About Property - עמיהוד בורוכוב, משרד עורכי דין

Q: My ex-wife is claiming that our divorce agreement should be annulled, claiming that I violently forced her to sign it. I was never violent towards her. What are her chances of annulling the agreement in court?

Marriage and Divorce •Divorce Between Jews

A: If there is no basis for her claim, the agreement will not be canceled. In a judgement given by the Family Court in Rishon LeZion on 12.11.24, (Family File #58820-08-21) the wife’s claim that her husband tried to run her over, with his car, treated her violently, and forced her to sign their divorce agreement, which was approved by the court, was rejected. The court ruled that the woman did not provide evidence that she had ever filed a complaint against her husband for violence, with the police, and admitted that she did not seek medical treatment for violence. In addition, during her interrogation in court, the wife confirmed that during the marriage and up until the date of signing the agreement, no complaint of violence was ever filed, nor did she prove a connection between the alleged violence and the signing of the agreement. The Court rejected her plea, stating that, for the court to determine that an agreement should be annulled, due to violence, a direct connection must be proven between the violence and the signing of the agreement. The Family Court found that there is no doubt that at the time of signing the agreement, no violence was used against the wife.

My mother-in-law filed legal proceedings to evict us from her apartment. We argue that she promised us this apartment. We have a recording of a conversation between her and our minor daughter that proves our claim is true. Will we be allowed to present it in Court as evidence?

Agreements •About Property

Yes! The District Court on December 24^th 2024, in leave of appeal (Case # 16554-09-24), ruled in a similar case, to allow the use of a recording between a grandmother and her minor grandchild, and overturned a previous decision by The family Court on this question. The District Court found that since the child’s testimony and affidavit at The Family Court were not required, then her welfare has been preserved (not to be involved in the parties’ conflict). Consequently, the District Court ruled that filing the recording and transcript of the conversation between the grandmother and the child, at The Family Court, would not involve the minor child in the conflict, and therefore allowed it.

I have recently found out after signing a divorce agreement with my now ex-husband, that he has property in the UK. Will the Court grant me an application to amend the divorce agreement in view of this new found information?

•Property Rights

Not necessarily. It depends on the circumstances surrounding the signature of your divorce agreement. For example, on November 18^th 2024 The Family Court in Tel Aviv (Family Case # 18783-07-21) ordered to strike out a plea filed by an ex-wife, because the divorce agreement between her and her ex-husband, was achieved through a mediation process. The Court there stated that it had no authority to examine her claims, because the divorce agreement was the result of mediation and not of a regular legal process. Meaning, the court has no way to assert whether within the mediation process the sides have agreed to only divide certain parts of their rights in property and not other parts.

My husband and I signed a comprehensive divorce agreement which covered our property matters amongst other things. The family court authorised it. Under the agreement my husband undertook to transfer rights to a certain property to me … I have since discovered that he had already sold it. What legal action can I take ?

Agreements •About Property

If one spouse discovers that the other entered into a divorce agreement and knowingly undertook to transfer certain real estate rights after he had already disposed of them, then grounds exist for partial cancellation of the agreement based on fraud. As well as filing for partial cancellation of the agreement relating to property, the injured party can also sue for compensation.

My husband and I have been separated for over a year. I am afraid that because money tends to slip through his fingers and he tends to run into debt that I might be forced to cover half of his debts. Is there anything that I can do to prevent this from happening?

Agreements •About Property

Yes, you are advised to have a divorce/property relations agreement drafted, signed and authorized in court. This would bring the marital partnership in property to an end. It should include a joint declaration re the ending of this financial partnership and the agreed date for this. Unless such an agreement is drawn up and signed by your husband, and authorized in court to gain maximum legal validity, then you are at risk from claims from debtors. To minimize this risk , if your husband refuses to co-operate and draft such an agreement, you would be advised to file for divorce and in doing so define the point at which your financial partnership ends – when you separated , at the earliest, or when you filed for divorce, at the latest.

s it possible to realize a property relations agreement in part only, so that all the mutual property about which the parties agree on how to divide, can be divided, leaving out the family home, over which a warning note is registered at the Lands Registry ?

Agreements •About Property

Yes ! It is possible to do so , providing that the property relations agreement expresses the mutual consent of the parties to a partial division of their partnership in the property, and the division of a certain asset at a future time. If the agreement relates to a complete division of all the couples’ mutual property, then it is possible for them to change this to a partial settlement, subject to court permission.

My husband and I are separated and have a separation/divorce agreement authorized in court, although we have yet to officially divorce . I have stayed in the marital home but he has moved into other property we bought during our marriage and own – with his girlfriend. I am worried that my rights in this property might be at risk, although he assures me that they are protected, and says he has made a property relations agreement with his live-in girlfriend . Are my rights in this property protected ?

Agreements •About Property

Yes ! A married woman’s property rights in marital property – even if she is separated – are protected by law , and even if they are partly registered in her name, or not at all. They can be reinforced by an authorized separation agreement between her and her husband.

Accordingly, your rights in the property that your estranged husband is living in with his girlfriend are protected irrespective of any agreement your husband has made with her. In this, he is only free to make agreement regarding his part of the marital property, and cannot make any agreement regarding his wife’s rights in marital property.

My divorce agreement, which included a settlement over marital property, was authorised at the family court and stated in general that any debts were joint. After we divorced I was sued by my ‘ ex’s’ bank – I had signed as a guarantor on one of his accounts during our marriage. Before I paid the money we made an agreement in which he undertook to reimburse me for all the debt if I paid it. I paid off the debt but he never repaid me. This second agreement was not authorised in court. Can I sue him to get the money back ?

Agreements •About Property

The family court has jurisdiction to rule on a dispute between ex-spouses, and the ex-wife can certainly bring an action for breach of the second contract. However, the situation is not clear-cut.

On one hand the potential source of the debt – the act of becoming a guarantor – was made during the marriage and the property relations’ agreement stated that debts incurred by either party during this period were joint. This agreement was authorised , has full legal value and is enforceable. According to it, the debt to the bank should be shared equally between the parties.

On the other hand, the ex-husband supposedly intended to take full responsibility for the debt by entering into the second agreement aimed at dealing with the issue of the guarantorship which the original agreement had not covered specifically. By not fulfilling his obligation to reimburse her he is not acting in good faith. However, to have full force any change to a property relations agreement must receive court authorisation and the binding value of a judgment according to the 1973 Spouses’ Property Relations Act. This second agreement was not authorised. Its legal value derives from general rules relating to the validity and enforceability of contracts under the general laws of contract, which include ‘good faith’.

The first agreement is a specific type of contract, subject to the principles of family law, which override the general principles of contract law . Under it the debt paid by the wife should be borne by both parties 50:50. According to the second agreement , the ex-husband undertook to reimburse his ex-wife for the whole debt – but this contract does not have the binding force of a judgment , as the first. The ex-wife would probably increase her chances of succeeding if she sued her ex-husband for only half of the debt she paid out.

I divorced a few years ago following a marital rift connected with the failure of my business. In my divorce agreement I agreed to transfer my rights in the family apartment to my wife – to protect the home from creditors. The agreement was authorized and incorporated into a judgment. My wife has still not transferred my share of the apartment into her name. I want to get my share back . What action can I take to do so ?

Agreements •About Property

The first option is filing for a division of property as the apartment is registered in two names. However, this is doomed to failure because although the transfer of rights has not been effected Israeli law recognizes Israeli equitable property rights since the Ahranov case. This leaves two possible alternatives – the first is filing for a cancellation of the property part of the divorce agreement relating to the transfer of rights. The second is a plea for a declaratory judgment to state that the ex-husband is entitled to half of the rights in the property even though he is actually registered as owning them at the moment.

I divorced my husband a few years ago. We made a divorce agreement in which it was stated that his rights in our flat would be transferred to me. The reason for this was that he wanted to protect the family home from creditors whom he owed large sums of money. The agreement was authorised in court and incorporated into a judgment. Recently my ex-husband filed a plea at the family court for a declaratory injunction declaring that half the rights in the flat belonged to him . He claimed that the agreement was only a cover – and should be cancelled. What are his chances of success ?

Agreements •About Property

Courts have ruled that an agreement to transfer property to avoid creditors is not an empty contract even though it may be made in bad faith regarding the creditors – as long as it reflects the parties’ wishes. This is so even if it is proved that the person transferring the property feared creditors. Furthermore, if the party who transferred the property was actually present in court when the agreement was authorised and declared that he had signed it of his own free will, after understanding its contents and implications, his later claims that he did not declare the truth cannot be accepted. His original declaration is favoured. The fact that the side transferring the property only filed the plea several years later supports the thesis that there was a genuine intention on his behalf to transfer his rights in the property.