If a Jewish couple married in a civil wedding ceremony in the States and later in a traditional religious one in Israel where can or should they divorce if she remains abroad and he has returned home to Israel ?
By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 09 May, 2022Firstly, it is preferable for a couple in this situation to have both a civil and a religious divorce and be regarded as legally divorced in both countries. If not, one of them might wish to remarry and then discover that he/she was still regarded as married in one of the countries.
Regarding the religious divorce or “get” a rabbinical court in Israel has exclusive jurisdiction to decide on the divorce of two Jews who are citizens or residents of Israel wherever they got married in the world, and no matter in what ceremony.
On the civil front, the couple should go through the civil divorce procedure according to the American state in which they married.