Maintenance / Child Support

When there is a breach of a divorce agreement upon the basis of which the husband agreed to give his wife a ‘get’ there are ” weighty questions of Jewish law concerning the validity of the divorce” , held Tel Aviv District rabbinical court in November 2005. It held that breach of the divorce agreement can lead to the ‘get’ (Jewish divorce) being invalid.

Where a divorce agreement – covering finance among other matters – is made and the ‘get ceremony’ follows, it was held that if the wife had already made up her mind at the ‘get’ ceremony not to honour the agreement , and if the husband had known this at the time and would not have given her the ‘get’ as a result of this, then their divorce would be one obtained by deception and invalid. However, if the husband had said he would divorce his wife without any conditions, then the ‘get’ would be valid. The question of whether the financial aspects of the divorce agreement had been breached would be question for the family court, if it authorized the relevant sections, it held.

In Israel. Primary jurisdiction lies with the family court. Maintenance must be applied for and granted where the children live as that is where their needs must be met. If your husband lives abroad you can apply for permission for service of the legal documents to be made abroad. Through this the court gains jurisdiction in relating to a party overseas. Thus, you should apply for child maintenance at the family court covering your place of residence.