FAQ family law
Prenuptial Agreement
Q: How do you change a court approved Prenuptial Agreement?
A: If you wish to change certain conditions in a Prenuptial Agreement that has been approved by a court of law or a rabbinical court, you must submit a written detailed request stipulating the terms or conditions that you wish to alter. After the request has been received, the court will be responsible to investigate the requested change and to ensure that the requested change is agreed upon by both parties and that the changes do not discriminate either party. After examination and approval by the court, the changed conditions will be binding in a future separation.
Q: What is the validity of a Prenuptial Agreement that has not been approved by a Court of Family Law or a rabbinical court?
A: Generally, the law requires Prenuptial Agreements to be approved by a court of law or a rabbinical court, to be legally binding. That being said, there are exceptions in which a court of law will bindingly validate a Prenuptial Agreement port factum, even though it was not originally approved in that court. An example for such an exception would be a situation in which both parties acted according to the terms of the Prenuptial Agreement, in good faith, over an extended period of time, as if a court had ruled that the Agreement is legally validated.
Click for further information regarding Prenuptial Agreements.
Domestic Partnership/Living Together Agreement
Q: What type of populations is a Domestic Partnership Agreement designed for?
A: A Domestic Partnership Agreement, also known as a Living Together Agreement, is designed for couples who are unable to sign a Prenuptial Agreement, but wish to define the legal and financial aspects of their relationship in the event of a future separation. Examples for such couples are same sex partners, couples who hold themselves out to the public that do not wish to wed or are unable to wed (such as a Cohen and a divorcee). A Domestic Partnership Agreement enables unwed couples to define their relationship and any property disputes because the subjects are agreed upon in advance. Click for further details regarding Domestic Partnership Agreements.
Q: Does a Living Together Agreement have to be validated in court:
A: Generally, a Living Together Agreement is legally binding from the moment both parties have signed and they are not obligated to get a court ruling to legally validate the agreement (as opposed to a Prenuptial Agreement). However, a Living Together Agreement can be validated by a Family Court, or by notary. The process of validation by Family court enhances the status of the agreement by making it difficult for either party to claim that the agreement should not be honored due to lack of understanding the terms of the Agreement and their possible consequences, when they first signed it. It is the duty of the court to ensure that both parties understand the agreement and have signed in in sound mind with the knowledge that it will be valid in the event of a future separation.
Marriage Dissolution
Q: What is the difference between Marriage Dissolution and Divorce?
A: A Dissolution of Marriage is a type divorce proceeding for “mixed” couples that are unable to divorce in Israel. “Mixed couples” are couples in which one of the parties is Jewish and the other has no religion or is a member of a different religion. These couples who wish to end their marriage cannot obtain a divorce through a divorce procedure in Israel, therefore the legislature has provided a solution in the form of the Law for Dissolution of Marriages that provides a parallel procedure similar to divorce, termed “Dissolution of Marriage”.
Click for further information regarding Dissolution of Marriage.
Divorce
Q: What can you do when one of the parties refuses to give a divorce despite a court ruling on the matter?
A: A divorce process often involves frontal confrontations of one of the parties towards the other, where one party tries to pressure the other using immoral methods, such as the use of the common children or refusal to give a divorce. According to Jewish law, a divorce must be given out of both parties free will, therefore many times a party who wishes to divorce is in a seemingly hopeless situation. The solution is in the Rabbinical Court Law that enables sanctioning the party that refuses to give the divorce. Examples for such sanctions are: Stay of Exit Order, denial or refusal to renew a passport, denial of access to the bank account, incarceration and more. The use of the sanctions enables the party who wishes to divorce to pressure the other party in the hopes of getting them to agree to settle the divorce.
Q: What is the Process for Resource Balancing?
A: A Process for Resource Balancing is a settlement that is determined in the Property Relations Law that differentiates between the assets of the couple during the marriage and after it has ended. The settlement stipulates that the assets acquired by a couple during the marriage is common property, and as such must be equally shared between the parties, except for gifted assets and/or assets that belonged to the parties before the marriage and/or a National Insurance benefit that is issued to one of the parties. The Process for Resource Balancing is generally carried out after the divorce has been given. However, in some instances the Family Court may authorize the process before the divorce is given, such as in cases when there is a fundamental rift between the parties for many months.
Divorce Agreement
Q: Can a Divorce Agreement be changed or cancelled?
A: It is generally possible to attempt to cancel or change a Divorce Agreement, however this is not a simple procedure and requires proving that there was a flaw in the Judicial Process that approved the Divorce Agreement and gave it legal validation, or that there are fundamental changes of circumstances since the agreement was signed, that does not enable withstand it. To change the agreement you would have to appeal to a Family Court with a request to cancel an agreement and the burden of proof for the above mentioned falls on the party that is appealing to the court.
Click for further information regarding Divorce Agreements.
Child Custody and Visitation Rights
Q: What is the Tender Years Presumption?
A: This is a presumption that the custody of a child should be the mothers for children under the age of six, unless extenuating circumstances cause the court to consider alternate parenting by considering the child’s best interest. It should be noted that in recent years the Tender Years Presumption has weakened and the courts often consider child’s best interest and determine that the child’s best interest is not necessarily to remain with the mother (even though the child is under the age of six). There are often instances where we are witness to a change in the father image, as many fathers are more involved with raising their children, often more than the mother. Accordingly, the state of Israel has formed the Shanit Committee that investigated the Tender Years Presumption and recommended cancelling it, however this recommendation has not been implemented, if at all. The change in the approach to the Tender Years Presumption can be noted in other countries, such as the USA that cancelled the Presumption and replaced it with the Principle of the Dominant Parent.
Click for further information regarding Child Custody.
Q: What are Extensive Visitation Rights?
A: The customary Visitation Rights in Israel are that the child stays with the non-custodial parent twice a week from the afternoon until the evening and every other weekend, while the holidays and summer break are equally shared between the parents. Contrary to customary Visitation Rights, the non-custodial parent can ask the court to grant them Extensive Visitation Rights that will permit the child to remain with them for longer periods than the customary, such as every weekend. Such a request can be made when both parties agree, or if the parties cannot come to an agreement, the non-custodial parent can appeal to the court on their own.
Click for further information regarding Visitation Rights.
Child Support
Q: Can I file for Child Support even though I am not yet divorced?
A: In Israel, a father is required to feed their child regardless of a divorce process. This means that when you are separated and the father of your children does not provide for his children that are in your custody, you are entitled to sue for Child Support in the name of your children in a Family Court of Law.
Child Support from the Grandparents
Q: Our son does not pay Child Support and we are afraid that we will be approached with a demand to pay Child Support – is this possible?
A: In recent years we are witness to ruling of Family Court obligating grandparents to pay Child Support for their son. However, it should be noted that this is a relatively unusual ruling and that you can be obligated to pay on very specific circumstances and only after the other party has first appealed to the appropriate institutions (such as National Insurance -Israeli Social Security, and the Execution Department of the Court) to enforce payment from you in place of your son.
Click For further details regarding Child Support from the Grandparents.
Paternity
Q: I have a child out of wedlock and the mother refuses to let me meet with my child. What can I do?
A: To sue the mother of your child for Visitation Rights you must prove that you are the father. Assuming that the mother did not write your name on the birth certificate of the child, you are entitled to appeal to a Family Court of Law and ask the court to determine that a Paternity Test be performed. It is the court’s duty to examine the circumstances and order a DNA Paternity Test accordingly, to prove that you are the father. After proving that you are the father, you are entitled to appeal to Family Court to sue for Visitation Rights. It should be noted that once your paternity is determined, the mother will be entitled to receive Child support, which you will be obligated to pay.
International Child Abduction and Immigration
Q: Can I immigrate with my children to the USA if I have been granted full custody?
A: The answer to this question is generally no, and if you do so without an approval from a court of law it can be construed as kidnapping. The custody right does not permit you to move to another country with the children thereby distancing them from their other parent. If you are interested in immigrating with your children to another country, you must appeal to a Family Court of Law that will investigate and determine if the immigration will be in the child’s best interest.
Q: What can I do if my ex has kidnapped my child to a foreign country and will not return to Israel?
A: Israel, as well as many other western countries, has signed the Hague Convention which defines what a kidnapping is and regulates the treatment of kidnapping of children. The countries that have signed the convention have absorbed it into their law, therefore the instructions of that convention are part of the laws of the country that has signed it. In a situation where you child has been kidnapped outside of Israel there are two possible courses of action: a) Contact the Central Organization is Israel and in collaboration with them to submit an application to the central authority in the same country where the child was abducted for submitting to the court for filing, or b) You can contact a local attorney in the country where the child was abducted to legally demand from a local court of law to return the child to Israel. It is the duty of the court to assess where the Domicile (or place of residence) of the child is and whether the kidnapping has taken place.
Age Declaration
Q: Why do I have to appeal to a court to change my age?
A: If you are certain that the age listed in your National ID card is incorrect, you are obligated to appeal to a Family Court of Law near your place of residence. The main reason that the law obligates you to appeal to a court of law is that there are ramifications to changing your date of birth, such as: your eligibility for pension, retirement delay, and change in the date and amount of various stipends etc. Therefore, to change your age you must convince the court that your age is not real and to prove your real date of birth.