikahnama: columns 13 to 16

• Column 13: the amount of dower.
• Column 14: how much is prompt and how much is deferred.
• Column 15: whether any part was paid at the time of the Nikah, and how much.
• Column 16: whether property was given in place of all or part of the dower, with its description and agreed value.

The Supreme Court has held that these columns must be read together as one arrangement, and that the Nikahnama is the primary evidence of what was agreed, though it can be rebutted. An entry saying dower was prompt proves what was promised, not that it was paid: payment has to be proved separately.

Prompt and deferred dower

Prompt dower can be demanded at any time, even while the couple live together. Until it is paid, the wife may be entitled to refuse to live with her husband.

Deferred dower becomes payable on the time or event the Nikahnama names, usually when the marriage ends by divorce or death. But “deferred” on its own does not postpone payment: where no time or event is written in, the Lahore High Court held in March 2026 that it is payable on demand, and the wife need not wait for the marriage to end (2026 LHC 1643).

Nothing stated? Under section 10 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, where the Nikahnama does not specify the mode of payment, the entire dower is payable on demand. The Lahore High Court applied this in 2026.

When the whole dower falls due

• Divorce by the husband: all unpaid dower, prompt and deferred.
• Second marriage without permission: under section 6(5) of the Ordinance, the husband must pay the entire dower, prompt and deferred, immediately.
• Death of the husband: unpaid dower is a debt of his estate and is paid before the heirs take their shares.
• No rukhsati: dower is owed from the Nikah itself; the Lahore High Court held in June 2026 that it is payable on demand even where the couple never lived together. If talaq is given before the marriage is consummated, the share due can differ, so take advice.
• Khulla: different rules apply; see Haq Mehr in Khulla.

Dower given as gold, a house or land

Where column 16 names property, the wife is owed that property. If it cannot be transferred, the obligation does not disappear: the Supreme Court has held it survives, and the Lahore High Court has refused to let land promised as dower be replaced with cash at its old value. Keep any title documents, photographs or valuations that identify the property.

How to claim unpaid dower

1. Demand it in writing. A legal notice fixes the date of demand, which matters for prompt dower.
2. File a suit in the Family Court where the wife ordinarily resides. It can be joined with claims for maintenance, dowry articles or dissolution.
3. Prove the agreement and non-payment: the Nikahnama, witnesses to the Nikah, and anything showing what was or was not paid.
4. Enforce the decree like any money decree if it is not paid.

Do not wait: a suit is generally due within three years, counted for prompt dower from when payment was demanded and refused, and for deferred dower from the divorce or death.