New law on property distribution in divorce aims to ease burden of agunot

Law requires property be distributed between parties within a year after divorce process initiated, or 9 months after couple separates.

By SHELLY PAZ
agunot protest 248.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
agunot protest 248.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
A bill to divide the assets between a divorcing couple before the divorce is actually granted passed its third and final reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. The bill, which is a correction to the balance of resources law, was initiated by Kadima MK Menahem Ben-Sasson and Labor MK Michael Melchior, and was worded by national-religious lawyers. The new law is especially good news for agunot - women whose husbands refuse to grant them a divorce - since in many cases, their husbands withhold a get to force them to give up their rights on the joint property accumulated during the marriage. The new law separates the legal divorce process from the process of distributing assets. It requires that the property be distributed between the parties within one year after the divorce process is initiated in court, or nine months after the couple separates. This enables the asset distribution to take place before the divorce is completed, thereby reducing the odds of husbands extorting their wives. In cases of violent and abusive spouses, the law allows an even earlier distribution of the property. Prior to the law's approval, couples had to wait to distribute the joint property until the court granted the divorce. "This law is a true revolution. Not one civilized country in the world grants one of the sides in marriage rights that she or he cannot realize," family law attorney Nurit Fish told The Jerusalem Post. "This new law removes the sting of get refusal." The law was approved exactly a week after Shas's attempt to block the third reading, arguing that it would weaken the rabbinical courts' authority. According to Halacha, religious courts, which are the only courts in Israel that can grant divorces, cannot impose a divorce ruling on either side. The party who grants the divorce, and the one who accepts it must both agree to do their part in the process. Shas's move went against the Knesset regulation that a law approved in first and second readings must be approved as soon as possible in a third reading and during the term of the same Knesset that initiated it. Shas threatened last Wednesday to vote no-confidence against the government if the bill were approved. MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud), a member of the agreements committee established to ensure that only crucial bills were brought for Knesset approval before the end of the session, gave in to the demand and agreed not to bring it for a third reading. However, Knesset legal adviser Nurit Elstein said there was no legal justification for Shas's demand, since the bill had already been approved by the Knesset. The law is expected to reduce the number of divorce cases waiting to be closed in Israel's courts.