• Court affirms wife’s right to share of her millionaire husband’s estate
• Foreign divorce document did not prevent recognition of her legal marriage

A personal status appeals court in Jeddah has ruled that a woman is entitled to a share of her late husband’s estate, valued at more than 150 million Saudi riyals (around $40 million).

Local media reported that the court ordered the wife’s name to be added to the official inheritance deed after confirming that the marriage remained legally valid at the time of death.

The dispute dates back to the death of the Saudi millionaire, who had been married to a woman of another nationality for about 25 years.

Following his death, she sought formal recognition of her inheritance rights.

Other heirs argued that the couple had separated in the mid-1990s, presenting a divorce document issued outside Saudi Arabia and insisting the marital relationship had ended decades earlier.

However, the wife, her daughter, and their lawyer maintained that the document did not prove the marriage had ended, citing continued cohabitation, official civil records, renewed residency permits, and witness testimony showing the marriage lasted until the businessman’s death.

During proceedings, the appeals court reviewed documents and testimony in line with established evidentiary rules in personal status cases, concluding that official records still identified the claimant as the lawful wife and that legal certainty cannot be overturned by doubt.

In its final ruling, the court ordered her formal inclusion in the inheritance deed and instructed the relevant authorities to enforce the judgment through all legal means, including compulsory measures if necessary.