Court Rules on Divorce Date: Intimacy Cessation Not the Sole Deciding Factor
A woman whose relatives were kidnapped argued that the cessation of intimate relations on October 7, 2023, should mark the date for property division. The court ruled that family dissolution is determined by the totality of circumstances, including economic separation, and set the date of rupture to January 2025.
The Family Court in Nof HaGalil recently ruled on a sensitive lawsuit concerning the dissolution of a family against the backdrop of the October 7 events. A woman whose relatives were kidnapped and murdered claimed that since that Saturday, she stopped having intimate relations with her husband, and therefore that date should be considered the "date of rupture" — a date that affects the division of property.
However, Judge Mahmoud Shadafna ruled that the end of shared life is not determined by the cessation of sexual relations, but according to the totality of circumstances.
As part of the divorce proceedings, the woman requested to move the date of rupture to Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023. She based this on the claim that since that day, her daughter began sleeping in her bed due to trauma, and the couple ceased having sexual relations. She stated that her husband moved to sleep in a separate unit.
Conversely, the husband insisted that the date of rupture occurred only in January 2025, when he finally left the house. He denied living in a separate housing unit disconnected from family life, asserting that he continued to live with his wife and daughter under one roof for another year and three months.
Judge Shadafna adopted the husband's position, noting that the woman herself had requested in her lawsuit that the resource balancing date be calculated until January 21, 2025, "which is the date of separation between the parties." The judge stated:
"The rupture is not determined by the cessation of intimate relations alone, but according to the totality of circumstances indicating the end of shared life in its entirety, where the central element is complete economic separation."
The ruling noted that even if the parties refrained from sexual relations, this does not lead to the conclusion that a final rift was created in all areas, as evidence showed the couple continued to manage their joint household. Consequently, the judge set the date of rupture to January 2025 and ordered the woman to pay legal expenses of 2,500 shekels.
