"I am the king and you are the maid": A defeat for a demeaning husband in court
A man disappeared from the radar, leaving his estranged wife alone with their five children. A judge granted her request for an unequal division of property and also ordered the absent father to pay monthly child support.
The Family Court in Jerusalem recently ruled in favor of a mother of five whose estranged husband disappeared from her life at the beginning of the divorce proceedings, cut off contact with his children, and stopped paying child support. Judge Moshe Braun granted most of her financial demands, including the preservation of her pension funds for herself.
According to the woman, the father of her children holds certificates as a coach, mediator, rabbinical advocate, and mortgage consultant. They married in 2010, and today their children are aged 5 to 12. They separated during 2024 and began divorce proceedings, but then the husband cut off contact. In the situation that arose, only the woman's version was presented to the court. She claimed that the estranged husband "acted cunningly and exploited her financially," withdrawing tens of thousands of shekels from their joint account and selling their cars without her knowledge, while pocketing the proceeds. She added that he used to demean her and subjected her to psychological abuse. Among other things, she played a recording in which he was documented calling her a "piece of trash" and snapping at her:
"I am the king and you are the king's maid."
Regarding the difficulty of raising five children alone, without the father's support, she said that she is forced to wake up at 4:00 AM to keep up with her busy daily schedule. Her main arguments are that under the described circumstances, it is justified to order her husband to pay child support of 13,645 shekels and to order an unequal division of property in her favor. According to her, her husband lived at her expense throughout the marriage, hid his income as a self-employed person from her, and siphoned off joint funds.
Judge Braun granted the first request in part and the second in full. On the issue of child support, it was determined that starting from July 2024, the husband will be obligated to pay about 8,700 shekels for his children, and the amount will be reduced later to 7,000 and then to 5,500 shekels, due to the minors reaching the age of over 6. Regarding the request for unequal balancing, it was emphasized that in the current reality, the mother is busy around the clock and has to fund the children's needs out of her own pocket, even though she earns well (about 75 thousand shekels gross per month).
"In light of the husband's conduct and the lack of his financial contribution to the joint household versus the wife's hard work, the request for an unequal division of the parties' assets is accepted in accordance with Section 8(2) of the Spousal Property Relations Law. The implementation of this conclusion will be that each of the parties will remain the sole owner of all social and pension rights registered in their name, without performing any balancing between them," it was ruled.
On the sidelines, the judge attributed to the husband an expression of contempt and indifference both towards the court and her lawyer, and towards his estranged wife and their children, because he abandoned the legal process without prior notice, and without giving a proper reason for his non-appearance and the failure to submit summaries on his behalf. The verdict concluded by ordering him to pay his estranged wife legal expenses and attorney's fees in the amount of 40 thousand shekels.
