My husband and I made a divorce agreement which was authorised at the family court. I was the one who initiated divorce and agreed to a fairly modest financial deal just to avoid a long court battle. However, when we went to the rabinnical court for the divorce ceremony he went back on his word to give me a divorce and co-operate on this. He tried to exploit the situation by refusing to give me the ‘get’ unless I agreed to additional terms in his favour. Am I stuck with the terms of the agreement now , or can I cancel it and file for divorce, custody, maintenance and a property settlement ?
By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 10 May, 2022If a Jewish couple make a comprehensive divorce agreement and the financial and custody aspects of it are duly authorised at the family court , if one of the sides refuses to co-operate with the actual ‘get’ process, even though they undertook to do so, this constitutes ‘a fundamental breach of contract’. It will entitle the other side to ask the court that authorised the agreement to cancel it. It should be stressed that a party cannot enforce the other side’s ‘consent’ to divorce even if it appears in the divorce agreement. This is because under Jewish law a ‘get’ must be freely given and freely accepted.