Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce - עמיהוד בורוכוב, משרד עורכי דין

The rabbinical court ordered my wife to accept a “get” from me after it was proved to them that she had been having an affair with another man. She consistently refuses to obey their order. I feel I have a worthless judgment. Is this true, or is there something that I can do ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

No, you do not have a worthless judgment. You can apply to the rabbinical court for a restrictive order against your wife, under the 1995 Rabbinical Court (Implementation of Divorce Judgment) Order. The same principles apply to a woman who defies the order as to a man defying an order. The only difference is that the procedure is more stringent regarding the most ultimate sanction,jail, because of the usual need for the woman to be at home taking care of the children/family.

Can a husband whose wife has committed adultery be made to shoulder the financial burden of divorce proceedings at the rabbinate ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

Possibly, if the husband proves adultery at the rabbinical court , it orders her to divorce on the basis of this, and he requests that she be ordered to foot the bill. In September 2006 the Greater Rabbinical Court upheld a costs order made against an adulterous wife by Netanya Rabbinical Court. She had been ordered to pay her husband’s legal fees in proving her adultery and his entitlement to divorce, as well as the paying for the cost of the private detective he hired to produce the necessary evidence.

Can a husband be “let off” his Ketuba if it is “exhorbitant”?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

In theory this is possible, but very rare and in principle a rabbinical court will regard a “Ketuba” as a “finished bond or bill ” or clear debt that does not proving, to which the wife is entitled upon divorce, unless she is declared “rebellious” and loses her entitlement to it. If the husband disputes it, the burden of proof lies with him .

My wife and I are in the process of divorcing at the rabbinate. We have just discovered she is pregnant. Can I – or the rabbinical court – force her to have an abortion because we are getting divorced ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

No! A husband has no right to force his wife to have an abortion ,whether or not they are in the middle of divorce proceedings. There is no connection between the two.

My wife has filed for divorce at the rabbinical court and for the division of our property at the family court, including our home . If I file for marital reconciliation at the rabbinical court, could this help me to keep a roof over my head ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

Yes, according to a decision given by Rishon LeZion Family Court several years ago, when it ordered a delay in dividing partnership in the marital home following developments at the rabbinical court related to marital reconciliation plea filed by the husband. He had filed for ‘Shalom Bayit’ (literally “peace at home”) at the rabbinical court . Accordingly, it granted an order forbidding the wife from interfering with his specific accommodation in the marital home. Furthermore, it held that without a home there can be no “peace at home”, and, therefore, the apartment could not be sold.

Amendments to Israeli legislation concerning the division of marital property are designed to reduce financial manipulation in divorce negotiations . Under the old law relating to couples marrying after 1.1.74, division of marital assets was normally only effected upon divorce or death. Recent amendments allow for the division of marital property before divorce, in certain specified conditions. See Property Rights – Couples Married After 1974.

If a wife is declared “ rebellious” by a rabbinical court can the husband condition his consent to divorce upon his wife reimbursing him for all the maintenance he paid her ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

No ! The Greater Rabbinical Court accepted an appeal by a wife against her husband’s conditioning of divorce upon her giving him back maintenance he had paid her. After the district rabbinical court had declared the wife “ rebellious” , the husband had said he would only divorce her if she gave him back a substantial sum of maintenance which he had paid her over the years following litigation she had brought in the civil system. It accepted the husband’s action but the wife won on appeal.

The Greater Rabbinical Court held it was clear that the couple, who had lived separately for over 10 years, should divorce, but said it was very hard to understand the district court ruling allowing the husband to condition his consent to end their marriage upon the return of the maintenance sums. The money had been used to support the wife and there was no justification for its return , especially given the extreme violence within the marriage. As both sides were interested in divorce, it held that they must divorce immediately, without reference to the question of returning maintenance money, which should be dealt with afterwards. It ordered the wife to produce two guarantors.

If a husband appeals against a family court ruling awarding his wife maintenance, can he gain tactically by preventing her from enforcing the decision at the bailiff’s meanwhile ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

No, not as a rule ! If a husband appeals at the district court against a family court judgment or temporary decision awarding his wife maintenance this will not, in itself, prevent her taking action to enforce it at the bailiff’s court if he does not pay up meanwhile. This is because as long as there is no judicial decision delaying implementation of the judgment /decision awarding the wife maintenance, then it is still enforceable, and the mere filing of an appeal against it by the husband, will not prevent the wife opening a file at the bailiff’s to get the maintenance she has been awarded.

Can a husband against whom a ‘stop order’ was “wrongly” granted as part of rabbinical court proceedings – after his wife deliberately told lies – get his own back so that she suffers for her folly ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

Yes ! Firstly, the rabbinical court can order costs against a wife who gains a ‘stop order’ against her husband on false grounds – due to lies, spite, malice or pettiness. Incidentally, if a stop order is wrongly granted against a husband by the family court as part of proceedings between them there, due to the wife’s lies, spite, malice or pettiness, it can also order costs against her.

Secondly, if , as a result of the ‘stop order’ the husband incurred damages – he can consider bringing a civil damages suit against her for financial compensation for damage caused as a result of the order granted against him.

My wife has gone to the police with false claims about violence and is demanding her ‘Ketuba’ in return for her consent to divorce. I have not laid a hand on her. I want the divorce and she doesn’t. Can she be made to divorce because of her behaviour ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

In theory this is possible , depending on developments. For example,several years ago, the Greater Rabbinical Court turned down a wife’s appeal against the Haifa Rabbinical Court’s ruling obliging her to divorce because of her false accusations against her husband about assault and rape. It further held that she had no right to her “Ketuba”, maintenance, compensation or property.

The wife had complained to the police that her husband had attacked and raped her, but later went back on this, with Haifa District Court passing judgment proclaiming his innocence in criminal proceedings brought against him . The Greater Rabbinical Court backed up the first level judgment and held that the wife had ulterior financial motives – but the issue of money should come after matters of the soul. She had demanded 500,000 NIS for her ‘consent’ to divorce.

“In cases like this, where the wife makes very serious allegations against the husband, while refusing to accept a ‘get’ without conditions, we recommend first that the divoce be carried out immediately, and after the ‘get’ we will decide on monetary matters”, The Greater Rabbinical Court held.

Can a husband prevent his wife gaining maintenance at the family court by filing for divorce at the rabbinate first, claim that she is “rebellious” and ask it to deny her financial support ?

Marriage and Divorce •Husband's Means of Legal Action in Jewish Divorce

No ! The fact that a husband has filed for divorce first at the rabbinical court and included his wife’s maintenance in the plea does not necessarily mean he can prevent her from getting maintenance at the family court . She can still try and file there – and then if the husband objects and asks the family court to throw out her plea for lack of jurisdiction , it will then have to see whether the husband’s maintenance plea at the rabbinical court passed a tough 3-point test. For the rabbinical court to gain jurisdiction over the wife’s maintenance this way, the divorce plea must be filed in good faith, the maintenance plea must be bound to it in good faith , and properly, according to law.