Shafique Pirani filed a complaint against Laila Jummabhai Barolia in the Superior Court of Cobb County, seeking to domesticate a Texas divorce decree and to adjudicate the parties’ property distribution. In her answer, Barolia, a Texas resident, admitted jurisdiction and counterclaimed for an equitable division of property and for breach of contract. Pirani moved for partial summary judgment on Barolia’s counterclaim, and following oral argument, the trial court dismissed the complaint and the counterclaim with prejudice, which made Barolia’s motion for summary judgment moot. The court held that the existence of the Texas divorce decree prohibited the parties from pursuing property division in Georgia, and further held that venue did not appear to be properly established. For the reasons that follow, we reverse. In a section entitled “Division of Marital Estate,” the parties’ Texas divorce decree provides that “the Petitioner Barolia has not waived her right, if any, to bring action in contract in Texas or Georgia on the instrument signed February 1, 1997 and that the Petitioner does not waive her right to an action on the division of property which should be brought in the State of Georgia.” The February 1, 1997, instrument is a document signed by both parties pursuant to a Muslim marriage ceremony they underwent after their civil marriage ceremony, in which Pirani agreed to pay Barolia $25,000 “in accordance with the tenets” of their religion.
In his Cobb County complaint against Barolia, Pirani asserted that the Texas divorce decree reserved the issue of property division, which he sought to have resolved. Barolia admitted jurisdiction in her answer and counterclaimed against Pirani, also seeking an equitable property division and further alleging Pirani had breached the February 1, 1997 contract by failing to pay her $25,000. Accordingly, both parties have submitted to the Georgia court’s jurisdiction, and both parties seek an equitable property division. Pirani disputes that the parties’ February 1, 1997, contract is subject to review by the court, arguing that it is a religious contract that can only be reviewed by a religious body.
