A talaq obtained in Amman, a Gaza marriage and children in Ramallah

1. Forum. For Muslims in Palestine, marriage, divorce, custody, maintenance and inheritance fall to the Sharia courts. A Ramallah Sharia court can take the file on several independent bases, and Layla should plead all of them: her own domicile (the wife's residence is a recognised basis for maintenance and custody claims in most personal status regimes), the children's domicile and habitual residence (Ramallah since 2018), and the last matrimonial home. The husband's Jordanian residence does not defeat jurisdiction for maintenance and custody; at most it complicates notification and enforcement, which is handled by rogatory letters and, if a judgment is obtained, by enforcement through the Jordanian courts.

2. Applicable law. Personal status is governed by the law of the husband's nationality at the time of the marriage - here Palestinian. But 'Palestinian law' is not uniform: in the West Bank the Sharia courts apply the Jordanian Personal Status Law of 1976 (as it stands in Palestinian practice), while Gaza applies the Law of Family Rights of 1954 as amended. The marriage was concluded and registered in Gaza, so the Gaza court's registration and the contract terms (including the dower) are proved by the Gaza certificate; the Ramallah court will apply the rules in force in its own area to the dissolution, custody and maintenance now claimed. Flag the divergence in the pleadings rather than assuming one code governs everything.

3. Practical proof. Obtain a certified copy of the Gaza marriage contract and its registration, the family reunification or ID records showing the 2018 move, school records for the children, and a residence certificate for Layla. Do not let the case be tried as if the marriage were unregistered - it is registered, just elsewhere.

1. Distinguish the act from the judgment. A talaq is a unilateral act, but its registration in a foreign court produces a foreign judgment or official act. Recognition in Palestine is not automatic: the foreign court must have had jurisdiction under its own law and under the principles of private international law applied locally; the absent party must have been duly notified and given the chance to be heard; the decision must not contradict Palestinian public order; and it must not have been obtained by fraud or collusion.

2. The fatal defect is notice. Layla was never notified, never appeared, and learned of the divorce by WhatsApp. That is an in-absentia decision against a party who had no opportunity to be heard - a direct breach of the right to a fair hearing. Ask the Ramallah Sharia court to refuse recognition of the Amman registration.

3. Further grounds. (a) Jurisdiction: Samir left the matrimonial home; a Jordanian court's jurisdiction over a wife resident in Palestine is questionable. (b) Public order and the wife's financial rights: a divorce that strips her of the deferred dower and of the children's maintenance will not be given effect to that extent. (c) Form: registration of a talaq normally requires notification to the wife and a waiting period; check the Jordanian file for the notification document - its absence is your best evidence.

4. Fallback. If recognition is granted, the divorce still operates as a revocable or irrevocable talaq as the case may be, and its financial consequences are fixed by law: the deferred dower (15,000 dinars) falls due on divorce and must be paid; she is entitled to maintenance during the waiting period; the children's maintenance is separate and continues. If the talaq is treated as effective only from the date of judicial confirmation, maintenance for the intervening period is still claimable.

5. Protect enforcement. Ask for the dower to be secured - attachment of Samir's known assets in Palestine (bank accounts, any land share) and a travel ban - before the file is adjourned.

1. Custody ages. Under the Jordanian Personal Status Law of 1976, as applied by the West Bank Sharia courts, the mother's custody ordinarily ends when a boy reaches 7 and a girl reaches 9. The later Jordanian amendments are not in force in Palestine. On those figures the girl, at 7, is within her mother's custody; the boy, at 9, is prima facie past it. The husband's statement is therefore half right - which is exactly why the case must be argued on the child's interest, not on the calendar.

2. Extending custody for the boy. The court retains a discretion to extend the mother's custody where the child's interest requires it, and to refuse transfer to the father where he is unfit or unable to care for the child. Build the record: the father lives in Jordan and has not paid maintenance; the boy is settled in school in Ramallah; a social report will speak to stability and attachment; the court can hear the boy if of sufficient age. Ask for the extension expressly, and in the alternative for custody to another qualified female relative rather than automatic transfer to an absent father.

3. Maintenance (nafaqa). Children's maintenance is the father's obligation and is assessed according to his means and the children's needs - housing, schooling, medical care, clothing. The wife is entitled to maintenance during the waiting period after divorce (and to arrears if he stopped paying before the divorce was recognised). Custody wages ('ujrat al-hadana) may also be claimed where the mother is caring for the children. Itemise the claim with receipts and school fees; a lump sum without a breakdown invites a low assessment.

4. Evidence and orders. Attach his salary or business records if obtainable, or ask the court to require disclosure; request an attachment against his assets and a travel ban; ask that payments be made through the court fund so that arrears are provable. If he later refuses to pay, the enforcement route is through the Sharia court's execution office, and the Ramallah judgment can be enforced in Jordan through the applicable enforcement channels.