Critical Changes in Property Division Law -2008 Amendment

Question:

Can marital assets such as the family home, pension rights, redundancy money etc  be divided up before divorce, even if they are registered in one spouse's name only ?

Answer:

Yes – subject to certain technical conditions, following wide-ranging amendments made to Israeli property law in November 2008 affecting couples who married from 1.1.74 onwards and are  in the process of divorce, or whose marriages have broken down. Before the amendment, marital assets registered in one party's name only could not be divided until their marriage ended (through divorce or death), unless both parties agreed . Marital assets registered in joint names could be divided before divorce.

Under the amended law , marital assets registered in the name of one party can be divided before the actual divorce is granted , within a year of one party filing for either divorce, or division of property, or without legal proceedings, where they have been separated for at least nine months, or their marriage has broken down.

Furthermore, the amendments to the 1973 Spouses' Division of Property Act give discretion to courts or religious courts to order the division of marital assets even earlier where there is evidence of domestic violence .

Safeguards exist, however, under the amendments, for the courts to delay the division of the family home, if it is a marital asset, until it is satisfied that the custodial parent and minor children living in it have alternative accommodation suited to their needs.