Tattoo removal request in divorce

I am a resident of Arusha and a mother of two. Ten years ago, during the excitement of my honeymoon in Zanzibar, my husband convinced me to get a tattoo of his name beautifully inked on my shoulder blade. At the time, it felt romantic and symbolic, a celebration of a future we thought we would build together. Today, that future no longer exists. Our marriage has collapsed, and I have already filed for divorce. Every time I see the tattoo, it reminds me of a painful past, and I cannot fully move on. I asked my soon-to-be divorced husband to pay for professional tattoo removal as part of our divorce settlement. Tattoo removal is expensive and requires multiple sessions, which I can’t afford since I was a stay-at-home mum with no income other than that of my husband. He refused, insisting that I got the tattoo voluntarily, and it is my own responsibility. I feel strongly that since the tattoo is linked to him and the marriage whose breakdown he contributed to, he should help me remove it as part of my emotional and psychological closure. I want to know whether the Court can compel him to pay for the removal as part of the divorce settlement. Advise me.

MM, Arusha

Your situation raises an increasingly common but legally delicate question: can personal or cosmetic procedures be included as part of matrimonial relief in a divorce? Under the Law of Marriage Act, Cap. 29 [R.E. 2023], Courts have wide discretion when determining matters such as maintenance, division of matrimonial assets, and any other relief deemed just and fit to grant. However, based on previous cases, this discretion is not limitless. We have not had a divorce case like yours in Tanzania, but our review of cases in other countries shows that Courts generally avoid compelling one spouse to fund personal aesthetic procedures.

Tattoo removal is typically considered a personal choice, rather than a matrimonial obligation. It does not fall under recognised heads of relief such as spousal maintenance, equitable distribution of property, or child-related orders, which are directly addressed by the Tanzanian law. While you might attempt to rely on foreign cases and frame the removal as a remedy linked to emotional harm or psychological well-being, the Court is unlikely to treat it as a compensable matrimonial cost unless exceptional circumstances exist. These would include evidence that the tattoo is causing severe psychological distress directly tied to the marriage’s breakdown.

Realistically, the most effective path for you is not litigation, but rather negotiation. You can approach lawyers, religious leaders, or elders, and they may be able to persuade your husband to pay for the removal, or you can consider raising the funds yourself. In simple terms, your best chance lies in reaching an amicable agreement rather than relying on a judicial directive. Consult your lawyer for further guidance and seek psychological help as you navigate the divorce.

Wedding disrupted by curfew

We are a couple from Dar es Salaam. Our wedding was on 1 November 2025. We booked a venue, paid in full, and made all the necessary preparations several months in advance. You may recall that three days before the event, government authorities announced a temporary lockdown due to the election issues and imposed curfews restricting all public gatherings in the evenings. The wedding reception had to be abruptly postponed. I called the venue and told them that once restrictions were lifted, we would choose a new weekend date and still hold our wedding party as planned. Soon after gatherings were allowed again, however, the venue informed us that they had no openings as the venue was fully booked for the entire year. They insisted that they cannot refund but are willing to give us a weekday date, as the lockdown was not their fault. However, these options are inconvenient and impractical given our guest list. We feel frustrated and cheated because they did not inform us of this when we called to reschedule. I want to understand our rights under the law. Please guide us.

JD, Dar es Salaam

We are sorry to hear that your wedding day did not proceed as planned. Your experience highlights important aspects of contract law, particularly how contracts operate in the event of force majeure. Such events are beyond the control of either party. Under the Law of Contract, a force majeure event does not automatically cancel a contract, instead, it temporarily suspends performance. This means the wedding venue was temporarily unable to fulfil its obligations, but once the lockdown was lifted, the contract revived, and both parties were expected to resume performance in good faith.

We have not reviewed the contract you had with the venue, however, we can tell you that the venue’s actions raise legal concerns. When you called to postpone the wedding due to government restrictions and the venue acknowledged the postponement, their contract remained active. Even though the lockdown was not the venue’s fault, the manner in which they handled the rescheduling was entirely within their control. They had the responsibility to inform you then that rescheduling was impossible and provide you with options at that time.

We must emphasise that since we have not reviewed your contract, our advice will be on typical remedies in similar situations. The first is demanding specific performance, asking the Court to compel the venue to provide them with a reasonable weekend date similar to the original booking. The second is that if the venue insists that all weekends are booked, a refund of the full amount paid because the venue is unable to deliver what was contracted. If none works, you may also claim compensation for reasonable losses incurred due to the venue’s refusal to cooperate, such as the cost of paying for another venue. In the meantime, get a lawyer to review your contract and consider issuing a formal demand letter citing breach of contract as the first step. We wish you all the best.