Does a kenyan dowry or and dowry exist in the U.S.??

Question

my gf is kenyan (international student) and I'm from the U.S. we plan on getting married soon. In her culture a dowry exists in which the groom pays the brides family a large sum of money in order for the groom to marry the bride(daughter). My question is if she becomes a US citzen and we elope here in the U.S. does her dowry have an affect on me, although we are not getting married in kenya by kenyan laws??

Answer 1

You might not be considered married in Kenya.

While this won't have an effect on the legality of your marriage in the USA, it may have an effect on your in-laws attitude towards your wife and children - they will consider that both your wife and your children belong to their family rather than yours, since you did not 'pay' for her and therefore she isn't officially your wife. If you are living in the USA this is unlikely to cause problems, but if you were in kenya and she or one of your children were to die, there could be ugly battles over control of the corpse. I know: I lived in Africa for 15 years and I have seen it happen.

Answer 2

No, thd dowry has no effect at all. Those are traditional laws and only few people still practice them. If you get married in the US, you don't have to pay any kind of dowry. And again, the dowry is not a lot of money, in fact the dowry is something symbolic, just to show appreciation to her family.

However, she might suggest she wants to have a marriage ceremony in Kenya, do not agree to this. She might not know this, but her relatives will give you all the bullcrap about how you've married into their family and you have to pay... bla bla bla. Esp since you are a foreigner, they smell fresh meat, so beware.

If you want,  you can show your appreciation by talking to her parents, send them somethin small, remember it is only symbolic. You don' t have to feel pressured to do what you don't want to do.

Answer 3

h**l no that's their custom, your american and it does not apply to you. Here in america we don't pay to play. That comes after the divorce.