Domestic Relations Law

The Domestic Relations Law of 1973 governs various aspects of marriage, divorce, and custody of children—while also providing protections for women’s property rights in marriage. The statute sets forth the requirements for a valid marriage, procedures to obtain a marriage license, duties and liabilities in marriage, guardianship and adoption of children, and the procedures to obtain a divorce. Chapter 2 outlines the requirements for a valid marriage. §2.2 provides that when men reach 21 years old and women reach 18 years old, they are per se capable of entering into marriage. §2.2 prohibits marriage of those under 16 years old. §3.4 provides that a woman retains the property she owns at the time of her marriage or receives during the marriage. §3.5 provides that a woman has the right to sue her husband for the injury caused by him during the marriage. Contrary to the law in most countries, §4.1 mandates that both parents have equal custody rights when they live in the same household, but that the husband becomes the sole custodian of the children upon their separation. §5.3 provides, however, that the wife is responsible to support the children when the husband is dead or cannot be found. §6.1 provides that bigamous and incestuous relationships are void marriages. §8.1 outlines the grounds for divorce, including inhuman treatment that causes danger to the plaintiff-spouse’s physical and mental well-being, the defendant-spouse’s desertion of the plaintiff-spouse for a period of one or more years, the defendant-spouse’s adultery, or incompatibility of temper that results in danger to a spouse. With respect to divorce, the Supreme Court of Liberia has affirmed that a court has discretion to deny a divorce if the plaintiff is responsible for the incompatibility (see, e.g., Korkoya). §13.2 provides that injury caused to the wife in the domestic relationship may subject the husband to civil compensatory damages and punitive damages.