Will a father pay less child maintenance if he and the mother are both Jewish, and agree to have joint custody of their children, rather than the mother having sole custody, and him visitation rights?
By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 13 May, 2022Yes. A groundbreaking ruling was given in July 2017 in Israel dealing with child support for 6-15 year olds in cases of joint physical custody, where both parents are Jewish (Petition 919/15). An enlarged panel of 7 Supreme Court judges held that the obligation to provide for the basic needs of children between those ages, under a more liberal interpretation of Jewish law, and in today’s reality, is a shared burden, where physical custody is joint, and is a function of relative parental income, and earning ability. Previously, it was the father’s sole responsibility for supporting minor children between those ages, where both parents were Jewish, even when physical custody was joint, and child maintenance only became a shared burden, when a minor reached 15.