Short answer
She keeps all her own property and receives any unpaid mahr, including the deferred part. During her iddah she has the right to housing and maintenance. If she was divorced before consummation with no mahr named, she gets a parting gift (mut'ah). The father pays child support. Islamic law does not split the husband's own assets in half.
On divorce the whole deferred mahr falls due at once; if the divorce came before consummation and before valid privacy (khalwah sahihah), half the named mahr is owed. A divorced wife, whether the talaq was revocable or final, is owed maintenance and housing until her iddah ends. Mut'ah, a parting gift of clothing or its value, is wajib when she is divorced before consummation without a named mahr, and recommended for other divorced women.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- A woman in the iddah of a final divorce gets housing but no maintenance unless she is pregnant. Mut'ah is wajib for every divorced woman except one divorced before consummation after a mahr was named.
- Hanbali
- A woman in the iddah of a final divorce who is not pregnant has no right to maintenance or housing, following the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays.
Explanation
Allah says, "for divorced women is a provision according to what is acceptable, a duty upon the righteous" (2:241), and tells husbands to lodge them where they themselves live during the iddah (65:6). Divorce is meant to end with fairness, not with a woman left with nothing.
What she is owed in the Hanafi school:
- Her own property: her savings, gold, gifts and income stay hers. See who owns the mahr.
- Unpaid mahr: all of it, including the deferred part. Before consummation and before valid privacy (khalwah sahihah), half the named mahr (2:237). See deferred mahr.
- Iddah maintenance and housing: food, clothing and a home until the iddah ends, or until birth if she is pregnant.
- Mut'ah: a parting gift, required if no mahr was named and the marriage was not consummated (2:236).
- Children: the father pays their support, and the mother usually has custody of young children. See child support and custody.
In khula she usually returns the mahr or gives up the deferred part, as agreed. See khula.
Civil settlements. Courts in the West may divide marital property or order spousal support beyond the iddah. Many Hanafi scholars say she may only keep what the Shariah gives her, unless her ex-husband freely agrees to more, while others allow what the law of the land awards. A husband may of course give more out of generosity. This is a question to put to a mufti with the details.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:241
وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَٰتِ مَتَٰعٌۢ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿٢٤١﴾
And for divorced women is a provision according to what is acceptable - a duty upon the righteous.
Divorced women are owed fair provision.
Quran, Surah At-Talaaq 65:6
أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُم مِّن وُجْدِكُمْ وَلَا تُضَآرُّوهُنَّ لِتُضَيِّقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن كُنَّ أُو۟لَٰتِ حَمْلٍۢ فَأَنفِقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ ۚ فَإِنْ أَرْضَعْنَ لَكُمْ فَـَٔاتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ ۖ وَأْتَمِرُوا۟ بَيْنَكُم بِمَعْرُوفٍۢ ۖ وَإِن تَعَاسَرْتُمْ فَسَتُرْضِعُ لَهُۥٓ أُخْرَىٰ ﴿٦﴾
Lodge them [in a section] of where you dwell out of your means and do not harm them in order to oppress them. And if they should be pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth. And if they breastfeed for you, then give them their payment and confer among yourselves in the acceptable way; but if you are in discord, then there may breastfeed for the father another woman.
Housing during the iddah.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:236
لَّا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِن طَلَّقْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا۟ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةًۭ ۚ وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى ٱلْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُۥ وَعَلَى ٱلْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُۥ مَتَٰعًۢا بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿٢٣٦﴾
There is no blame upon you if you divorce women you have not touched nor specified for them an obligation. But give them [a gift of] compensation - the wealthy according to his capability and the poor according to his capability - a provision according to what is acceptable, a duty upon the doers of good.
The mut'ah gift.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Talaq, Bab al-Nafaqa. Maintenance and housing for every divorced woman during her iddah.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Nikah, Bab al-Mahr, on the mut'ah. When the mut'ah is wajib and when it is recommended.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Nafaqat. The Hanbali view on the irrevocably divorced woman.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.