Jay Hait Family Law Attorney

31/08/2026

Married Abroad — Do You Still Need a Religious Divorce in Israel?

Thousands of couples who married outside Israel assume religious divorce rules do not apply to them — they are wrong. Whether you married in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa or anywhere else, Israeli religious law may still require a formal religious divorce. Here is exactly what applies to your situation.

31/08/2026

How to Support Your Children Through an Israeli Divorce

Divorce is hard enough for adults — but children experience it completely differently and most parents are so consumed by the legal battle that they miss the warning signs. Here is what children actually need from their parents during an Israeli divorce and the most common mistakes that leave lasting emotional damage.

30/08/2026

29/08/2026

What Happens When You Rush Decisions in an Israeli Divorce

In an Israeli divorce acting fast and acting smart are not the same thing. Rushing decisions on custody, assets and settlements can lock you into positions that are very difficult to reverse. Here is how to tell the difference before it costs you.

26/08/2026

Do Prenup Agreements Hold Up in Israeli Courts?

A prenuptial agreement in Israel is only valid if it meets specific legal requirements set by Israeli family court. Many couples discover too late that their prenup has clauses the court will not enforce.

24/08/2026

Steps to Take to Protect Your Money Before Divorce in Israel

The biggest money mistakes in an Israel divorce happen before anyone files. Knowing which steps to take early — from documenting assets to understanding your rights — can mean the difference between walking away protected and starting over from scratch.

22/08/2026

Why getting informed before your first legal move in Israel is worth more than anything else you can do.

There is a consistent pattern in Israeli divorce cases involving Anglo clients. The clients who arrive at their first consultation having already made significant moves — having left the house, having had extensive conversations with their spouse about terms, having made financial decisions without understanding their implications, having posted on social media about the separation — are almost always in a more difficult position than those who came in first, before acting.

Not because the moves they made were necessarily wrong in isolation. But because they were made without understanding the specific rules of the system they were operating in. And in Israeli divorce, those rules are different enough from anything Anglo clients have encountered before that intuitive decisions — decisions that would be entirely reasonable in an American, British, or South African divorce context — can produce genuinely counterproductive outcomes in Israel.

The house question is the clearest example. In most Western countries, leaving the family home during a marital breakdown is a normal and legally relatively neutral act. In Israel, where no legal separation exists and where custody evaluators assess parenting involvement based on presence in the family home, leaving without legal advice can materially affect your custody position in ways that are difficult to reverse.

The verbal agreement question is another. In most Western countries, a genuine mutual understanding between two parties — particularly one that has been discussed in detail — carries at least some moral and sometimes legal weight. In Israel, a verbal divorce agreement is legally worthless until it has been formally drafted, executed, and affirmed by a court. Acting as though it is binding — making financial decisions based on it, telling people it is settled — creates a false sense of security that frequently collapses at the worst possible moment.

The information that closes these gaps is available. It is not complicated. It does not require extensive legal knowledge to absorb. It requires only the discipline to seek it out before acting rather than after.

That is what our resources exist for — and it is why getting informed first, before any other move, is the single most valuable thing available to any Anglo client approaching divorce in Israel.

Contact me at 0733743094 or [email protected]
On my website you can find free Ebooks on divorce, wills, prenups and more https://jayhaitlaw.com/
And you can watch informative videos on my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/

Hait Family Law is proud to be recognized as a leading company by Duns

20/08/2026

Who Gets the House After Divorce in Israel?

When both spouses own the family home in Israel, deciding who keeps it after divorce is rarely straightforward. Israeli courts consider mortgage payments, children living in the home, buyout rights and more before making a final decision. Here is exactly how Israeli courts decide who gets the house.

16/08/2026

What Anglo Clients Need to Know About Wills and Estate Planning During an Israeli Divorce.

Most people going through a divorce in Israel are entirely focused on the immediate legal process — the courts, the custody arrangement, the asset division, the Get. Estate planning feels like something that can wait until the dust has settled. It is one of the most common and most consequential oversights of the entire process.

Here is why it matters urgently rather than eventually.

Under Israeli inheritance law, a married person who dies without a valid will leaves half of their estate to their spouse automatically. This applies regardless of the state of the marriage — regardless of how estranged the couple has become, regardless of whether divorce proceedings have begun, and regardless of what verbal or even written understandings exist between the parties about how assets should be divided. Until the divorce is legally finalized and the Get has been granted, the marriage exists in the eyes of Israeli law — and so does the surviving spouse's inheritance right.

This means that an Anglo client who begins divorce proceedings in January, reaches a comprehensive agreement in principle by June, and dies in August before the agreement has been affirmed by the courts and the Get has been granted, may leave half their estate to the spouse they were in the process of divorcing. The agreement in principle, however detailed and however sincerely reached, has no legal weight until it has been through the court affirmation process.

The solution is straightforward but requires action rather than intention. Update your will at the beginning of the divorce process — not at the end of it. Specify clearly how you want your assets distributed in the event of your death during the proceedings. Ensure that beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, pension accounts, and retirement funds are reviewed and updated to reflect your current wishes rather than designations made during a marriage that is now ending.

For Anglo clients with assets in multiple countries this is particularly important. A will that is valid in Israel may not be recognized in the jurisdiction where overseas assets are held without additional legal steps. Understanding the cross-border dimensions of estate planning during an Israeli divorce requires the kind of specialist knowledge that most general family law practitioners do not have.

The divorce process is demanding enough that it is easy to postpone things that feel less urgent. Estate planning during divorce is not one of them.

Contact me at 0733743094 or [email protected]
On my website you can find free Ebooks on divorce, wills, prenups and more https://jayhaitlaw.com/
And you can watch informative videos on my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/

Hait Family Law is proud to be recognized as a leading company by Duns