“It triggered a past which I wish I had not had,” said 25-year-old Fatemah Al-Zahraa, talking about her experience of watching the television series Taht Al-Wesaya (In Custody) in Ramadan. The series, which sparked debates about the issue, has stirred up the need to work on changing the guardianship laws in Egypt.
When she was ten years old, Al-Zahraa lost her father who was a great source of love and protection for her. She was then shocked to find that she might be losing her mother too.
She remembers that her mother had to fight with her grandfathers and two uncles who happened to be her guardians in law. They repeatedly accused her mother of not raising her well, of spending too much money, and of other things.
“When I lost my father, I was in constant danger of losing my mother too. I remember losing my family connections on my father’s side due to their fights and clashes with my mother,” Al-Zahraa said.
“I wish I had been able to say no to this law that tore the whole family apart,” she said. For her and many others who have suffered from the current guardianship law, it creates clashes and family breakdowns more than it protects a child who has lost a father or a mother.
The guardianship law that entered into law in 1952 says that “guardianship of money is legitimate and necessary to give the guardian the right to supervise a minor’s financial affairs.” It sets out rules to preserve the assets of a minor and invest them, including by signing financial contracts and disposing of any money for the benefit of the minor.
According to the law, this right can only be given to the minor’s father, grandfather, or guardian appointed by the father such as a judge or trustee.
“People think we are seeking out this form of guardianship, not understanding that we have a responsibility on our shoulders to protect our nieces and nephews,” said an ophthalmologist in Cairo who lost her brother 20 years ago.
After she became the guardian of her niece, she invested her money and gave it all to her after she turned 21 years of age. “I hope I did everything I could to invest her money and to protect her and her mother from any future problems,” she added.
But the Probate Council, which oversees the law, still required many papers and documents. “I feel the law and regulations need revisiting, as whether you have good intentions or not, family ties will break down, and this is not good for the children,” she said.
“In addition, the law questioned the intentions of both the mother and myself.”
When it was broadcast in Ramadan, the television series, directed by Mohamed Shaker and starring Mona Zaki, sparked hopes among mothers struggling in court or elsewhere with members of extended families. It also sparked a debate in society, which made lawmakers, women’s rights advocates, and MPs rethink laws set more than half a century ago.
When a father dies, who has the right of guardianship to his children? Is it the mother or the uncle and grandmother? Who has the right to protect the children’s financial interests, the mother or the uncle and grandfather? Who has the right to protect the children? These are just some of the questions raised by the law.
“The financial guardianship law was passed in 1952, which means that it is 71 years old. Imagine how society has changed since then,” Rehab Al-Tahawi, a lawyer and founder of the Makam Association for Women’s and Human Rights, told Al-Ahram Weekly.
“Under current circumstances, it is difficult to deal with this law. In fact, all the personal status laws tend to harm the interests of all family members, whether mothers, fathers, or children,” she added.
Al-Tahawi has witnessed many cases that are difficult to handle. “Let’s say a mother has a great connection with the grandfather, but even so both might have difficulties in dealing with the Probate Council.”
“Moreover, they always treat mothers as a source of negligence, thinking that they will waste money, need support, and have to have a male figure in their lives.”
The idea of having a “male figure in their lives” was mentioned by many posts that went viral on social media. Mohamed Taha, a psychiatrist, said that the television series had exposed the dark truth that many women face.
“The fundamental truth behind the story reveals that Hanan [the female protagonist in the series] who is suffering from the loss of her husband, is exposed to the laws of guardianship. This is not only a matter for the children’s grandparents or uncle, who want to deprive them of their father’s fortune, but is also exemplified by her having to have male figures in her life so that she can keep on living,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Women in Egypt and in many other eastern societies are treated as the equivalent of half a man in law, he said, even if they are ministers, judges, or are in a high-ranking position and even if the man in question is illiterate. Taha is the author of the bestselling book Ragel Sharki Monkared (Rare Eastern Man) and says that outdated laws must be revised in a way that preserves the rights of both men and women.
The ongoing National Dialogue has looked into the issue through its Family and Community Cohesion Committee, which has tackled the complex issues of financial and educational guardianship. During one of its sessions, rapporteur Nesreen Al-Boghdadi said that financial guardianship must be transferred to the mother by law should the father of minor children die.
She added that “the transfer of financial guardianship to other family members, rather than the mother, damages the lives of the children.”
“If changes in the law are implemented, this might end the suffering of many windows who are struggling. It adds insult to injury that not only have the children lost their father, but they are also in danger of losing the guardianship of their mothers, whom society does not trust,” Al-Tahawi added.
The dialogue has also addressed the idea of investing the children’s financial assets. “We must study this step of investing the money, rather than ending up losing it,” she said.
The government should be responsible for investing the assets of children who have lost their fathers so that it can be protected. Al-Tahawi also said that the Probate Council should be developed to suit the current society and be able to make any necessary adjustments rapidly and effectively.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 July, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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