Alimony of Wife of Missing Husband in Jurisprudence and Law With Special Reference to Imam Khomeini's Viewpoints

The alimony of missing couple is included in the non-financial rights of the couple that plays a key role in continuation of marital life. Lack of alimony will raise serious problems for the families and the society.According to the widely accepted views of Imamiya jurists, if the missing person is found or, if there is a plenipotentiary substitute for him to pay the alimony, the wife of the missing couple should wait. However, if there is no sign or sound of the missing couple, and if there is no plenipotentiary substitute to pay the alimony, the wife is religiously permitted to refer to the legal judge and wait for maximum four years for the return of her husband. Also, when a donator volunteers to pay the alimony, she will have no right to request for dissolution of marriage. Instead, she will have to tolerate the status quo until her husband returns. Imam Khomeini (RA) also believes in this rule of Imamiya jurists on paying alimony of the missing person.However, some contemporary jurists such as Tabatabaei Yazdi are of the opinion that if the wife of the missing person fails to search for her husband for some reasons, and if there is no volunteer to pay alimony, she can refer to the authorized judge and apply for divorce. In this case, the judge may rule their divorce. The civil law and the non-litigious jurisdiction act say that paying alimony of the missing couple is on a trustee who takes care of the properties of the missing person. The alimony rule of the spouse receiving divorce from the court can be obtained with respect to the law (articles 1109 and 1156).This study intends to find access to new and appropriate precepts on alimony of the wife of the missing couple by observing the jurisdictional and legal fundamentals on one hand, and reviewing the viewpoints of contemporary jurists and modern law on the other hand.