The Obligation to Provide Alimony to a Spouse, According to the Rabbinic
Law
Alimony
in the context of a divorce is also known as “maintenance for the
wife”.
Family
Law Amendment (Maintenance) Law, 5719-1959
Marriage
and divorce contracts are administered by Rabbis and in accordance
with the Orthodox Rabbinical law. Therefore, the law on maintenance
for the wife applies only to the husband, who is obligated to provide
for his wife, and does not apply to the wife and obligate her to
provide for her husband. Therefore, it is important to understand the
obligations and limitations stipulated in the law, as well as all the
details of the law and the reasons behind each one.
THE
PAYMENTS TO WHICH THE HUSBAND IS OBLIGATED
According
to the family laws regarding payment of maintenance, one of the
sections stipulates that maintenance of the spouse is mandatory and
is subject to the personal law that applies to the paying spouse—if
they are not Jewish, i.e., they are not obligated to follow the
Jewish Rabbinical law, but, rather, are Muslim, Druze, or belong to
any other religion as detailed in the Inheritance Ordinance, or if
there is no personal law that applies to them, they are still
obligated to provide maintenance to their spouse, and the provisions
of the law apply to such maintenance, as well.
That
is, according to the law, the payment of maintenance is subject to
the “personal” law, i.e., the “religious” law. Therefore,
according to the provisions of the law regarding maintenance, it does
not apply in this case, and the law only applies to persons who
belong to a religion that is recognized in Israel or who do not
belong to any religion.
In
other words, for a Jew, the only law that applies is the Rabbinical
law, not the civil law. However, there is a section in the civil law
that also applies to the Rabbinical law.
The
husband’s obligation to provide maintenance to his wife applies
only
up until the divorce.
PAYMENT
OF MAINTENANCE TO THE SPOUSE ACCORDING TO THE RABBINICAL LAW:
As
stated above, the husband is obligated to pay alimony as follows:
The
alimony must include money for food, clothing, medical treatments,
and any other basic needs of the ex-wife. In addition, if the
husband’s living standard rises, the wife’s living standard must
also rise. The law also stipulates that the wife shall receive an
amount of maintenance that will not force her to lower her living
standard below the standard to which she was accustomed during the
marriage.
WHAT
SUM OF MAINTENANCE MUST THE HUSBAND PAY?
The
amount of maintenance is determined according to the common custom in
the area and society in which the spouses live.
ONLY
THE HUSBAND IS OBLIGATED TO PAY ALIMONY
The
divorced wife has no obligation to pay alimony or to provide for her
husband even if she is financially very well off.
Can
conditions be inserted to change the Rabbinical law?
The
spouses may certainly formulate an agreement that does not follow the
Rabbinical law and that obligates the wife to pay maintenance to the
husband, for example, if the wife wishes to provide for her husband.
WHEN
MUST THE MAINTENANCE BE PAID?
The
husband is obligated to pay maintenance until the divorce, except in
two cases that exempt the husband from his obligation: if the spouses
live in different homes, or if the wife’s behavior or actions are
problematic.
If
the spouses no longer live together but are still married, the
husband is exempt from paying alimony. The wife is only eligible to
alimony despite living separately from her husband in the following
cases:
-
if
the husband is the one who left their shared home, at no fault of
the wife; -
if
the wife is the one who left their shared home, but for good reason; -
if
the husband is required to divorce his wife but refuses to do so, in
which case the wife is unable to remarry due to the delayed divorce.
If
the wife’s behavior or actions are problematic, the husband will be
exempt from paying alimony in the following cases:
There
are several grounds for exempting the husband from paying alimony
before the divorce. The authority to decide on the exemption is the
Rabbinical court or family affairs court. These grounds may be:
A
Rebellious Wife
A
rebellious wife is a wife who refuses to conduct a married life with
her husband. For a wife to be considered rebellious, several
conditions are required: warning her, making a public announcement,
etc.
An
Immodest Act That Is Considered to Be Ugly
In
this case, the wife performs an immodest act that raises the
suspicion of prostitution; however, not every immodest act is
considered to be ugly, but, rather, is only considered as an act that
raises such a suspicion.
An
Act of Prostitution
If
the wife has engaged in prostitution with another man and there are
two witness who can attest to this.
In
other words, if the wife admits to having engaged in prostitution but
there are no witnesses, this is not considered sufficient grounds,
since there is reason to believe that she is saying so to force her
husband to divorce her. However, in certain cases, the wife’s
admission regarding prostitution may serve as sufficient grounds if
it can be ascertained based on the account of several witnesses.
The
Wife Violates the Precepts of Moses
The
wife intentionally and knowingly causes her husband to violate the
Jewish religious law.
The
Wife Violates the Precepts of Jewish Women
The
wife does not dress or behave modestly.
However,
if the husband does not dress or act modestly himself, he may still
be obligated to pay alimony.
The
Wife Refuses to Divorce
If
the Rabbinical court decides that the couple must divorce but the
wife refuses, the court may exempt the husband from continuing to pay
alimony.
DEDUCTED
ALIMONY IN RESPECT TO THE WIFE’S INCOME
If
the wife has various income sources, the Rabbinical or civil court
may take her income into consideration and deduct it from the amount
of alimony that she receives from her husband. This may occur in the
following cases:
The
Wife Has Independent Earnings
Any
earnings or salary from her work will be deducted from her alimony.
The
Wife Has Income From Past Work
The
wife’s consistent income stream from past work may also be deducted
from her alimony.
The
Wife’s Income From Other Sources and From Assets
As
stated above, when the religious law applies, the provisions of the
civil law do not apply, except for Section 2(a) of the law, which
stipulates that the wife’s income from her work, assets, and any
other source may also be deducted from the alimony.
THE RIGHT TO HOUSING AS
PART OF THE ALIMONY
The
wife’s right to maintenance includes the right to housing, a place
to live. According to the saying “[a woman who marries a man]
ascends with him and does not descend with him” (Ketubot
48a), the
woman is eligible to the same living conditions to which she was
accustomed during the marriage in every respect, whether it be the
size of the apartment, the number of tenants, rooms, etc., but she is
not eligible to the same rights in the apartment, such as moving to a
rented apartment instead of a self-owned apartment.
She
is also eligible to live in a quiet and calm location; i.e.,
according to the meaning of a “restraining order”, this order
prohibits the husband from entering the home that he shares with his
wife if there is danger of physical, verbal, emotional, or spiritual
abuse toward the wife or children. Besides a restraining order, there
are also other orders against violence and harassment:
It
is possible to obtain an order from the court that prohibits a person
to perform any of the following actions:
-
enter
the home of a family member or be within a certain distance of the
home, even if the person has certain rights to the home; -
harass
the family member in any way or in any place; -
act
in a way that prevents or makes it difficult for the family member
to use the property, even if the person has certain rights to the
property.
Order
for the Prevention of Stalking
The
Order for the Prevention of Stalking prohibits any of the following
actions: harassing the victim in any way and anywhere; threatening
the victim; following or spying on the victim, or violating the
privacy of the victim in any way; it is illegal for the stalker to
contact the victim in person, in writing, or by any other means; it
is illegal for the stalker to be within a certain distance from the
victim’s home, vehicle, workplace, or any other place where the
victim goes regularly.
WHAT IS REHABILITATIVE
ALIMONY?
Rehabilitative
alimony is provided to the wife for a limited period of time to help
her rebuild her financial situation after the separation. As stated
above, according to the Rabbinical law, alimony is only provided up
until the divorce, if there is no reason for an exemption. However,
there are situations in which the woman refuses to divorce because
she wishes to continue receiving alimony.
This
occurs, for example, when the woman was a housewife during the
marriage and had no career. When the marriage ends, the woman faces a
very difficult situation with no financial support.
Therefore,
to allow such women to rebuild their financial situation, the Supreme
Court ruled that, in certain cases, the woman shall continue
receiving maintenance after the divorce. Such maintenance is called
rehabilitative alimony.
This
alimony is expected to reduce the phenomenon of women who refuse to
divorce for financial reasons, and it will enable the civil courts to
be considerate of the situation that is brought before them in a
reasonable and fair manner. Rehabilitative alimony provides a certain
solution to situations in which the spouse who took care of the
housework suddenly finds themselves with no source of sustenance.
Rehabilitative
alimony does not mean the right for indefinite financial support,
but, rather, temporary maintenance to allow the woman to return to
the workforce while still receiving respectful financial support
during the “rehabilitative” period. This period is based on the
marital relationship, so much so that it negatively affects the
woman’s ability to support herself. There is also the option of
going to a mediator until the right to another means of income is
found, such as a pension fund. In light of all this, it is possible
and even necessary to determine a date after which the woman will
stop receiving alimony.
AUTHORIZATION
TO HEAR ALIMONY CASES
See
the Court of Family Affairs Law, 5755-1995.
There
are two types of courts that are authorized to hear alimony cases:
The
Court of Family Affairs
This
court bases its rulings on the “family affairs” law—a
law that deals with marital status and the right to maintenance or
housing;
The
Rabbinical Court
See
the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law,
5713-1953.
There
are two types of alimony cases that the courts are authorized to
hear:
When
a Jewish divorce claim has been submitted to a Rabbinical court,
whether by the woman or by the man, the Rabbinical court will have
jurisdiction over all matters involved in the claim, including the
issue of maintenance for the wife and children.
The
alimony issue in the divorce action.
Its
purpose:
Only
the wife can file a claim for alimony, and she may do so even outside
the context of a divorce, to create a fair claim both financially and
emotionally.