Who Gets Custody After the Mother's Death in Jordan?

After the mother's death, custody under Jordanian law passes to the next person in the order set by Article 170 of the Personal Status Law: the default is that the biological mother is most entitled, so on her death the right passes to her mother (the maternal grandmother), then the father's mother (the paternal grandmother), then the father, then whichever relative the court sees as most entitled in the child's interest.

Whoever the custody passes to must meet the custodian's conditions under Article 171; if a condition fails, the right passes to the next. Article 186 provides that the court assigns custody to the most suitable where those entitled compete.

Custody therefore does not pass automatically to any relative after the mother's death; it is subject to the statutory order and to the court's assessment in light of the child's best interest.

Determining to whom custody devolves remains within the Sharia Court's competence on the facts of each case and the satisfaction of the conditions by the person whose turn it is.

This is a general explanation based on Jordanian Personal Status Law and does not replace advice from a qualified lawyer in a specific dispute.