Case Update (25 Sept 2026): Azhar v. Choudhri; Texas Supreme Court denies comity to Pakistani talaq divorce obtained with only five days' notice by publication

The parties married in Pakistan in 2008, and the Wife joined the Husband in Houston, where he had lived since age three. During the marriage they built more than $100 million in community assets. In 2012, the Husband sent the Wife to Pakistan, supposedly to renew her visa, and in January 2013 divorced her there by talaq. His only notice was a publication in a small local Pakistani newspaper five days beforehand, which the Wife never saw. She learned of the divorce two years later, challenged it unsuccessfully through the Pakistani courts, and filed for divorce and property division in Harris County. The Texas trial court gave comity to the Pakistani judgment, dismissed her divorce petition, and entered a take-nothing judgment on her property claims. The court of appeals affirmed.

The Texas Supreme Court reversed without oral argument. Relying on Hilton v. Guyot and its own precedent, it held that comity is never mandatory and does not extend to foreign judgments that violate Texas public policy or fundamental due process. Notice must be reasonably calculated to reach the party, and publication is inadequate when a known defendant can readily be found. Five days in a single obscure outlet did not suffice, particularly since the Husband offered no evidence that ordinary means of contacting the Wife were unavailable. The Court noted that Rule 308b, which governs enforcement of foreign marriage-related judgments, did not apply because the case was filed before its 2018 effective date. It also stressed that its holding is fact-specific and is not a per se rule against foreign notice procedures that differ from Texas's. The case was remanded to the trial court.