An Israeli reader who saw my posting on divorce and child support laws in Denmark sent me an article from Israel.
The facts of the case were the following:
- a divorced father earned 13,000 shekels (approximately $3600) per month and lived in a rental apartment
- a divorced mother earned 18,000 shekels (approximately $5000) per month and owned a house
- “the children spend more than half of their time with the father,” said the judge
Israeli law has a built-in gender bias, with divorced fathers who lose custody responsible for 100 percent of the cost of their children and 75 percent of the cost where the kids’ time is divided between parents. A divorced mother with a job, however, may have to pay a share of “extras” such as vacations for children.
With these facts, the mother sought to have approximately 100% of the father’s after-tax salary transferred to her as child support (“she had sued for over 13,000 shekels a month”). The judge concluded that the mother was entitled to just 2% of what she was seeking (300 shekels per month; roughly $83) and that it wasn’t worth ordering that this small amount of money be paid from one former spouse to the other.
Israeli readers: How does it work over there? What typically happens when middle/upper income couples with kids split up? Can a parent make a substantial profit on child support payments? Would you have been surprised if this mother had succeeded in collecting 100% of her ex-husband’s income?
If in general you are interested in custody issues, or just how parenting in divorce works, I can’t give a greater recommendation than to reading the blog at the National Parents Organization: https://nationalparentsorganization.org/blog
It is primarily US based, but quite frequently examines custody issues internationally.
Here is Robert Franklin’s take on the recent Israeli decision:
https://nationalparentsorganization.org/blog/21258-israel-one-judge-injects-sanity-into-child-support-calculations
That doesn’t answer your question though….
When the couple can’t come to some mediated agreement, Israeli divorce judgments are decided in family court. The judges have some leeway, but there are clear guidelines for the family court judges, and decisions which stray from the guidelines are often overturned on appeal to a district court.
The basic guidelines which a judge is expected to follow are:
0) Until the age of 10 the mother gets custody automatically, unless she’s willing to share the custody.
1) A father is obligated to support his children (this is a basic talmudic principle adopted by the courts here). This support is broken down into two components. 20% of housing expenses per child and then living expenses. However, when the mother is a tenant, the father’s 20% is usually interpreted to be 20% of the cost of a modest apartment. Living expenses are also usually calculated as minimal. By the way there is no alimony!
2) The father should keep enough of his salary to be able to support himself.
3) decisions are made which are in the best interest of the children.
As far as 1), usually the guidelines for both components (housing and living expenses) are about $700 per month per child–I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an amount higher than this for middle income fathers. There is an exception made for “men with means”, with could mean a high salaries (in Israel over about $100,000/year), or personal wealth. Also, until fourth grade there are some additional day care expenses of about $200/month.
2) in practice means a man doesn’t usually pay more than half his salary.
3) generally means that if there is an apartment or house jointly owned, the mother keeps the place until the children are 18.
It seems to me that for a middle income couple with two children, divorce is hardest on the mother when there is no jointly owned property. If there is an apartment then I think the father does badly, because he may be expected to keep paying half of the mortgage, in addition to living expense payments.
The example you cite seems strange to me…if it’s exact then I wouldn’t be surprised if a higher court rejected the decision.
In 1) I meant 20% of overall housing expenses per child, so if there are 3 children that would be 60%. The maximum amount is never the whole rent because the mother is expected to support herself–another principle. Also, condition 2) plays a role.