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Maintenance / Child Support

Home / My marriage is at crisis-point. People scare me that if I leave the family home I will lose my right for maintenance for me and my kids. My husband and I are both Jewish. Is this so?

My marriage is at crisis-point. People scare me that if I leave the family home I will lose my right for maintenance for me and my kids. My husband and I are both Jewish. Is this so?

By: דיאנה שאלתיאלPublished on: 16 May, 2022

No, there is some truth in the myth but it is misleading.

Children are entitled to maintenance irrespective of their mother’s behaviour and whether they leave the family home with her or not.

Regarding a wife’s right to maintenance, this exists as long as she is married, even if she leaves the marital home provided she is justified in doing so e.g. where her husband is violent. If, however, she leaves without justification, then under Jewish law she is likely to lose this right even if she is still married.


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