In re Farraj

Rabaa Hanash (plaintiff) and New York resident Daoud Farraj married at the New Jersey home of Hanash’s brother because Islamic law dictated that the ceremony take place at the residence of Hanash’s eldest male relative. An Islamic clergyman known as an imam traveled from New York to New Jersey to conduct the ceremony. The couple had not obtained a marriage license. After the ceremony, Hanash and Farraj returned to Brooklyn, New York, where they lived together as husband and wife until Farraj’s death four years later. Farraj died without a will, and a court appointed his son from a prior marriage (defendant) as the administrator of his estate. Hanash later filed a petition to compel the son to provide an accounting of the estate. The son filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Hanash lacked standing to file the petition because her marriage to Farraj was invalid under New Jersey law. New Jersey law stated that the failure to obtain a marriage license rendered a marriage void. In contrast, under New York law, a marriage entered into without a marriage license was nevertheless valid if the marriage was solemnized, meaning if the spouses declared their intent to take each other as husband and wife before a clergyman or magistrate and witnesses. The surrogate’s court concluded that New York law applied and denied the son’s motion to dismiss because, under New York law, Hanash was Farraj’s surviving spouse. The son appealed.